@Carlhauser proposes a quick and fun method for creation of (retro)futuristic UI elements in Figma. The demonstrated workflow shows interesting aspects of how Carls highly detailed and complex UI artworks are made. Deriving from very few primitives his work quickly reaches a mesmerizing scale.
In the beginning a set of concentric donut arcs with random radii is generated. The final shape complexity comes from selective addition, subtraction, intersection or exclusion operations which are followed by grouping and corner smoothing.
The distinctive look, rich parametrisation options, endless variability and simplicity of this iterative approach led me to testing the idea of a generator app, which would automate and randomize the steps described by Carl. The following d3 based prototype is implemented in under 100 lines of js code.
See the Pen Generative (Retro)Futuristic UI elements by Rost Likholat (@aznbai) on CodePen.
The general idea of this generative solution is applicable to other contexts, i.e. for quickly generating branded decorative content for the needs of an ongoing multi-channel ad campaign.
See the Pen Animated Generative Sci-Fi UI elements by Rost Likholat (@aznbai) on CodePen.