3D Shapes & Illusions: Creative Procrastination

Recently, I caught myself in a weird balance between doing real work and straight-up procrastination. It’s all about 3D modeling and rendering random geometric shapes. This isn’t exactly new to me, but lately, I decided to push these experiments out into the world, so I started posting them in the Figma Community.

Playing with the primitive shapes feels like a break from all the complex UX stuff I’ve been doing. I think I might be tired of all the structured problem-solving and just wanted to mess around with simple shapes to unwind. It’s almost like a reset — a way to relax and get back to the basics of design without any pressure. Then again, it could also just be straight-up procrastination. Either way, it’s fun, so I was rolling with it.

3D Shapes Trilogy

First came dispersed glass 3d shapes, and then I added a couple more materials using the same objects. Full trilogy included glass, plastic and metal.

Glass dispersion happens when light passes through glass and splits into different colors, like how a prism works. In 3D rendering, it’s a cool way to make glass look more realistic by showing that rainbow effect when light hits the surface:

I really got into the lighting and rendering, making everything look smooth and clean. Two more materials followed immediately:

White plastic is definitely one of my favorites — there’s something almost mesmerizing about using white on white. It creates a clean, minimalist look — but with just enough texture and shadow to make it interesting. It’s subtle, yet impactful, letting the form and light take center stage without any distractions.

I couldn’t decide between a chrome look and a brushed aluminum matte finish, so I ended up going with both. Chrome gives that sleek, reflective, and almost futuristic vibe, while brushed aluminum has a more subtle, industrial feel with its matte texture. They each bring something different to the table — one’s all about shine, and the other adds a nice tactile element without the glare. Sometimes you just gotta do both and see which one wins!

3D Noodles

Then came the springy 3D noodles. Reeally colorful vibes 🙂

Linebet 3D

Somewhere between playing with all these shapes, I also ended up creating a primitive geometric 3D font (Linebet). It’s simple, made up of basic forms, but seeing it in 3D really gives it a unique look and feel. The lines are sharp, and the geometric style makes it super versatile for abstract designs. It kind of just happened naturally as I was experimenting with the other projects, but I’m happy with how it turned out. Also, some Dune vibes…

I thought I’d stop there, but I stumbled upon an old optical illusion of a wheel, and of course, I had to break it down and recreate it with my own twist. With this particular illusion in 3D, the toughest part was hiding the “seam” — the point where two wheels, each rotating on different axes, needed to merge smoothly. Getting the angles and shadows right was tricky because any slight mismatch would break the illusion completely. It took some time to make sure everything aligned just right and kept the illusion intact:

Optical illusions have always been a huge fascination for me, especially from both a design and sociology perspective. From a design angle, they challenge the brain’s natural instinct to simplify and organize, revealing how easily we can manipulate perception with just a few tweaks in shape, light, or angle. It’s the ultimate test of how far we can push the limits of what the eye expects to see versus what’s really there.

From a sociology standpoint, illusions are equally intriguing. They highlight how different cultures and individuals might interpret visual information differently, and how our brains are wired to make assumptions based on past experiences. In design, playing with these illusions lets me toy with those expectations, revealing just how subjective “reality” can be for different people.

That’s when it spiraled out of control. I started making a whole set of Penrose 3D objects in different styles and then created six impossible objects in three different styles:

• 3D renders with smooth surfaces and a glow effect, using color overlays with the “Lighten” blending mode to switch up the colors.
• Hand-drawn vector shapes with three different shades to give them depth.
• Minimalistic linear vectors with customizable thickness for a clean, simple look.

So is it procrastination? Probably. But at the same time, it’s also something fun, creative, and worth sharing — so why not give it away to the Figma Community?