Impossible shapes

 

Impossible shapes (sometimes called Penrose objects) captivate us by challenging our brain’s natural way of interpreting reality. These shapes exploit our reliance on Gestalt principles such as closure and continuity, leading us to perceive coherent forms where none exist. Our brains try to “fill in the gaps,” but the impossible geometry creates cognitive dissonance, keeping us mentally engaged. These objects also play with depth perception and perspective, tricking our minds into seeing logical connections where none can physically exist. This creates a paradox that fascinates us, triggering curiosity and the innate drive to resolve puzzles, even when they cannot be solved.

The process

 

3D shapes were created in Blender 3D, using an orthographic camera to remove perspective and create the illusion. For glowing shapes smoothness was used alongside with the procedural emission texture to emphasize the miobus-like effect. Vectors were created in Illustrator using tool and angled grid for precise geometry. Figma components were created with 3 sample landing pages and color control via local variables (using color overlay with blending mode to change color globally).