Kolam UI

What and Why?

Growing up between Switzerland and India, I was shaped by two vastly different visual worlds. On one hand, I learned to see through the logic of the Swiss Style i.e. the clean typography, mathematical precision, and functional grids championed by Josef Müller-Brockmann. On the other, my roots tied me to the vibrant, rhythmic, and intentionally maximalist soul of traditional Indian art.

For a long time, these felt like opposing forces in my design practice. I created Kolam UI to finally bring them together. By taking the absolute structural clarity of the Swiss grid and using it as a canvas for the handcrafted warmth and repetitive geometry of a traditional kolam, I've built a design system that reflects the two halves of my identity. It's where order meets vibrant culture.

This blog is the living documentation of that journey. It is a space where we will walk through every design decision, document the visual language, explore the foundational art forms that inspire us.

The Kolam Shapes and Cards

In traditional Indian culture, a Kolam is a complex geometric line drawing composed around a precise, mathematical matrix of dots, drawn daily at the threshold of a home to invite prosperity. For the Karigar system, this underlying "dot lattice" serves as our foundational grid. Just as a kolam artist uses the exact same grid of dots to weave an endless variety of distinct motifs, our system uses this modular lattice to generate a highly flexible array of UI cards, responsive layouts, and dynamic component states. Because the entire structure is mathematically anchored in symmetry, the system naturally inherits a sense of perfect balance and rhythmic proportion. No matter how complex or maximalist the interface becomes, this symmetrical foundation ensures that the underlying pattern remains harmonious, predictable, and visually grounding.