Okay guys, so today I thought I’d try recreating some of Akshay Chandran’s design magic. Honestly, saw his portfolio floating around online somewhere, maybe a design forum? Can’t even remember now, but wow, those visuals stuck in my head.
The Initial Spark and Getting Started
Right, felt totally inspired after seeing Akshay’s projects. Specifically obsessed with one project – this super clean app interface he did. Looked deceptively simple, you know? Just perfect spacing, colors that just worked, all smooth curves and stuff. Figured, “How hard could it be? Let’s try making something like that!”
Grabbed my sketchbook first, like always. Started doodling boxes, buttons, layouts. Aimed for that same minimalist feel. My first few attempts were… well, messy. Things kept looking cluttered or just… off. Kept flipping through my saved screenshots of Akshay’s work for reference, trying to nail that balance between empty space and useful info.
Diving Into the Tools and Hitting Walls
Switched to my design software next. Fired it up, started putting those sketch ideas into pixels. This is where I usually trip up.
- Playing with Colors was Trickier Than It Looked. His palette seemed simple, just a few colors. But getting them to feel harmonious? Took me ages. Tried a light blue and grey combo first – looked flat and dead. Scrapped that. Then tried softer pinks and beige, started getting closer maybe? Finally landed on warm grey, this really pale teal, and a deep orange for accents. Honestly, pure trial and error, clicking forever.
- Those Damn Rounded Corners! Wanted everything slightly rounded, like his designs. But getting the exact radius? Nightmare. Too much curve looked goofy, too little felt sharp and cold. Spent a stupid amount of time tweaking just one corner on one box to see if it felt right. Copy, paste, adjust… repeat for everything. Tedious!
- Typography Headaches. Chose a clean sans-serif font, easy. But the size, the weight, the line height? Brutal. Stuff that looked fine in my file suddenly felt squashed together or weirdly spaced when I stepped back. Kept comparing text blocks side-by-side with his, squinting at them.
The Refining Grind (and Coffee)
Okay, layout down, colors sorta there, fonts kinda working. Now for the detail hell. Started trying to add those tiny touches Akshay does so well.
- Subtle Shadows Were Not Subtle. Wanted that gentle lift behind elements. My attempts either vanished completely or looked like harsh, cheap drop shadows. Played with opacity and blur until my eyes crossed. Felt like I’d never get that barely-there floating feeling he achieved.
- Icon Agony. Needed simple icons. Tried drawing my own – nope, looked childish. Tried downloading sets – hard finding that exact minimal style. Finally found some thin line icons I could adapt. But scaling them right so they weren’t lost or overpowering? Took another round of trial and error.
- The “Oh, Right, Content!” Moment. Got so stuck on making it pretty I forgot to fill it with realistic text and images. Dummy text everywhere looks okay until you try reading it. Had to step back, replace it with real-ish stuff, and suddenly spacing issues popped up again. Groan.
Finishing Up (For Now)
After what felt like hours hunched over my laptop, neck stiff as a board, I have something. Is it Akshay Chandran level? Hah! Absolutely not. Not even close. Mine feels a bit stiff where his flows, my colors lack that effortless punch, and those tiny details? Mine are kinda… clunky.
But honestly? It was an awesome practice session. Forced me to really look at the why behind his designs, not just the surface gloss. Seeing how much effort goes into making something look this simple is mind-blowing. It’s humbling and motivating at the same time. My takeaway? Keep practicing. Seriously. That level of polish? It’s miles away from my first drafts. Time to brew more coffee.
