
# [031](/031)

![canvas](https://res.cloudinary.com/abstract-puzzles/image/upload/w_2000/031_rbk-ugr_uha-vuq-alm?raw=true)

This design was inspired by a glitch I found when I was developing [030](/030) where instead of drawing a single bar from the start of the active area it would start a new bar on every row. This creates waterfalls of colour which gradate across the design.

With this piece I found it easy to focus on the central clusters of colour rather than line up the outer edge. It was great fun to assemble areas of bars and then figure out how they all fit together. Because of the varying bar sizes some pieces had two different colours of stripes on them which was a handy but subtle indication to help solve the puzzle.



# [029](/029)

![canvas](https://res.cloudinary.com/abstract-puzzles/image/upload/w_2000/029_asn-ybq_ojd-ihc-mwh-zmq?raw=true)

This design adds a background grid which is slowly faded out with each layered shape. I removed the lines which divided the shapes in [028](/028), but left the margin between the foreground shapes in place. I really like that this foreground grid is hinted at where the shape edges run parallel, it's a subtle network of whitespace across the design. Also, hearts!

I really enjoyed solving this puzzle with its rich range of colours and textures. Similarly to [027](/027) I was drawn to assembling the areas with obvious lines first, but as that only covered a small portion of the puzzle I was then forced to look at colour groupings and shape edges to fill in the rest.



# [030](/030)

![canvas](https://res.cloudinary.com/abstract-puzzles/image/upload/w_2000/030_mpe-uka_oln-tau-uis?raw=true)

In a return to simpler forms, this design combines the layering effect of [028](/028) with clusters of vertical bars. Each group of strokes has slightly varied opacities running across it so the colours vary across the design.

Building on the diagonal puzzle pattern first introduced in [026](/026), this refactors the cutting algorithm and adds new corner shapes and five-sided edge pieces. I wanted to make all the pieces roughly the same size without compromising the layout. It's now much easier to line the edges up but as they can't be attached to form a frame you're still encouraged to work outwards from the middle of the puzzle.

My solve on this puzzle was haphazard - I started by grouping the darkest colours and connecting some of the more distinct areas of colour which led to lots of small islands of connected pieces. I leaned quite heavily on lining up the edges which was a bit of a crutch, and then connected the pieces as I saw them without much of a strategy. I think this design had a really good balance of colours and textures, but my solve didn't do it justice.
