In design systems, colour has to do a lot. It supports brand identity, adapts across platforms and themes, meets accessibility standards, and still feels expressive and coherent. Yet the tools we’ve used to manage colour haven’t kept up with this complexity.

Only recently have newer colour models, like OKLab, begun to offer a more reliable foundation. OKLab is a perceptually uniform colour model, meaning that changes in its values align more closely with how we actually see colour. This makes it especially powerful for generating smooth, consistent colour ramps that feel natural to the eye, and for assembling those ramps into palettes that behave predictably and scale well.

After the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, I made the difficult decision to resettle in Canada. Shortly after this move, I began creating The Hopescapes of Ukraine—a series of embroidered volumetric landscapes reflecting the profound impact of the war on my homeland. This body of work emerged from a need to channel my grief into a constructive expression. Punching, stitching, and embroidering became a meditative practice, allowing me to process the turmoil of displacement, destruction, and loss.

The Interview for Orientemedio News, a Chilean media, where I talk about my work in bringing awareness to the topic of the Holodomor (Interviewer Manuel Férez Gil).

Reflecting on the efforts of the Ukrainian community to commemorate the victims of the Holodomor on this 90th Anniversary, it’s important to acknowledge and appreciate the individuals who have dedicated themselves to raising awareness about this famine-genocide. One individual who is using her artistic and creative design abilities to shine a light on the Holodomor is Yuliya Fedorovych.

Yuliya Fedorovych fulfilled her long-standing dream and managed to get to study visual communication design in the United States. In this interview for Inspired, Yuliya explains why she had to forget the concept of free time and how she learned to live in one-storied America.