Spirograph

How to play Spirograph

Two circles, an outer ring and a smaller wheel inside it, work together to draw curves. Adjust the inner radius, outer radius, pen offset and stroke colour. Press start to draw and the curve traces itself. Save the result as a PNG when you like the shape. Reset wipes the canvas. Try wild values for unexpected patterns.

Tips

• Small differences in radii create huge differences in shape
• Lower the line opacity to layer many curves on one canvas
• Pick contrasting colours for poster style results
• Slow down the speed to actually watch the curve form

About Spirograph

The spirograph toy was patented by British engineer Denys Fisher in 1965 and sold by the millions in plastic gear sets with sharp coloured pens. Mathematicians had been drawing the same curves, called hypotrochoids and epitrochoids, since the 1700s. The fun is unchanged whether the gears are plastic or pixels. Pick numbers, watch the geometry weave a flower out of a single line. Ours adds a save button so your art does not stay locked in the toy.

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