About obolo
obolo (朧) is a small studio project that turns Japan’s traditional patterns — wagara — into wallpapers for your phone. The idea is simple: pick a centuries-old motif like asanoha or kikkou, recolor it, drop your own photo behind it, and save a wallpaper with a quiet decorative band behind your status bar. Previewing is free; one payment unlocks every design for good.
Why we made it
Japanese patterns are some of the most beautiful geometry in the world, but most “pattern wallpaper” apps are paid, ad-stuffed, or built from stock images of dubious origin. We wanted something honest: fairly priced, privacy-respecting, and built on artwork we actually own. obolo is aimed at an international audience who love Japanese design and want a tasteful home or lock screen.
How it’s made
Every pattern on obolo is drawn from scratch in code as original SVG — there are no stock images anywhere on the site. Each motif is reconstructed from its underlying geometry: asanoha from a triangular grid split into 30-30-120 triangles, kikkou from interlocking hexagons, uroko from stacked triangles, and so on. Because they are vector and parametric, you can recolor the ground and the lines freely, and the patterns stay crisp at any size.
When you add your own photo, the wallpaper is composited entirely in your browser using the HTML canvas — your image never leaves your device. The pattern band is then extended upward by a device-specific amount so that, after your phone enlarges and crops the wallpaper, it lands neatly behind the status bar.
On accuracy
The traditional motifs themselves are part of Japan’s public-domain heritage, free for anyone to use. Our renderings are our own original interpretations — drawn for clarity and for looking good on a screen — and are not intended as exact, scholarly reproductions. Line weights, proportions and colors are chosen for design, so they may differ from any particular historical example.
Pricing, plainly
Every design can be previewed and recolored for free, right in your browser. Saving wallpapers is unlocked with a single payment of $39 (lifetime, every design — including future ones) or a subscription ($3.99/mo or $24/yr). No hidden tiers. See pricing and our privacy policy.