At just 19, a frontend developer from India launched a side project to improve background design on websites. He didn’t expect it to go viral. And he certainly didn’t expect Vercel, the platform it was built on, to sponsor it. But a post on X drew in a wave of support, and a message later, his side project became a decently recognised tool for the web design community.
What started as a simple CSS library to enhance portfolios is now backed by one of the biggest names in web development.
PatternCraft is a Side Project
Megh Bari, 19, a front-end developer, said the idea was born out of his endeavour to build clean and visually impressive websites. “But one thing I constantly struggled with was finding the perfect background — something that actually stood out and made the whole design feel 100x better,” he said.
That frustration led him to develop PatternCraft, a curated collection of CSS background patterns that could be easily merged into any project.
“The goal of PatternCraft is to make it effortless for developers and designers to discover and use visually stunning CSS background patterns that instantly elevate the look and feel of their websites,” Bari said, adding that well-designed websites often overlook the importance of backgrounds, which tend to be either too simplistic or overly distracting.
Initially, it was just a design element added to his portfolio website. He shared the early version with five to 10 patterns in an X post, not expecting much.
“That post blew up,” he said. The feedback came instantly and the demand was evident. “One of my close friends said, ‘Add more classic ones. I’m definitely going to use this,’ and that’s when I realised there was real demand.”
Built with Familiar Tools, Refined by Trial and Error
The tech stack behind the side project didn’t require anything fancy.
“PatternCraft is built using Next.js and Tailwind CSS, which made the development process super smooth—especially for crafting responsive layouts and experimenting with pattern styles quickly,” Bari said.
He deployed it on Vercel without much friction. “Since I was already familiar with the Vercel ecosystem, deploying the project was effortless. Their GitHub integration and automatic deployment system made shipping updates really fast and painless.”
While the project wasn’t AI-driven, inspiration stemmed from contemporary frontend design tools. Bari drew inspiration from tools like Vercel’s v0 to explore UI. His process involved sketching ideas on paper, translating them into custom CSS, and utilising Perplexity and ChatGPT for debugging or exploring alternative solutions.
What made PatternCraft work wasn’t automation but persistence. He explained that achieving the final designs involved extensive hands-on experimentation with native CSS features such as repeating-linear-gradient. It was a process of trial and error.
An X Post That Changed Everything
Things took a turn one weekend when the project’s popularity pushed it over Vercel’s free tier.
“It was a Sunday, and I suddenly saw a warning on my Vercel dashboard: ‘You’ve exceeded your limit.’ I instantly panicked. I had no idea what to do—PatternCraft was getting too much traffic, and I couldn’t afford to keep it up.”
So, Bari posted on X seeking help for sponsorship.
The tech community rallied, engaging, retweeting, and tagging Vercel employees, including the CEO, who took notice. That evening, he received a message from a member of Vercel’s developer community team.
They spoke immediately. And in a couple of hours he received confirmation that Vercel is officially sponsoring PatternCraft. The sponsorship came through Vercel’s OSS program, which now covers infrastructure and hosting.
Bari told AIM: “It’s not just a technical boost — it’s a huge morale boost as well. Knowing that a company like Vercel recognises and supports small, creative, community-driven projects like mine is incredibly validating.”
“They also expressed interest in bringing PatternCraft into their next OSS cohort.”
Building in Public, Without Expecting Anything
Even after the sponsorship, it’s the emotional response that sticks. “Honestly, it felt surreal. I didn’t expect something I built out of pure curiosity and fun to get noticed, let alone sponsored by a company like Vercel,” Bari said.
“That moment? I can’t describe it in words. It felt like I freaking made it. I was jumping, shaking, smiling all at once.”
PatternCraft is still a work in progress. But the lesson from the story stays constant: creating something useful and sharing it with the world could take one further than any business plan.
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