How to Create a Simple Loading Spinner on Figma
Hi friends!
First of all, I know.
Loading spinners are outdated, not the best for user experience, not particularly cute either, blah blah blah.
But!
I was bored and made one. And since I did it without following any tutorials, I decided to make one of my own.
It’s technically NBD but I did it & I got excited. I also think it’s something simple & fun to try if you’re still figuring out how to use Figma.
So now…
The tutorial!
Quick note before I begin, you can try this for different shapes, styles, colours etc. It’s all pretty much the same principle. Also, the final result at the end of this tutorial won’t look exactly like the clip above because I remade it for the purpose of this article.
1. First thing you want to do is create a frame.
You can only prototype frames and I say to do this first because I’ve made the mistake of trying to prototype a rectangle LOL. It’s just nice to get this out of the way so you don’t forget.
You can do this by pressing CMD + F on Mac or CTRL +F on PC. You can also simply select the Frame icon in Figma and go from there.
2. Draw a circle within the frame
Quick tip: Hold down shift for a perfect circle.
3. Edit the circle so you get a ring
You can do this by adjusting the ratio of the circle to 90%.
4. Duplicate the frame & edit your circle(ring?)
Change the start to 90 degrees and the sweep to 25%.
5. More sweeping!
Duplicate the frame two more times & edit the sweep of the remaining circles so they are 50% & 75% respectively.
You can probably already see where we’re headed now.
6. Add your text & align properly
7. The final ring
Duplicate Frame 1 & change the colour of the ring. I used #11B20D & I used the same colour for the checkmark icon.
8. Prototype
If you haven’t already, arrange your frames in the order they’re supposed to follow.
Switch to Prototype mode & select the first frame. Connect it to the frame that’s to follow & do the same for the rest till all the frames are connected.
Click on the arrows between the frames to edit the interaction details.
You’ll want to select After Delay & leave the animation as Instant until the last two frames.
9. Final result
For the interaction between the last two frames, you’ll want to change the animation from Instant to Delay so the transition isn’t as choppy.
Other Ideas
- Edit the time between interactions so it loads slower or faster.
- Try changing the colours of each ring for a cooler transition.
- Try smaller ring sections.
- Try something similar using a logo.
I hope this was helpful to someone.
Have a good one :)
