Photoshop Distort Filters- am I going crazy?

#1

I have been trying to figure out how I will see, for lack of a better way of putting it, an uneven distribution in gradient swatches in some of the backgrounds I see on sites like Dribbble.

Here’s an example of what I am talking about. Note the non-linear and ‘jagged’ protrusions in the gradient:
Uneven/Distributed Gradient

This particular layer was from a photoshop file which had two other layers beneath it I think the original designer left behind as a way to show how he constructed the final image above.

Here’s the first layer. A pink to light gray gradient:
Gradient Layer

Second layer. Some kind of Square/distort filter applied to the gradient. Does this filter change some hue values into the darker violets towards left of frame?
Square Filter?

So my question is three fold:

  1. Are these layers related in that each one is the progression in which an additional filter is added (e.g. layer 1 is just gradient, layer 2 is some kind of square filter, layer 3 is Gaussian blur filter) to the layer?

  2. What is the name of what I’m assuming is the square filter (is it a square filter) that turns the background into grids?

  3. If these three layers are only related by virtue of being in the same document, how else would a designer achieve that uneven gradient distribution?

#2

I have been thinking about this for a while, and still haven’t been able to crack it.

Does anyone else have any insights?

#3

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