diff --git a/vk_engine.cpp b/vk_engine.cpp
index cf70b02..642ceb2 100644
--- a/vk_engine.cpp
+++ b/vk_engine.cpp
@@ -410,14 +410,47 @@ void VulkanEngine::init_descriptors() {
 void VulkanEngine::init_pipelines()
 {
   init_background_pipelines();
+  init_shaders();
 }
 
+void VulkanEngine::load_shader(const char *file_name, const char *entry_point, ComputeEffect sky) {
+  VkShaderModule skyShader;
+  bool good = vkutil::load_shader_module(file_name, _device, &skyShader);
+  assert(good && "failed to load shader");
+
+  VkPipelineShaderStageCreateInfo stageinfo{
+    .sType = VK_STRUCTURE_TYPE_PIPELINE_SHADER_STAGE_CREATE_INFO,
+      .stage = VK_SHADER_STAGE_COMPUTE_BIT,
+      .module = skyShader,
+      .pName = entry_point,
+  };
+
+  VkComputePipelineCreateInfo computePipelineCreateInfo{
+    .sType = VK_STRUCTURE_TYPE_COMPUTE_PIPELINE_CREATE_INFO,
+      .stage = stageinfo,
+      .layout = _gradientPipelineLayout,
+  };
+
+  sky.layout = _gradientPipelineLayout;
+
+  VK_CHECK(vkCreateComputePipelines(_device, VK_NULL_HANDLE, 1, &computePipelineCreateInfo, nullptr, &sky.pipeline));
+
+  backgroundEffects.push_back(sky);
+
+  vkDestroyShaderModule(_device, skyShader, nullptr);
+
+  _mainDeletionQueue.push_function([=,this]() {
+      vkDestroyPipeline(_device, sky.pipeline, nullptr);
+  });
+}
+
+
 void VulkanEngine::init_background_pipelines()
 {
   VkPushConstantRange pushConstant{
     .stageFlags = VK_SHADER_STAGE_COMPUTE_BIT,
       .offset = 0,
-      .size = sizeof(ComputePushConstants) ,
+      .size = sizeof(ComputePushConstants),
   };
   
   VkPipelineLayoutCreateInfo computeLayout{
@@ -430,59 +463,28 @@ void VulkanEngine::init_background_pipelines()
   
   VK_CHECK(vkCreatePipelineLayout(_device, &computeLayout, nullptr, &_gradientPipelineLayout));
 
-  VkShaderModule gradientShader;
-  bool good = vkutil::load_shader_module("gradient_color.comp.spv", _device, &gradientShader);
-  assert(good && "failed to load gradient_color.comp.spv");
-
-  VkShaderModule skyShader;
-  good = vkutil::load_shader_module("sky.comp.spv", _device, &skyShader);
-
-  VkPipelineShaderStageCreateInfo stageinfo{
-    .sType = VK_STRUCTURE_TYPE_PIPELINE_SHADER_STAGE_CREATE_INFO,
-      .stage = VK_SHADER_STAGE_COMPUTE_BIT,
-      .module = gradientShader,
-      .pName = "main",
-  };
-  
-  VkComputePipelineCreateInfo computePipelineCreateInfo{
-    .sType = VK_STRUCTURE_TYPE_COMPUTE_PIPELINE_CREATE_INFO,
-      .stage = stageinfo,
-      .layout = _gradientPipelineLayout,
-  };
-  
-  ComputeEffect gradient{
-    .name = "gradient",
-    .layout = _gradientPipelineLayout,
-    .data = {
-      .data1 = glm::vec4(1, 0, 0, 1),
-      .data2 = glm::vec4(0, 0, 1, 1),
-    },
-  };
-  
-
-  VK_CHECK(vkCreateComputePipelines(_device, VK_NULL_HANDLE, 1, &computePipelineCreateInfo, nullptr, &gradient.pipeline));
-
-  // change the shader module only to create the sky
-  computePipelineCreateInfo.stage.module = skyShader;
-
-  ComputeEffect sky{
-    .name = "sky",
-    .layout = _gradientPipelineLayout,
-    .data{.data1 = glm::vec4(0.1, 0.2, 0.4, 0.97)},
-  };
-  
-  VK_CHECK(vkCreateComputePipelines(_device, VK_NULL_HANDLE, 1, &computePipelineCreateInfo, nullptr, &sky.pipeline));
-
-  backgroundEffects.push_back(gradient);
-  backgroundEffects.push_back(sky);
-  
-  vkDestroyShaderModule(_device, gradientShader, nullptr);
-  vkDestroyShaderModule(_device, skyShader, nullptr);
-
+  // final cleanup
   _mainDeletionQueue.push_function([=,this]() {
       vkDestroyPipelineLayout(_device, _gradientPipelineLayout, nullptr);
-      vkDestroyPipeline(_device, sky.pipeline, nullptr);
-      vkDestroyPipeline(_device, sky.pipeline, nullptr);
+  });
+}
+
+
+void VulkanEngine::init_shaders() {
+  /// gradient shader
+  load_shader("gradient_color.comp.spv", "main", {
+      .name="gradient",
+      .data={
+        .data1 = glm::vec4(1, 0, 0, 1),
+        .data2 = glm::vec4(0, 0, 1, 1),
+      }
+  });
+
+  load_shader("sky.comp.spv", "main", {
+      .name="sky",
+      .data = {
+        .data1 = glm::vec4(0.1, 0.2, 0.4, 0.97)
+      }
   });
 }
 
diff --git a/vk_engine.h b/vk_engine.h
index b5c85a5..c890046 100644
--- a/vk_engine.h
+++ b/vk_engine.h
@@ -88,6 +88,8 @@ public:
   // imgui shader stuff
   std::vector<ComputeEffect> backgroundEffects;
   int currentBackgroundEffect{0};
+  
+  // ZED's REFACTOR
   VkGUI _gui;
 
   static VulkanEngine& Get();
@@ -114,6 +116,8 @@ private:
   void init_descriptors();
   void init_pipelines();
   void init_background_pipelines();
+  void init_shaders();
+  void load_shader(const char *file_name, const char *entry_point, ComputeEffect data);
 
   void create_swapchain(uint32_t width, uint32_t height);
   void destroy_swapchain();