Inspired by the water-collecting strategies of desert beetles and spider silk, a novel kind of surface with star-shaped wettablity patterns has been developed. By combining both wettability and shape gradients, the as-prepared surface has gained higher efficiency in water collection compared to circle-shaped wettability patterns and uniformly superhydrophilic or superhydrophobic surfaces. As a service to our authors and readers, this journal provides supporting information supplied by the authors. Such materials are peer reviewed and may be re-organized for online delivery, but are not copy-edited or typeset. Technical support issues arising from supporting information (other than missing files) should be addressed to the authors. Please note: The publisher is not responsible for the content or functionality of any supporting information supplied by the authors. Any queries (other than missing content) should be directed to the corresponding author for the article.