Matter : understand and create. Patterns : nature's dynamics. Energy visualized. What is pattern? -- How natural patterns are relevant to design -- Capturing the energy of your design -- Transforming energy as a design -- The patterns. Patterns of movement -- Patterns of regeneration and connectivity -- Patterns that stack and pack -- A sounding board for visuals -- Putting it into practice -- Shapes : nature's vocabulary. Shape-speak. Defining extraordinariness with numbers -- Shapes as truths -- A universe of freedoms -- Human translations of shape -- "In form" yourself by understanding shapes. The circle -- Intersecting lines -- The triangle -- The square -- The spiral -- Putting it into practice -- The elements : nature's sensuality. Color your world. Light creates color -- Color form -- The noncolor colors -- The changing ways of color -- A natural palette -- Using nature's elements in design. Nature shares genius -- The classical elements -- Putting it into practice
Memory : remembering what we know. Aesthetics : enjoy the ride. Truth and beauty. Beauty is as beauty does -- Intuition and creativity -- Synchronicity -- Wabi-sabi and grunge -- Emptiness and simplicity. Emptiness as a philosophical and visual design application -- Simplicity -- Putting it into practice -- Efficiency : go with the flow. The economics of nature. Value-driven design -- Design's purpose -- Problem solving : different strokes with effective results -- Creative ideas used skillfully -- Creatives on the creative process -- Putting it into practice -- Nature's ethics : everyone's business. Natural guidelines for ethical design. 12 design principles from nature -- Abundance and limits. Information design : discerning and distilling beautifully -- Intention and invention -- Mutation. An international design response to a manmade disaster -- Street galleries -- Ethics in education : rethinking how and what we teach. School of visual arts/New York City -- Carnegie Mellon University/Pittsburgh -- Upcycled design : applying nature's principles to personal design. The common denominator between aesthetics, efficiency, and ethics
Motion : the experience enhanced. Structure : building beauty. Structural flow. Structural forms -- The state of flow -- Design's structural vocabulary. Elements -- Technique and quality -- Process and method -- Principles -- 1+1=3 : the Gestalt principles. Figure/ground -- Closure or completion -- Continuance -- Similarity -- Proximity -- Symmetry : a balancing act in two or more parts. Three basic symmetries. Translation symmetry -- Reflection symmetry -- Rotation symmetry -- Tessellations -- Asymmetry -- Putting it into practice -- Messaging : a meaningful medium. The how and why of meaning. Symbols and the natural state -- Symbols and the altered state -- The symbolic metaphor in design -- Scaling across time and space. Designs that scale : spanning culture, trend, and time -- The hidden relationship. The hidden, seen