7: Design from Patterns to Details
Design from Patterns to Details
“By stepping back, we can observe patterns in nature and society. These can form the backbone of our designs, with the details filled in as we go.”
🕸️ About the Principle
Use Natural Patterns and Apply them to Design
This principle asks us to use nature as our teacher and to consider the patterns we see repeated in natural systems. If we were to consider what kind of aesthetic the natural world has, we’d see things like fractals, spirals, waves, tessellations, meanders, bubbles, cracks, spots and stripes. We might also see the pattern alphabets in our natural worlds and notice that shapes continue in a wide variety of places.
These patterns are so fundamental as to be almost invisible to us. We see them everywhere, and yet we do not turn to them as often as we might to consider how to live our lives.
What might these patterns give us or inspire for us if we were to think about them in our everyday life?How can we learn from the patterns in nature and apply them to our lives? If we were to see our challenges as an organization as part of a meander or as a wave, how might this change our perception of finding the next right step?
🌱 Patterns in Your Life
Are there places in my life where I am stuck in a repetitive cycle? What might help me shift to spiral outwards instead of looping?
How is my energy distributed? Are some branches of my life thriving while others feel neglected?
What are the natural rhythms of my energy in terms of my work or my relationships? Am I respecting these rhythms?
How can I cultivate more harmony in areas that feel chaotic or disconnected?
What metaphors and processes in the natural world am I drawn to right now?
Do I feel drawn to an action a certain animal makes? The patterns of leaves? The way that a river flows? A flower, shrub or herb? Webs? Spirals? Fractals?
What is it about these natural elements that appeal to me? What does it teach me?
Does nature deal with some version of a problem or a challenge I face? If so, how does the natural world respond?
- For example if there have been big disruptions in my life, such as a divorce or a death in the family, how might these be compared to nature recovering from a forest fire or a hurricane?
🌐 Patterns in Your Community
How might we work/think in a fractal way? Are there small, replicable actions that could create larger, systemic change over time?
Are there ways to improve the “flow” of ideas, energy, or resources between people and groups in our community?
How can we create systems that allow resources and opportunities to branch out equitably to everyone?
Are we allowing enough time and space for processes to unfold naturally, or are we rushing to get to a destination?
🌿 Examples in the Natural World
➰ Spirals - Can be seen in shells, ferns unfurling, pinecones, sunflowers, succulents, hurricanes, whirlpools, ocean currents, animal horns, spiral galaxies, animals curled, ammonites, DNA and bacteria.
⚡ Branches - Can be seen in trees, root structures, leaf veins, water systems and deltas, the anatomy of blood vessels, nerves and lungs, lightning, erosion patterns, coral reefs, fungi, snowflakes and more.
🌊 Waves - water/ocean waves, ripples in ponds, river rapids, birdsongs, echoes, heat waves, cloud formations, waves of wind, sand ripples, rock striations, motion of some animals, wind through grasslands, heartbeats, solar waves
There are unlimited patterns - please share more!
🌀 Integrating this Principle
Pick a pattern and consider what it has to teach you right now about a challenges in your life. Some ideas:
Meander - How can I let the flow of my life wind it’s way towards the easiest and lowest spot to flow?
Spiral - In what ways do the challenges I’m facing right now spiral from things I’ve experienced in the past?
Parallel - Who else is also experiencing something similar to what I am experiencing but I may not know it because we’re both looking in the same direction?
Symmetry - What might change if I assumed that this problem had a symmetry to it? Or an asymmetry?
Branching - How might we explore different paths to get to the most direct one?
📖 Resources for Further Exploration
Written by Beth M. Duckles. Licensed under CC BY 4.0. Contact me.