Generative design
A way of designing in which you write rules or programs that generate many variants of an image, an object or an identity, to choose among them.
What problem it addresses
Drawing many pieces by hand that are different yet coherent is slow, and limits options to what one person can imagine.
Principles
Rules
You design the system, not each piece.
Controlled randomness
Variations within limits.
Choose
The designer selects and decides.
Applications in design
Use it like this
First define what can vary and what can't, then generate many options to choose from.
Avoid
Letting the program decide without design judgment.
Don’t fall for it
Set what must not vary: it is what keeps the whole recognizable.
Connections
Authors and works
- 2012
Hartmut Bohnacker, Benedikt Gross, Julia Laub and Claudius Lazzeroni
Brought together, with code examples, the principles of generative design for visual design.
Sources
Original sources
- Bohnacker, H., Gross, B., Laub, J., & Lazzeroni, C. (2012). Generative design: Visualize, program, and create with Processing. Princeton Architectural Press.
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