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Ideas Taking Shape: Geometric Inspiration

“I think the universe is pure geometry – basically, a beautiful shape twisting around and dancing over space-time.” – Antony Garrett Lisi, Theoretical Physicist

Sometimes it’s helpful to get back to the basics. And what’s more basic than geometry, representations of triangles, squares, circles and polyhedrons, all in great, small, and limitless combination form the most complex natural and manmade systems. It’s no wonder why designers will always find solace, comfort, and inspiration in the simplicity of the geometric. Here are a few exploratory or creative escapist tools for getting a daily dose of Euclidean-based pleasure.

geometry-makes-me-happy

Geometry Makes Me Happy: the title says it all. A colorful tome celebrating everything geometric from the world of art, photography, graphic design, illustration, industrial design, fashion, street art and interior design.

Geometric Music: Available as both an app and webapp Geometric Music records environmental audio to produce shapes – triangle, square, circle or hexagon – geometric representations of these sounds. Each shape can be manipulated to modulate sounds, a graphical and minimalist mixing board where what you see becomes what you hear.

Present_Correct

Present & Correct Jars 1-4: Masters of artfully composed stationery arrangements and purveyors of “office sundries for the modern workspace”, Mark Sturkenboom of Present & Correct impressed yet again with these geometric compositions displayed under glass.

Patatap: Another music/sound exploratory synthesizer with each letter of the keyboard assigned a unique corresponding sound. Button masheing game players and toddlers alike will found unlimited joy in orchestrating a firework show of geometric shapes, laser beams of line work, and pleasant digital sound effects.

Cucalu: Dutch visual artist Daniel Disselkoen’s new game/app turns smartphone photography into a playful scavenger hunt of basic shapes, challenging users to explore and identify the world of geometrics all around us. Geometrically similar focal subjects are stitched together to compose short movies where the shapes of the world become the stars.

Gregory Han is a Senior Editor at Design Milk. A Los Angeles native with a profound love and curiosity for design, hiking, tide pools, and road trips, a selection of his adventures and musings can be found at gregoryhan.com.