Coding

Introduction

Generative design is all around us, but we are just not aware of it. We are moving into the age where AI and tech are dominating the world and demands for different creative assets are also rising. We have multiple screen sizes, different platforms, webpages and microsite. Everything needs to be Dynamic. Even for brands and design.

In my background as an interaction designer, we were all taught responsiveness and dynamics at the very core. But how does that translate to design? I think generative design is one of the responses to it. With the ever-evolving landscape, I was excited to learn more and understand the backbone of it.

We were tasked to create graphics based on a building that we had chosen. Our team chose Tekka shopping centre, it is made up of organic shapes that look like petals, all framed in a rectangle, scattered across the building.

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Process

My intent thought was to take 2 circles, get them to overlap each other and create the central petal. I couldn’t figure out how this works, so tried using bezierVertex to draw, 6 points creating the petal. But quickly the problem of having a fix X,Y came to a problem as I could only control it with translate. So back to the drawing board. I was playing around with Eclipse and Rect. The idea of rounding specific corners of a rect might create a very similar effect.

With a shape that can change its variable to X, Y would become a lot easier. Casey also explored a few other variations of the petal. I went back to refer to my book Flexible Visual System and see what explorations we could do.

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A few things we explored, having the petals mirror each other, would create a similar effect to the Tekka shopping center. We also explored adding different shapes that were also represented on the mall.

We had some time, so we asked Kapi to explain the logic to use regarding the drawing of the circles. So explored a little bit it but we decided to use as more of as a decorative due to some limitation of the shape cant be filled in that specific area.

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Zine & Poster

After confirming the design, we started working on the zine layout and laying out everything. We went into illustrator and fixed some of the imperfections we wanted to. We also manage to adjust different colour scheme to explore different look to it. Zine folding was really fun, I enjoyed how when its open up it was a poster. With the poster, we grabbed a visual we liked to complete the whole workshop.

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Findings and Insights

This project helped me discover the different ways of approaching a problem. It allows me to think of out-of-the-box solutions to help me understand my own thought process better. A complex problem might only need the simplest fix. I also understand how a control set of variables could generate a design that is out of what I can imagine.

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Reflection

This was a really fun project, I think seeing the design idea getting translated into codes and then to its final out was satisfying for me. I feel like I only managed to scratch the surface of what generative design could do at this point, so now that I have an understanding of the basics I will definitely explore more and understand what I can create with this framework.

What I have learned

This project really opened my eyes to the potential of generative design and how it fits into today’s dynamic digital landscape. It challenged me to think beyond traditional design tools and approach problems in new ways—sometimes, a complex issue just needs a simple fix. Playing around with different shapes, variables, and logic helped me better understand my own design process and the power of controlled randomness in creating something unique. Seeing the design evolve from concept to code to a final output was incredibly satisfying. I feel like I’ve only scratched the surface of generative design, but now that I have a solid foundation, I’m excited to keep exploring and pushing its possibilities further.