Design in Nature

Sometimes it's easy to look around at design in everyday life and forget to notice one large facet. Man-made design - The products, advertisements, technology, STUFF - is constantly in our faces and we have become so attuned to marketing that we sometimes don't see past it.

I live in a major city and I certainly understand. But even amidst the steel, stone and glass of Chicago skyscrapers lies an intricate and complex architecture built with cellulose and water vapor. We just have to force ourselves to look up or down from time to time to notice.

Wired Magazine highlights photographic themes from time to time and in August had shown a photograph of Morning Glory clouds. Apparently there was enough interest that they produced a full article called Weird, Rare Clouds and the Physics Behind Them about the mechanics of how the clouds form as well as more stunning photographs.

If you've ever seen cell structures under a microscope, photos of coral, hot springs at Yellowstone or even really looked at the flowers pushing through the sidewalk, you can't deny being witness to complex design in execution.