When I think of good and great design I think of nature. Most animals, plants, insects, and organisms in nature are designed to adapt to its environment and if the environment changes either it migrates, dies because there is no use for it anymore, or it evolves into something better suited for the environment. There are tons of products that use biomimicry to inspire their materials, structure, or systems. Good design solves problems and great design can adapt to the changes in our culture and environments. Good and great design is functional, useful, honest, simple and well thought out. What makes great design GREAT, in addition to the above characteristics, it’s long-lasting, never complicated, the product is understood without much instruction. The product is design with the user’s intuition in mind.

I realize that studying biomimicry and how it may relate to your product idea can be overwhelming. I would start by thinking about what is the goal of the product and what you want the product to do. How does that relate to nature? Then do lots of research. If possible interview a 

I have always been inspired by the beauty and complexity of nature. Applying nature to your design can be as simple as a color palette or the texture and shapes in a butterfly wing. Take your observation of nature a step further. Think about how and why butterfly wings are shaped the way they are. Why do some butterfly wings reflect and some do not? In nature, there is always a useful reason behind the design.  Below are some tools and articles on biomimicry inspired products.

Life on earth presents elegant solutions to many of the challenges that designers and innovators face every day Life on earth presents elegant solutions to many of the challenges that designers and innovators face every day. Explore AskNature to find biological strategies, inspired ideas, and resources relative to your own innovation challenges, so you can begin to emulate the time-tested forms, processes, and systems that already thrive in balance with Earth’s complex systems. Learn More

The wings of a butterfly have inspired a new type of solar cell that can harvest light twice as efficiently as before and could one day improve our solar panels. 

Solar panels are usually made of thick solar cells, and are positioned at an angle to get the most amount of light from the sun as it moves throughout the day. Thin film solar cells, which can be only nanometers thick, have a lot of potential. These are cheaper and lighter, but because they’re less efficient, we usually use them only in watches and calculators, instead of solar panels. Scientists studied the black wings of the rose butterfly, and copied the structure to create thin solar cells that are more efficient…read more

By Dallon Adams

Sometimes the best solution to a problem isn’t alway the most complex, and, similarly, the best answer isn’t always a new one one. While us humans may just be getting our feet wet (relatively speaking) with ingenuity, the animal kingdom has millennia of evolutionary trial-and-error to learn from…read more

By Tom Vanderbilt

Creative minds are increasingly turning to nature—banyan tree leaves, butterfly wings, a bird’s beak— for fresh design solutions.

Windows that prevent bird collisions by mimicking the UV-reflective qualities of spider webs; a train that travels faster, uses less energy and makes less noise after it was redesigned to resemble a bird’s beak; highly efficient wind turbine blades that mimic the bumpy edges of a whale’s flippers.

These are just three of countless examples of biomimicry – technologies inspired by forms, processes and systems found in nature. The discipline is no longer just an academic exercise. It has become an innovation tool that allows companies to develop a new class of products and services…read more

I hope this inspires you to look to nature to produce new innovative products and systems.