designboom has a great article that explores the concept of biomimicry. It’s the study of nature’s designs, and learning how to copy and apply them to human design challenges. The operating idea is that instead of re-inventing the wheel every time, designers should refer to nature, and it’s billions of years of history for inspiration. Chances are, that somewhere in nature, there’s a process or structure that can be applied to whatever you are trying to make.
designboom explains “the design spiral”:
biomimicry allows innovators and problem solvers of all kinds to create more intelligent and sustainable design through the emulation of nature. designers and architects are poised to benefit greatly from the integration of biomimicry in their design process. understanding this, the biomimicry community developed a process created especially for designers. ‘the design spiral’ is a guide which helps ‘biologize a challenge, query the natural world for inspiration, then evaluate to ensure that the final design mimics nature at all levels—form, process, and ecosystem.’ this design process will not only help designers integrate biomimicry into the physical design of their projects, but also covers the manufacturing process, packaging and entire lifecycle of their design. the spiral form was chosen to ‘emphasize the reiterative nature of the process.’
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