Channels and Flow – Complex Design Convergence

I’ve always been captivated by the airplane views of desert rivers in the US South West and Californian Freeways. The flow of red dotted headlights, like blood cells flowing along the city’s main concrete arteries. Humans traveling from place to place and like cells bringing oxygen to the economy. The orderly flow of thousands of people along a sprawl of channels, winding chaotically through the city.

When I come to think of it, channels and flow a probably one of the most important visual metaphors of life and artists like Hubert Blanz, Peter Andrew and Christian Stoll have picked up on this.

Expressing with their work something of our complex and sometimes dizzying personal journeys.

Image by Hubert Blanz

Image by Peter Andrew

Image by Christian Stoll

In this respect design is no different to life, it too is a journey of progressive flow, where direction and convergence are intrinsic design qualities, both with regards to its aesthetic and function. The way a shoe looks, how well it functions and how efficiently it is made are all due to a good convergence of lines, construction and materials.