For the last week I have been trying to get my head around design algorithms. I always thought the products from the effects are great and that the endless design opportunities are really exciting.
For the last thirteen years of using rhino I have always worked in a design led way. I nearly always begin with a sketchbook and pen. I decided I wanted to make at least one piece for my shipping container house whereby I have an initial idea and let the computer work out the details of the design. After spending a few weeks making a cushion cover for my jewellery making stool I decided to recreate the current stool design I have using CAD. I am currently using a Pakistani rushty stool which I love for size weight and use. I am planning on taking this basic shape and running algorithms on it to determine my final stool design for the shipping container house. This is all quite easy to write however I have soon came to realise that this is going to take a little more time to get to grips with than I had originally thought.
I began the week looking at software called Dreamcatcher by Autodesk. I have seen many articles on the internet of how this program has been developed to be able to let a designer run variations on their model to come up with the best design solution.
https://autodeskresearch.com/projects/dreamcatcher
I really wanted to use this software to develop my idea however after talking to Autodesk the software is not yet available.
I then decided to check out Grasshopper which is a plug in for Rhino. This is where my mind was blown and I became stuck in the computer for the last five days. I thought I knew most things about Rhino until I downloaded Grasshopper! I have discovered that I need to learn an entirely different language. I would compare Grasshopper to designing through being a virtual electrician. The commands are very similar to Rhino, however they are wired together in an order almost like coding. The program allows you to change a design multiple times without rebuilding it every time as you would have to do n Rhino.
After day 3 of teaching myself from youtube video’s I hadn’t got very far in terms of designs, however I had seen a change in my way of thinking and the coding began making more sense. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhg5WAV0lss
By the end of the week I have managed to get a little further, however I definitely need more practice and my design is still not what I am looking for!
A Tool Making Approach through digital technologies. 
I found the same addiction when I first discovered Grasshopper – such a powerful tool 🙂 Like you I’ve read a lot about Dreamcatcher, and seen some amazing work, so hopefully it becomes accessible soon. Just out of interest you might like to try a free program call nTopology Element http://www.ntopology.com/element-free/ – I haven’t had time to play with it yet, but the tutorials look quite good for allowing you to import volumes and customise the way a lattice structure fill them.
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Thanks for the advice, I will check those out. I have been trying to get into tree structures his week which is tricky.
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