Throughout history, it has almost always been pencil, eraser and paper that designers rely on to quickly translate raw idea and visual representations into objects that can be manifested and therefore sold. There have been countless hair dryers and waste paper baskets and the artistic capability of these objects allows for their constant sales and therefore the continual flow of capital and ROI to investors. The speed however which design can now be moved from paper through the design workflow has been radically altered after the introduction of Geometric Modeling, then Algorithmic, and then Parametric modeling. Due to the capability of Parametric or "stretchy" and later programmatic script based modeling this has allowed designers to create design quickly and adapt it to the changing whims of investors. However, this still requires an incredible set of design software and engineering capabilities. This however is radically changing.
In Creativity And Parametric Design Comparing Designers Cognitive Approaches With Assessed Levels Of Creativity we see the breakdown of 3 approaches: a) combined open design and parametric design provides better support for creativity than either the geometric or algorithmic approaches in isolation while b) simple text-based parametric design approaches produce more algorithmic activities, thus final design results are more unexpectedness which can also support creativity but leaves final outputs more likely to be rigid in their design language however c) In parametric design, the solution-driven approach (rather than the problem driven approach) is more effective for supporting creative outcomes as well as divergent thinking thus increasing the likelihood of unexpected designed results.
