The Duality of Biomimetics and Artiomimetics in the Creative Process of Design

This paper proposes a new model for the creative process of design. This model is developed by combining two of the most accepted models of creativity: the Wallas stage model and the Wertheimer productive thinking model. The paper discusses the importance of Biomimetics in design and presents examples of successful inventions produced when nature is imitated by designers. The role of Biomimetics in the new model for the creative process is discussed. For complementing the new model of creativity, this paper introduces the concept of Artiomimetics as the imitation of artifact structure, shape, features or motion to inspire the development of new inventions. This paper proposes that the incremental evolution of concepts that lead to invention is given by either the application of Biomimetics or Artiomimetics. This paper presents examples where the duality of biomimetic and artiomimetic approaches is used to effectively foster creativity resulting in breakthrough inventions.