Cell out: Biology inspires jewellery designers

Somerville, Massachusetts – Design studio Nervous System has released Radiolaria, a web application that enables people to create complex jewellery based on a digital honeycomb pattern.

Customers can manipulate their designs with intuitive tools, expanding or contracting the hexagonal cells, or spiralling and subdividing them. A rendering of a necklace updates the design instantly, enabling customers to preview their creations.

Nervous System released an initial version of the software in 2007, and it has evolved along with the web. ‘Making something like this wouldn’t have been possible for us or the internet five years ago,’ writes Jessica Rosenkrantz, co-founder of Nervous System.

The project draws its name and design inspiration from radiolaria, microscopic sea creatures that create skeletons in geometric patterns.

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