Jessica Rosenkrantz and Jesse Louis-Rosenberg form the Boston based design duo Nervous System. The inspiring creative duo are currently one of the front runners in computational, algorithmic and generative design. With MIT degrees in Architecture, Mathematics and biology between them their outlook on design and forms was bound to be different. And it is, from releasing the tools they've made to create their designs for free  to being inspired by ice formations, leaves and radiolarians, their exciting new design is squarely rooted in technology as well as the natural world. You can visit their website here and their Shapeways Shop is here.

Joris Peels: how did the two of you meet?

Jessica Rosenkrantz: We both were undergraduates at MIT and we met because we lived in the same dorm.

Joris Peels: Are the two of you 'designers'?

Jesse Louis-Rosenberg: Yes.

Jessica Rosenkrantz: I like the word designer because it's so difficult to pin down...what we do is actually pretty strange and it would be hard to categorize it as anything except maybe design.  On the one had, we're making (primarily) jewelry and doing in a serious way where we're selling to stores all over the world and through our own website in enough volume to support both of us.  On the other hand, I really view it as an intellectual project about using generative design to create all unique consumer products.

Joris Peels: How do a Biology, Architecture and Mathematics degree help you in your design work? Do those backgrounds still inspire you?

Jesse Louis-Rosenberg: Not much at all.  Except for the occasional need to do hours of tedious work.  I cannot say I put much stake in institutional education.  I do use calculus once and a while, but that does not really come from my math degree either since I took calculus in high school.

The things that inspired us to pursue those fields still inspire us today.  We both have active interests in science and research.  Jessica has textbooks she reads on the molecular biology and books on slime molds, microbiology, etc.  I often look for interesting papers on topics of simulation of natural phenomenon.  That is not exactly math, but math was never my primary interest.

Joris Peels: Explain generative design to us...

Jesse Louis-Rosenberg: Generative design (or computational design, algorithmic design, etc) is not all that well defined.  Most basically you could say it is writing computer programs that make designs.  A more nuanced explanation would be that you design a process for creation instead of a finished product.  That process can then be used to generate an infinite variety of designs.  Sometimes it can involve interactivity, either with a user or some source of information, sometimes it just works on its own.

Joris Peels: Why choose generative design?

Jesse Louis-Rosenberg: It is not really a choice for me.  It is just what I do.  I did not start out wanting to be a designer and then chose the medium of generative design.  I started out experimenting with programs, and then decided to make products.

Jessica Rosenkrantz: I never really considered being a designer....up until I decided to go to grad school I guess.  Originally I was studying Biology, but while at MIT I was exposed to the sort of things they were working on at the Media Lab and I took a class with John Maeda just to check it out.  I got pretty excited about the possibilities of generative art and I felt like it was something that I (someone with no traditional artistic ability whatsoever) could use to create some interesting artworks.  Eventually that developed into me getting a second major in Architecture where I was further exposed to a lot of interesting generative work.  Anyways, basically what I'm saying is I probably would have never have gotten involved in design period if it weren't for the possibility of doing generative work.

Joris Peels: Do you think you'll always use generative? Always develop families of products?

Jesse Louis-Rosenberg: No.  We already have a couple products that are not generative.  We are interested in process, but it does not always have to be a generative design process.  It could be a construction or manufacturing process that is interesting.  A system does not have to be computational in nature.  Though we will most likely always use computational tools to aid our designs even if they are not "generative".

Joris Peels: Are you designers in the sense that you develop products? Or are you perhaps interaction designers because you develop software that makes products?

Jesse Louis-Rosenberg: I do not consider myself an interaction designer.  Interaction is not the main focus of our work.  It is a necessary component, but creation is our ultimate goal.  Our programs are primarily developed for our own use, so I would not say we are designing an interaction to be consumed.

Joris Peels: Are you going to get into co-creation?

Jesse Louis-Rosenberg: Yes that is something that we would like to be more involved in.  We do already have some co-creation systems at n-e-r-v-o-u-s.com .  We have two applets online where people can use programs we created to design their own pieces.  We also have versions of the code for our 3D printed pieces that could be used to generate and price those, but we haven't had a chance to put that system online yet.

Joris Peels: What type of software do you guys write?

Jesse Louis-Rosenberg: We primarily use Processing which is a derivative of Java that is geared towards designers.  Each line of products we make has an interactive program (or suite of programs) that we use to generate all the pieces.  We also do scripting in various 3D modeling programs, though we do not use that for production work, we use it mostly for sketching.

Joris Peels: You will actually release the source code of the applications? So how will you make money then?

Jesse Louis-Rosenberg: The source code for most of our applications is online already and the rest will be eventually once they are cleaned up.  We have not had any and I do not anticipate any problems by having our work open source.  We probably have more legal protection to our designs that most other designers.  As a rule most designs get ripped off, and there is not really any protection.  We can at least say that no one can use our software for commercial purposes.

Also, the intersection of people we want to steal experimental design products, and people who want to mess around with code tends to be pretty small.

Joris Peels: What other tools do you use to create?

Jesse Louis-Rosenberg: We use Rhinoceros to sketch our ideas sometimes. That is mostly it for computer tools.  We also use tools like pliers, hammers, wire cutters, etc to finish pieces.  We built a CNC router which we have used to prototype some furniture.

Joris Peels: You seem to create a lot of accessories and jewelery, is this the goal or will you branch out into other things?

Jesse Louis-Rosenberg: Jewelry was something we started out making primarily by accident.  The great thing about it is that the scale is very manageable (cost and space wise) and allows a lot of freedom with form.  We also have made some furniture and are working on some housewares and lighting as well.  Ultimately, we hope to design at an architectural scale, but we like to be able to control all the aspects of our projects.  As we accumulate resources and experience, we're trying to take on larger and more complex projects.

Joris Peels: How did you guys get started as designers?

Jesse Louis-Rosenberg: Our business stemmed from work we were doing for Jessica's graduate architecture projects.  It turns out the scale of architectural models is very similar to the scale of jewelry.  One day Jessica decided a piece of her model looked like it could be a bracelet.  It became our first piece of our jewelry line, the Radiolaria bracelet.

Joris Peels: How did you 'sell' and market yourselves?

Jesse Louis-Rosenberg: When we first started, we posted our pieces on etsy on a bit of a whim.  We also posted pictures to some flickr pools.  It got picked up by some blogs and just took off on its own.  We did not push it or even the concept behind it.  A little while later, we decided to take it more seriously  by opening our own website and participating in craft and design shows.  We've been lucky to be featured in a host of physical and digital publications ranging from Metropolis Magazine to the Washington Post and Gizmodo and even an flight travel magazine. We've been quite lucky with that considering that neither of us enjoys marketing and publicity and hence we don't work on those aspects of the business.

Blogs do a lot of our marketing for us.  Otherwise, the only marketing we do is participating in shows.  The shows are primarily selling events but you also meet press there.

Joris Peels: Do you have any advice for people getting started as designers?

Jesse Louis-Rosenberg: Just make stuff.  Do not stop at prototypes.  There are enough manufacturing processes out there that do not require a lot of overhead, you can find ways of making affordable, small runs and get products out there on your own.  Also, there can be a fine line between conceptual and gimmicky.  The worth of what you design is ultimately what you make not your ideas.

Joris Peels: Why use 3D printing?

Jesse Louis-Rosenberg: Everything we do is tied to the computer, design and manufacturing.  Every manufacturing process we use is computer controlled.  It makes for an easy work flow and gives us a lot of flexibility.  The quality and price of 3D printing has gotten to the point it is suitable for products a lot of people can afford, so it was a natural choice.

Joris Peels: How do you use Shapeways?

Jesse Louis-Rosenberg: As a manufacturer.  There are not many manufacturers out there that can match the ease and usability of Shapeways.  I am not sure how necessary or appropriate it is for manufacturers to also act as a market place.  There are other places on the web that do it much better.  And when I'm looking to buy something my first thought is not that I want a product made by a specific service.

Joris Peels: Any feedback, what do we need to improve about Shapeways?

Jesse Louis-Rosenberg: The main thing I could ask for is for Shapeways to be in the US.  Otherwise, just keep adding new materials and staying on top of new technology.

Jessica Rosenkrantz: And please bring back the vapor smoothed ABS! (the White Glaze material)