What is organic modelling? Understanding key concepts, tools and techniques in organic 3D design  

Whether you’ve sketched an idea in a notebook or in a basic drawing program, it’s not until you begin creating the 3D model that a product really comes to life. If that product features sharp edges or smooth surfaces, you’re operating in the realm of standard CAD modelling. But if it has fluid forms, textures, or is based on biomorphic structures, we’re probably talking about organic modeling.  

The meaning of “organic” varies considerably depending on who you ask. Different people highlight different aspects.  

Understanding organic modelling 

If the concept is completely new to you, the best way to learn about it is through examples. 

Consider the two products in this photo from Nissan’s Technical Center. Both the statue of the sumo wrestlers and the car are examples of organic modelling, but the techniques, skills and result differ greatly.  

The car is smooth and refined. You can design it once and produce it in the thousands. On the other hand, the sumo sculpture is a product you design once, make once – or in very limited quantities – and never again. 

What makes them distinct? The design techniques. 

The car is modelled in your standard CAD software. Engineers use this technology to design mechanical objects—ranging from simple brackets to complex vehicles like this one.

The sumo wrestler needs to be created with sculpting tools, which you don’t usually find in CAD. It would be difficult to design products that aren’t made of mechanical forms in traditional CAD systems. While many techniques have been developed over the years to help CAD create objects with a “sculpted look”, you still require very skillful designers, and considerable time and effort to make that work. 

Mechanical to organic spectrum 

Many products we purchase are neither purely organic or purely CAD but a mixture of both forms. A good way of thinking about design is a spectrum of forms ranging from organic to mechanical. Each product can be placed somewhere between the two ends of that spectrum – it has some elements of CAD and some organic.  

CAD and organic modelling software aren’t mutually exclusive either. When you find that designing organic features in CAD is starting to feel like an uphill battle, you have to ask yourself – is there a different type of 3D modeling software that is better suited for this task? If you’re planning to manufacture a product with organic features, and you’re going to make it in high volume, but your CAD system can’t handle it, you need organic modelling software.  

And the software should have both sculpting and CAD tools. Most products made for manufacturing are a mixture of organic and mechanical forms. For example, toys will have a shell shaped like something organic, such as the toy below, but its inner mechanism will require the precision of CAD. When we talk about the CAD-organic spectrum, this is what we’re referring to. 

A real world example

Let’s go back to our initial example – the sumo wrestler and the car. The wrestler is very organic, but the car has many mechanical elements. This is why the car is a better fit for CAD software than organic modelling software.  

On the other hand, certain devices are predominantly mechanical but still require organic modelling software. If you want to make an iphone case, you’ll add textures. The easiest way to do it, by far, is in organic modelling software.  

The same goes for toy cars. You can model the basic mechanical system in CAD, but the expressive elements of a character need to be sculpted, and that’s easiest to do in organic modelling software. 

We also need to consider the ultimate use of the model. A model that is intended to be a real product, no matter where it lies on the spectrum, needs to be engineered for function, strength and manufacturability.  Whereas a model that will only be used in the digital realm, e.g. for animation, only needs to look like a real product.   

4 key elements of organic modelling for product design 

The examples show that there are four key elements that define organic modelling: 

1. Used in projects where CAD doesn’t cut it. Organic modelling is the design of shapes (two dimensions) and forms (three dimensions) that cannot be easily defined by dimensions and modeled by usual CAD operations such as extrusions, revolutions, blends, sweeps, NURBS/Bezier surfacing, or Booleans. When you envisage your product, ask yourself if it’s possible to sketch it, extrude it, revolve it and end up with the design you want? If the answer is “no”, then you’re in the realm of organic modelling.  

2. A way of design thinking. Secondly, organic modelling is an approach to design in which the proportions and the emotions the object evokes are paramount. 

3. Creative exploration. Organic modelling gives you the freedom to engage in a process of design exploration. While every design software has its own structured approach to creating a model, traditional CAD systems are often more rigid. This can get in the way of the fun of figuring things out as you go. In contrast, organic modelling software uses less restrictive methods – you can start with a rough idea of an object or character and easily change it as your design evolves.  That kind of freedom is harder to achieve in CAD, where you need to define precise dimensions and features from the start. The software hinders the design process itself. 

4. Modelling physical products. Lastly, organic modelling software helps create products for the physical word – not just digital. There are many organic design systems that can make a product that looks great on the screen, but there is no way to manufacture that model, or that use real world dimensions to define features.    

Organic modelling products 

Now that we understand what organic modelling is, let’s see what type of products we can use it for.

A big area is toys. Human- or animal-like figurines need to be sculpted and broken up into pieces that will be mass produced using plastic injection moulding. Both of these steps – organic design and preparing it for manufacturing – take place in organic modelling software using a combination of sculpting tools and CAD operations. 

In the healthcare industry, we use organic modelling to design anything from medical teaching models to patient-specific hip replacement implants, cranial plates, orbital implants, or cutting guides. Because we design medical devices to fit the unique shape of a person’s body, CAD won’t cut it. 

This is why the prosthetics and orthotics industry went all-in on organic modelling. A prosthesis is only going to be comfortable if the socket fit the patient well. You can only achieve this with organic modelling. 

Finally, industrial design has adopted this modeling technique rapidly too. Today we use it to make everything from jewelry, shoes, razors, lunch boxes, dollhouses, or bottles with unique, sculpted or textured elements.  

Choosing the right software 

Now that you understand the ins and outs of organic modelling, you should feel more confident about choosing the right software. 

You need flexibility in the modelling process, your product is expressive and not defined by primitives – and you need to make it manufacturable? Even if you have a CAD system with some special technique for designing organic shapes, it’s just going to be too clunky. Organic modeling software is the way to go. 

If you want a comprehensive toolkit for organic modelling, explore Geomagic Freeform. It brings together sculpting and indispensable CAD operations, enabling you to create virtually anything, whether it’s a medical device, a toy, shoes, or baking mold.