Jowers, IestynPrats, MiquelLim, SungwooMcKay, AlisonGarner, SteveChase, ScottChristine Alvarado and Marie-Paule Cani2014-01-282014-01-282008978-3-905674-07-11812-3503http://dx.doi.org/10.2312/SBM/SBM08/151-158This paper presents research that aims to inform the development of computational tools that better support design exploration and idea transformation - key objectives in conceptual design. Analyses of experimental data from two fields - product design and architecture - suggest that the interactions of designers with their sketches can be formalised according to a finite number of generalised shape rules defined within a shape grammar. Such rules can provide a basis for the generation of alternative design concepts and they have informed the development of a prototype shape synthesis system that supports dynamic reinterpretation of shapes in design activity. The notion of sub-shapes' is introduced and the significance of these to perception, recognition and the development of emergent structures is discussed. The paper concludes with some speculation on how such a system might find application in a range of design fields.Categories and Subject Descriptors (according to ACM CCS): H.5.2 [User Interfaces]: Interaction styles I.3.6 [Computer Graphics]: Interaction techniques J.6 [Computer-Aided Engineering]: Computer-Aided Design (CAD)