This was inspiring for us as design is how we implement our ideas – to craft them into something that performs for our clients. The dictionary definition of design can be:

• a plan or drawing produced to show the look and function or workings of a building, garment, or other object before it is made.
• to create, fashion, execute, or construct according to plan
• a decorative pattern

In our branding work, design is at the heart of everything we do. Design solves branding problems by observing what you need and creating a recipe – you design a solution. And what a recipe for the universe the author lays out. In all of our history humans have sought to solve and improve their environment, lives and future. In doing so they have employed design to understand and better themselves. Design can be both a tool for building and improving but also simply to make something look better – make it more compelling and/or engaging to look at.

Ellcock outlines and describes an all encompassing journey from the micro to the macro with topics covered such as: 

• The subatomic
• Divine proportions
• Harmony ratio
• Fibonacci
• Tessellations
• The Search for nirvana 
• The soul
• The psyche
• The spirit
• Meditation
• Liberation 
• Mapping
• Measuring 
• Recording
• Predicting 
• Infinity

The universe is expanding and we are all made of stars – indeed. 

The patterns of design and the beauty he recognised restored his sense of meaning and purpose. Order out of chaos – making sense of things makes sense – design is the process by which we organise a group of elements so that they make sense. It requires elastic thinking to sort through what might appear meaningless or even chaotic and transform it into something purposeful. And that’s what this book does – he goes deep and wide and joins up a vast canvas to tell us a story of our universe and the tools with which we’ve used to make sense of it all.

“Awesome” is a much overused word but in this case it is the only way to describe this book.