The goal of the first three programs was to isolate and explore particular design elements: repetition, variation, and rhythm. For each element an applet was constructed. Each applet takes a single mouse click as input and produces an image. The purpose of the applets is to create a design space, give the user a feel for how variations can produce different looks. In the repetition circles, the click position controls the number and size of the circles; by clicking around, the user sees the impact of repeated circles at various densities. In variety triangles the mouse click controls the degree of randomness of triangles in both the horizontal and vertical axis; strikingly different effects are achieved by varying the horizontal and vertical axes. The rhythm lines take a different approach: mouse clicks define the center of activity, while the actual patterns are randomly determined harmonic sequences. The effect tries to suggest rhythm in two dimensions.
The final block balancing program was intended to be an interactive demonstration of physical balance. It turned into an experiment of how well physical balance yields visual balance. Mouse clicks simply generate random balanced scenes of blocks whose mass is proportionate to their area. It's suprising how few of the random outputs are pleasing - most don't look correct, even though they are.