Interestingly, designers first turned their attention to household products long before. Many products have emerged with formal characteristics largely unrelated to their primary purposes. Indus Valley ceramics (plate1) of household pots have remained unchanged after thousands of years. The forms of such earthen forms have functioned so effectively that they stand as ‘classic’ design. Each of the pot has particular functioning. The narrow neck jar, bottle or drinking cup serves specific purpose. Coca Cola (plate 1B) bottle stands as a classic design which has remained unchanged for more than a century. Beverage bottles appearing like woman-shaped bottles, refrigerators sporting aerodynamic streamlining instead of the functional requirements, the products were designed to evoke emotional responses. 18th C furniture design (plate 1C) had emphasized on the decorative quality over the form. The basic form remained hidden inside the total design. Elegance of Rococo decoration remained in vogue during that period.

Most forms begin with paradigm. D’Arcy Wentworth Thompson (2 May 1860– 21 June 1948) a Scottish scholar, biologist and mathematician, writes in his book on, On Growth and Form, “Form…, and the changes of form which are apparent in its movement and in its growth, may… be described as due to the action of force. In short, the form of an object is a ‘diagram of forces’… from it we can judge of or deduce the forces that are acting or have acted upon it.”  Thompson continues to write and explain his argument on uniformity in growth through mathematical solutions, "An organism is so complex a thing, and growth so complex a phenomenon, that for growth to be so uniform and constant in all the parts as to keep the whole shape unchanged would indeed be an unlikely and an unusual circumstance. Rates vary, proportions change, and the whole configuration alters accordingly." (Ref. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D%27Arcy_Wentworth_Thompson ; July 23, 2012)  According to Thompson the change of a form is proportionate to the growth.
(Ref. Thompson, D W., 1992. On Growth and Form, Dover reprint of 1942 2nd ed. (1st ed., 1917;
Pub: Cambridge University Press)

Buckminster Fuller’s concept of Geodesic Dome structure derives from similar assumptions. The strength of the dome is based on the arms of pentagonal, hexagonal or octagonal shapes give enough strength to build large size domes with lesser structural material and weight.  However, it is quite clear that most of the designed forms directly or indirectly are derived from design paradigm (Biomimicry). Concept of ball, types of joints, movement of limbs, jumping in air, swallowing food, etc. various functions or actions are based on design paradigm. Designers are also refined to meet a host of functional and aesthetic criteria.