fractals
Infinitely repeating shapes
Fractals are geometric patterns that repeat at every scale—zoom in on any part and you find smaller copies of the whole structure.
They appear throughout nature: coastlines, snowflakes, fern leaves, blood vessels.
In mathematics, fractals have fractional dimensions and infinite complexity arising from simple recursive rules.
The Mandelbrot set is the most famous example.
The coastline of Britain is a classic fractal—its measured length depends on the scale of measurement.
Identical at every magnification
- iterationRepeated procedural pass
- recursionProcess invoking itself
- scalingClimbing or resizing
- dimensionMeasurable extent or scope
geometry · algorithm · infinite · transformation · space-filling · deterministic · set theory · complex plane
Made by machines, not humans
- renderingInterpretive depiction or performance
- graphicsVisual design elements
- CGIDigital movie imagery
- proceduralFollowing set steps
3D modeling · texture · pixel · vector · zoom · software · animation · generative art
Fractal pattern in chaos
- butterfly effectSmall inputs, disproportionate results
- nonlinearNot in sequence
- turbulenceChaotic flow patterns
- feedbackReturned response data
emergence · perturbation · sensitivity · unpredictability · deterministic chaos · dissipative
Land-water boundary
- fernSpore-spreading vascular plant
- snowflakeFeathery ice crystal
- lightningAtmospheric electrical discharge
- river deltaAlluvial deposit at mouth
mountain · cloud · broccoli · romanesco · coral · blood vessels · crystal growth · shoreline
Resembling a hallucination
- kaleidoscopicShowing constantly changing patterns
- hypnoticInducing trance or slumber
- mesmerizingCompletely capturing one's attention
- colorfulFull of varied hues
swirling · mind-bending · poster · screensaver · album art · consciousness · meditation · optical illusion
self-similarity
Identical at every magnification
dimension · geometry · algorithm · infinite · transformation · space-filling · deterministic · set theory · complex plane · boundary
computer-generated
Made by machines, not humans
- renderingInterpretive depiction or performance
- graphicsVisual design elements
- CGIDigital movie imagery
procedural · 3D modeling · texture · pixel · vector · zoom · software · animation · generative art · processing
strange attractor
Fractal pattern in chaos
- butterfly effectSmall inputs, disproportionate results
- nonlinearNot in sequence
- turbulenceChaotic flow patterns
feedback · emergence · perturbation · sensitivity · unpredictability · deterministic chaos · dissipative
coastline
Land-water boundary
- fernSpore-spreading vascular plant
- snowflakeFeathery ice crystal
- lightningAtmospheric electrical discharge
river delta · mountain · cloud · broccoli · romanesco · coral · blood vessels · crystal growth · shoreline · erosion
trippy
Resembling a hallucination
- kaleidoscopicShowing constantly changing patterns
- hypnoticInducing trance or slumber
- mesmerizingCompletely capturing one's attention
colorful · swirling · mind-bending · poster · screensaver · album art · consciousness · meditation · optical illusion · immersive
- PsychedeliaLSD, acid, psychedelic posters, tie-dye, hallucination
- science artscientific illustration, anatomical drawing, botanical illustration, medical illustration, Vitruvian Man
- DMT visionsbreakthrough, hyperspace, entities, geometric patterns, ego death
- generative artgenerative art, code art, strange attractors, tessellation, WebGL
- recursionrecursion, base case, self-reference, infinite recursion, recurrence relation
- math conceptsangle, numbers, algebra, circle, equations
fractalsEuclidean geometry
Study of flat planes
regular polygons · circles · spheres · straight lines · cubes
fractalssmooth curves
Continuous rounded shapes
splines · parabolas · sine waves · flowing lines · polished surfaces
- fractal geometryStudy of self-repeating shapes
- fractal patternsShapes echoing themselves endlessly