Who Else Wants to Create a Domino Design?

Domino (also known as bones, cards, men, pieces, or tiles) is a rectangular piece of wood, plastic, or another material with a line down the center and a value on each end, from 6 to zero. Most dominoes are twice as long as they are wide. When you flick a domino, it sets off a chain reaction as the pieces fall, one after the other. Dominoes can be arranged in straight or curved lines, grids that form pictures when they fall, and 3D structures like towers and pyramids. They are normally double-sided to allow you to re-stack them after use.

The word “domino” was first recorded in 1771 in the Dictionnaire de Trevoux, and the game grew in popularity around the same time. The fad spread to Europe from Italy and Austria, and it became popular in France by the early 18th century.

One woman who is an expert in domino creations is Lily Hevesh, a professional artist who has created mind-blowing installations for movies, TV shows, and even the Katy Perry album launch. She started playing with dominoes as a kid and, at age 9, began making her own designs. Hevesh has built her reputation by sharing her designs online and by displaying them at special events.

When creating a domino design, Hevesh starts by considering the theme or purpose of the installation. Then she brainstorms images and words that could represent the design. She also considers what will make the most effective impact, or “domino,” on the viewer.

She then outlines her domino design on paper. She draws arrows to show how the dominoes should be positioned, and she calculates how many pieces are needed for the design. She then creates a template out of cardboard or another sturdy material and places the dominoes on their sides. She makes sure to place the directional arrows right where she wants them.

As Hevesh places each domino, she tests it to make sure it works properly. Then she builds the larger 3-D sections of the design, followed by the lines of dominoes that connect all the sections. Her biggest installations can take several nail-biting minutes to fall, but once they do, the results are breathtaking.

Hevesh’s incredible designs are a testament to the laws of physics, and she is especially proud of her work’s contribution to science. But, she says, there is one physical phenomenon that is the key to a great domino setup: gravity. As a domino falls, its potential energy converts into kinetic energy as it moves forward, and that energy is transferred to the next domino. And the process continues, until the last domino has fallen.

Hevesh’s meticulous planning and testing ensures that her work will be a success, but she can never fully predict the exact outcome of an entire domino effect. The same principle applies to risk analysis, where the uncertainty of data and models is a common challenge.