The ability to predict, design and make the perfect material with just the right properties to do what we want, how we want, and when we want is the holy grail of materials research. Such “materials on demand” require control over thermodynamics, kinetics, nonequilibrium behavior, and structure across many length and time scales. With continuing advances in computer simulation capabilities, we have never been closer to the goal, but many challenges – and opportunities – remain. Many of those are at the boundaries of the subfields of materials research, where ideas from one area spur advances in others, and where computational tools and concepts are transferable across domains and scales. At the same time, foundational understanding at one scale can help understand new discoveries at different scales, regardless of the nature of the material and the forces holding it together. In this seminar, we show how atomic and molecular crystal structures – made possible by chemical bonds – can be realized for nanoparticles and colloids via enthalpic and entropic bonds. We show how these bonds can be designed and engineered for self-assembly.