The properties of complex matter and assemblies follow from structural elements embedded at a variety of length scales. These influences begin at the most microscopic level--that is at sizes associated with the atomic or molecular constituents--and extend upwards through increasingly more complex hierarchies of organization. While it is common in research to focus on organizations that arise via a thermodynamically directed assembly, it is now possible to design and study assemblies that form solely as a result of the temporal evolution of the underlying dynamics of the system. In this talk I will explore these ideas, focusing on the important role played by dynamics in prototypical complex organic thin-film assembly systems. Specific attention will be given to thin film systems that develop interesting mesoscopic organizations as a result of driven processes occurring at a substrate surface.