What does a real bio-surface look like? Two compelling examples in nature are (1) the basement membrane structures upon which endothelial cells and epithelial cells are adhered to in living creatures and (2) the surface of living cells. The characteristics of these real bio-surfaces are the presence of multiple recognition molecules that are oriented appropriately and conformationally stabilized, considerable molecular mobility used to turn on and off signals, an appropriate mechanical environment, options for repair of degraded components and inhibition of non-specific interactions. How might we, as "biointerface scientists," emulate all or part of the obvious functionality of such complex biosurfaces? This will be the focus of this lecture. The following subjects will be discussed and examples presented: inhibition of non-specific interactions; controlled surface molecular mobility; artificial surfaces with extracellular matrix components; protein orientation for signal delivery.