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Video abstract for the article 'Engineering mesoscale structures with distinct dynamical implications' by Anne-Ly Do, Johannes Höfener and Thilo Gross (Anne-Ly Do et al 2012 New J. Phys. 14 115022). Read the full article in New Journal of Physics at http://iopscience.iop.org/1367-2630/14/11/115022/article. Part of Focus on Soft Mesoscopics: Physics for Biology at a Mesoscopic Scale GENERAL SCIENTIFIC SUMMARY Introduction and background. The dynamics of networks of interacting systems depend intricately on the interaction topology. Dynamical implications of local topological properties such as the node degrees and global topological properties such as the degree distribution have intensively been studied. Mesoscale properties, by contrast, have only recently come into the sharp focus of network science but have rapidly developed into one of the hot topics in the field. This leads to current questions such as: can considering a mesoscale structure such as a single subgraph already allow conclusions on properties of the network as a whole? Can we extract implications that are independent of the embedding network? And: which mesoscale structures should be considered? Main results. We show that certain mesoscale subgraphs have precise and distinct consequences for the system-level dynamics. In particular, they induce characteristic dynamical instabilities that are independent of the structure of the embedding network. Wider implications. The ability to analyze dynamical implications of mesoscale subgraphs advances our understanding of the functional importance of network motifs that dominate the structure of biological networks. Moreover, the ability to assemble and combine topological building blocks with defined dynamical implications may facilitate the design of future technical systems that exploit emergence in complex systems.