Systems and methods are graphically developing rules for transforming models between different description notations. The transformation rules may be used to transform a model in a source description notation to a new model in a target description notation. In one embodiment, graphical constructs are provided including symbols in the source description notation and the target description notation. The constructs for the source description notation are arranged in a source pattern, and the constructs for the target description notation are arranged in a target pattern, according to user instructions. The source and target patterns are sent to a transformation engine and subsequently accessed to provide at least one transformation rule utilized by the transformation engine.