modern origami modern origami design & photo jun mitani Jun Mitani is a computer engineer, but he’s also a paper artisan; he designs origami pieces with computer programs that he develops himself. Seems complicated ? Not for him, as he explained to us: « My speciality in the field of computer graphics is geometric modeling, so it’s not difficult for me to develop computer programs for designing origami once the underlying theory of origami geometry is clarified. » The beauty of his creations might be in the clearness and smooth complexity of the shapes, almost just curves. The pattern is scored on a sheet of paper by a cutting plotter. That’s why his art work is not just the folded origami pieces but also the software programs.Recently,Jun Mitani collaborated to »132 5. Jun Mitani creations are really at the confluence of Art & Science, one of the long term trend for the future. Text by Caroline Aufort. mitani
Tangrams Here's some puzzling fun for the kids from ancient China! Tangrams, "seven pieces of cleverness", are an ancient Chinese puzzle which is still mind-bending and intriguing today! We've developed some fun printable tangram puzzles which are perfect for kids - they help with logic and thinking skills, dexterity .. and they are just plain puzzling fun! Explore our tangram puzzle printables below... How to play Print out one of our Tangram templates - either in colour or black and white - onto cardstock. Teachers - you can always print these patterns out in greyscale if you are using them in the classroom! Why not print out a set of the tangram puzzle pages, laminate them, and keep them as time-fillers for children who have finished their work early? Print our black and white tangram template onto card, colour, and then cut carefully along the lines to make the seven pieces. Print our colour tangram template onto card and cut - very carefully - along the lines to make the seven pieces.
Japanese Packaging Templates - Best Used With Card Stock or Color Paper I’m not sure how I discovered this awesome collection of packaging templates but I’m glad I did! Some professor or student at a japanese univeresity was nice enough to share all their packaging templates with the world! These are a few of my favorites and you can see all of them on their website. Every situation is covered! P.S. stumbleupon
Paper Heart Wreath Paper Heart Wreath from Arts for Life Because if you have a house full of paper heart chains you will need a paper heart wreath to keep it company. And before you turn these paper hearts into a wreath they make their own fabulous paper heart chain too. If you want to make a paper heart wreath with your kids, you can check out the tutorial over at Arts for LIfe.
Origami Butterfly by Akira Yoshizawa - tutorial Today is the 101st birthday of Akira Yoshizawa, the great origami master and the father of the modern origami. You have probably noticed that Google marked the occasion with a special origami doodle created by Robert Lang! Why not celebrate the event by making your own origami butterfly?! Here is a step-by-step tutorial for a 3-d variation of a classic butterfly by Akira Yoshizawa (first spotted on Nick Robinson’s blog), enjoy! UPD. Tags: Akira Yoshizawa, Animals How To: Make Origami Stars Origami stars look tricky to make. There are several steps to follow in order to make a cute mini origami star. Maybe in the first attempt you will fail, but you will get better on the second. They can be made from every kind of paper. You can make them from magazines, book paper, music sheet etc. Step 1: Cut 1 cm strip off a A4 sheet of paper. Step 2: Tighten knot and press flat. Step 3: Fold short - end of paper down towards center of the star. Step 4: Fold long - end of paper up. Step 5: Flip paper around so long - end of paper is pointing down again. Step 6: Fold long - end of paper up and to the left. Step 7: Flip paper around again so long - end of paper is pointing down. Step 8: Repeat: fold the paper up keeping it aligned with the edge below. Step 9: Keep folding the long - end of the paper until it is too short to continue. Step 10: Hold the pentagon along the edges as if you were holding a coin. Once you've made the wishing star, you can make more.