The German magazine design Novum , has commissioned the creative agency Paperlux in producing a cover for their next issue comprising of 1,000 faceted and colored triangles that can be bent along lines. Designers Carolin and Max Kuehne Rauen were inspired by the ideas and structural designs of Richard Buckminster Fuller.

Click here to view the embedded video.

via experimenta_es

Named Growing Light, designer Jordy Rooijakkers created a lighting prototype using OLED Technology, and which folds and unfolds in response to human touch. Check out the videos:

One of his tests that explores the behavior of the lights

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Thai artist/designer Saran Yen recently tipped me on her paper cut-out animation. Titled Early Morning Life, the film was inspired by her family, and was produced as a form of critique on the vast gap between the rich and the poor in modern Thai society. The miniature set designs were created from different materials such as paper, fabrics, acrylic or even organic component such as wheatgrass, leaves etc. The result is a folksy, dream-like quality of a typical Thai village scene filled with fantastical rainbow of hues and textures. Check out the animation after the break

Click here to view the embedded video.

Early Morning life is an animated film told through the eyes of a stuck up middle class son about his parents’ poor childhood, their hidden ambitions, and how they escaped from the harsh reality of life. Emphasizing the fact that “class strata” exist even in a family institution, the film’s visual style is taken from neon-paintings that are commonly seen in souvenir shops and usually considered “low” art. It is a critic on modern Thai society where the gap between the rich and the poor is extremely vast. This results in everything from politics, lifestyle, culture, or even in a family institution. Nevertheless, the focus of the film will be on the working class or the mundane Thais and how they create their mental space to escape from the harsh reality of life, also known as the term “escapism”. It is mental diversion by means of entertainment or recreation, as an “escape” from the perceived unpleasant or banal aspects of daily life. It can also be used as a term to define the actions people take to help relieve persisting feelings of depression or general sadness. Some might call it daydreams or ambitions but this escape place either way is a mental cure from the rigors of daily life.

The main message is simple. The appreciation of little things in life, hopes and dreams, can also be very rewarding and that true happiness is there somewhere in the backyard.

Pleat enthusiasts, hobbyists, architects, designers, design students and teachers, rejoice! If you’ve been searching for a great reference on the basics of folding, paper artist and professional folder Paul Jackson recently released his book titled Folding Techniques for Designer: From Sheet to Form. In conjunction with Laurence King Publishing, Pleat Farm will be giving away copies to two lucky winners. Sneak a peek at the book, and check out the giveaway instructions.

This is not your typical instructional book on origami models. Rather, it is a concept book on folding. Simply titled Folding Techniques for Designer: From Sheet to Form, the book is a culmination of Paul Jackson’s years of teaching folding concepts at his ‘Sheet to Form’ workshops to university-level students of fashion, textiles, ceramics, graphic design, architecture, packaging, and many more. Key techniques are presented starting with the basics of dividing the paper and the subsequent chapters describing the folding fundamentals of pleating, crumpling and box making.

As the book progresses, each chapter delves further into a folding topic in greater detail. In the case chapter on ‘Basic Pleats’, Paul dissected the topic and classified them into ‘Accordion’, ‘Knife’, ‘Box’ and ‘Incremental’ pleats, with each sub-category clearly illustrated through step-by-step drawing sequence, gridded crease pattern diagrams and photographs.

One of the chapters called ‘Spans and Parabolas’ is a take on folds which result in structural forms resembling architectural roof spans as shown below.

Another fascinating chapter challenges the origami technique by simply forming a piece of paper with no crease or just one crease by inducing a curvature on the sheet. The result is simplicity.

The book is accompanied by a CD containing all the crease pattern drawings.

Here are the instructional videos based on the book:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

About the author:
Paul Jackson has been a professional paper folder and paper artist since 1982 and is the author of 30 books on paper arts and crafts. He has taught the techniques of folding on more than 150 university-level design courses in the UK, Germany, Belgium, the US, Canada and Israel. These include courses in Architecture, Graphic Design, Fashion Design, Textile Design, Jewellery, Product Design, Packaging, Ceramics, Industrial Design, Fine Art, Basic Design and Interior Design. He has also taught many workshops in museums, arts centers and festivals and has worked as a folding consultant for companies such as Nike and Siemens.

A video clip from Between the Fold documentary:

Click here to view the embedded video.

2 Ways to Win: Enter Twice to Increase Your Odds

You can enter by joining the Pleat Farm Facebook Fan Page or by following Pleat Farm on Twitter. Please read the details below. Feel free to use both methods of entry, giving you 2 entries into the giveaway and increasing your odds of winning.
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Enter by “Liking” our Facebook Page:

First, leave a message in the Comments section of this post.

Next, “Like” the Pleat Farm Facebook Fan Page & leave the following message ”hey @pleatfarm count me in for the giveaway http://tinyurl.com/pleatgiveaway #pf01”
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Enter by Following P|F on Twitter

1. Follow P|F on twitter @pleatfarm

2. Tweet the following message “hey @pleatfarm count me in for the giveaway”
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Selecting the Winner

On Wednesday June 29th, 2011 TWO names will be randomly selected from all the entries to win the book prizes. The winners will be announced on the Pleat Farm Facebook Fan Page as well as through Twitter.
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If you don’t want to wait that long,

Folding Techniques for Designer is available for purchase here.

What happens when your filing cabinet is bursting at the seams from years of storage? Take cues from artist Nava Lubelski who used tax returns, rejection letters, and other collected waste paper and  rolled them into these breathtaking sculptures.

Artist statement:
Shredded paper sculptures, such as the Tax Files, reconfigure a mass of paper that has been grouped and saved due to written content, into slabs reminiscent of tree cross-sections where the climate of a given year, and the tree’s overall age are visible in a single slice. Historical information is revealed in the colors of deposit slips, pay stubs, receipts and tax forms. The cellular coils spiral outward, mimicking biological growth, as they are glued together into flat rounds, which suggest lichen, doilies or disease. The re-use of paper, as well as the attempted “repair” of the long-lost original tree, is an examination of feelings of despair about waste and unsustainability while simultaneously responding to the shadow impulse to hoard and keep what is no longer needed.

Tax Files

Rejection Letters

Flotilla by French artist Etienne Cliquet features a series of paper origami measuring two to three centimeters in length which   folds in or out in response to the capillary (absorptive) action when in contact with water. Watch the video for the (un)folding magic.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Paper engineer Matt Shlian has produced his latest series of paper pieces replete with intricate geometric patterns. Check out the Process series which are made of layered sheets of paper.

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Process series

Images courtesy of Matt Shlian

Kerameikos is a new paper porcelain collection by designer Siba Sahabi who is inspired by antique Greek ceramics. It comprises of handcrafted, paper-spun vessels, bowls, mugs and vases made from white wallpaper for its strength and light resistance.

Check out her Tea Dance tea set

The aesthetic of Kerameikos reflects on the ancient Greek ceramicists who got their influence from foreign objects discovered via trade. The pieces thus replicate these foreign vessels such as the Egyptian Alabastron (perfume bottle made of alabaster), the Lydian Lydion (metal jar for anointing oil) and the Etruscan Kyathos (metal cup). By creating this collection, Siba Sahabi brings up the idea of how one culture can influence another, and paper as a material is another means of reviving European and Middle-Eastern cultural inheritance.

Photography: Maayan Ben Gal

I’m currently fighting a head cold but couldn’t resist posting about this pretty cool light installation by Berlin-based SAQ. If you bear with me, I would have to partially rely on the designers’ own account of the project, and will do my best to describe the assembly:

SAQ has developed a reactive modular lighting system which propagates like cloud structures mimicking the complexity of weather patterns. This project is an extension of the exploration of architectural pluralism SAQ first began in their Bikini Berlin project, which began construction in January 2011. BotoxCloud’s’ design and physical orientation has a futuristic touch, which explores the idea of pluralistic or probabilistic architecture. In other words, the installation yields various possible structural manifestations. For example, when the light comes through the paper models, its physicality changes.

UPDATE as of March 25 ’11: New video of the installation featuring its responses to human presence

Click here to view the embedded video.

Built to respond to human presence, the lighting system consists of modular variants of papercuts which are folded and pieced together. Currently on view at Zirkumflex till February 26. More info on the project here.

Images via zirkumflex + designboom

Artist Riyo Nemeth created the simple Fold series of black-and-white photocopied prints resulted from folds on paper.

vertical

vertical-horizontal

diagonals

vertical-horizontal-diagonal

diagonals

horizontal-diagonal

Images via Riyo Nemeth

Happy Monday!

Featuring: Pleat Farm’s favorite selection of cut and fold-happy paper typefaces for your viewing pleasure.

empo faceted typeface by losiento

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alphabet relief by tim fishlock. via

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paper alphabet by sculpture today by sonya dyakova. via, via

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folding paper typography by elin svensson

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folding paper typeface by graphiatrist

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paper font by josef ondrik. via

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3D folding paper typeface by jarrik muller

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paper type and illustration by yulia brodskaya

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Old Free Work, paper type by tim badoux. via

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alphabet template by sharon pazner. via flickr

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folded paper type by konstantin datz

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paper and love typeface by chris berthe. via

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origami type by robert lang. via

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folded paper font by daniella spinat. via

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folded hebrew font by garibi ilan. via flickr

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Click here to view the embedded video.

Paper type made of 180 hand-cut, spiraling layers of paper by Bianca Chang

Check out these stunningly sublime images of folded papers by Los Angeles-based photographer, Nicholas Alan Cope. Inspirational at best!

Photography: Nicholas Alan Cope

via but does it float

Inspired by big-head models seen in video games, Canadian artist Eric Testroete, with the help of Bert Simons and Haywan Chiu, created a self-portrait, faceted paper head mask for his Halloween costume.

The head was modeled in 3d Max based off of his head shots.

the 61 pound matte paper was printed, cut and folded.

Eric and his paper portrait

Japanese designer, Makoto Orisaki, together with Olfa, developed the ‘or-ita’ – a special shaped blade that perforate cardboard and any dull materials for folding mechanisms. For the recent ‘Cardboard High’ show at Claska gallery and shop in Tokyo, six designers created some pretty nifty cardboard pieces utilizing the blade.

origami magic ball by makoto orisaki

cardboard houses by makoto orisaki

the olfa ‘or-ita’ rotary cutter blade

cardboard boxes templates mitsuru koga created with the ‘or-ita’

architect ryuji nakamura made a simple, lightweight chair reinforced with dowels inserted into the corrugated structure of cardboard.

detail

via designboom I, designboom II

Reading this post brought back a stream of flashbacks of my days at RISD’s Department of Architecture when Design Principles was (and still is) the first notorious rite of passage for all would-be architects enrolled in the program.

The year-long course presents the fundamentals of design and material performance. Students churned out multitudes of study models using simple materials that vary from year to year (from clay to chipboard and recently, plain paper).

These images showcased the ongoing design explorations by students of professor Gabriel Feld, working under the theme of “Material Operations – from unit to mass”.

a massing representation in charcoal representing the folded unit. (image above)

Interested in learning more about Design Principles? I highly recommend reading this book The Making of Design Principles written by Kyna Leski who is a current professor at RISD Department of Architecture.

via our risd

images via risd2009 Flickr set

Swedish graphic designer, Clara von Zweigbergk, was inspired by the geometry of the polyhedra and designed the Themis Mobile for Artecnica. The decor piece consisted of five faceted ornaments with its own distinct palette of color: fluorescent neons, purples and browns. I would love to have one for my workspace!

Big thanks to Clara for the images!

View the video to see how the mobile folds

(This is a spoiler alert!)

Last night’s Project Runway episode was one of my many “unconventional challenge” favorites regardless of the rampant drama in the show! Contestants were prompted to design a garment out of supplies from a party store. Paper bags, foils, napkins, garlands, plastic plates and ribbons were just a few of the choice materials the designers used to whip up their incredible designs in a short period of time.

So here are a few of my favorite garments:

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Andy South’s outfit was painstakingly made by folding and braiding ribbons.

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Valerie’s napkin dress

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April’s crystal-like dress created from (sparkly?) paper bags

Mondo’s design consists of a bodice constructed from strips of plastic plates and a skirt from twirled garlands

Mondo’s plastic strips on the foreground ready to be formed

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Ivy Higa’s design

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Michael Costello’s dress

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Michael Drummond’s ‘balloon’ skirt

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Gretchen’s fringe skirt and paper jacket

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Christopher Collin’s napkin dress

Images taken via Lifetime.com – Project Runway’s video (may not be available for view outside of USA) and photo album

It all began with folding paper cranes at her elementary school in China. Dutch designer Tian Zhen now applies the origami to many of her designs. Check out her origamic Lotus table base and the Swan lamps.

Thanks to Tian Zhen for the images.

Swan Lamps

Inspired by fairytale swans, the Swan lamps are made from sheets of folded Tyvek paper with no hidden support. Swan comes as a floor lamp and a pendant lamp.

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Lotus Origami Side Table

Paper origami is structurally and flexible, and with that in mind, Tian Zhen creates the LOTUS. The side table can be switched from one form to another in few seconds. In total, it has six different appearances.

See Tian Zhen’s works here

Thanks to Liya Mairson, designer and a graduate of Israel’s Shenkar College for Engineering and Design, who recently shared  images of her latest product.

My Space takes you back to your early childhood entertainment consisting of blanket forts. However, the realities of today’s tight apartment living in urban areas doesn’t afford kids the luxury of space. Designer Liya Mairson responded by designing My Space – a clever pop-up playroom for kids aged three up to the young-at-hearts. As a cardboard flat pack which can be stored  behind doors or under a bed, My Space unfolds into a playroom equipped with pop-up shelves and cutout windows. The folding mechanism of the walls allows kids to operate on their fantasies by creating spaces around the play area.

My space is fully recyclable.

Watch how My Space unfolds

Check out Liya Mairson’s portfolio here.

Armed with a fascination for the pentagon, Dutch sculptor and artist, Gerard Caris amassed an extensive portfolio charting the evolution of his geometrical studies in the form of paintings, relief sculptures, 3D sculptures and even architecture. Believing that he has introduced a new chapter in the history of art, he named his artistic pursuit as Pentagonism.

Here are a few exclusive picks of his works:

Large polyhedral net structure rotated to reveal its changing shadows cast on the wall. Made of steelwire, cardboard, linen, paint.

another polyhedral net sculpture

view looking up from below

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Rhombohedra relief sculptures

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dodecahedron sculpture

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Architectural study: modular residential construction

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A painting from the Cosmos series

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Gerard Caris in his studio

More artworks on Gerard Caris’s website