Sometimes it is hard to believe that multi-coloured origami models are folded from a single piece of paper. For some people, “origami colour change” seems like magic. However, like anything else in origami, there is no magic whatsoever. Quite contrary, the complete colour-changing process is governed by strict and clearly defined rules. So, if you are interested in learning and understanding yet another technique concerning an origami colour change, then this blog post is just right for you. Basic rules The colour change technique, in its essence, has only two simple but fundamental rules.&nbs ..read more

The Perimeter theorem, even though being an unusual origami concept, is very intuitive and easily applicable. I believe that anybody interested in understanding origami should apprehend that exciting concept. I had never intended to write about the perimeter theorem until I wrote the blog post “Hatsune Miko and colour change”.  But since the very first question I got about that blog post was related to the strangely looking crease pattern of irregular polygons (shown there), I have decided to dedicate this blog post to that problem. You see, the rule or theory behind those strangely shape ..read more

Hatsune Miku by Itagaki Yuichi is a fascinating model. Not only that, it accurately depicts the original Anime character, but it also implements a nice colour changing method that deserves a detailed explanation. Figure 1Figure 1 – Hatsune Miku and its baseFigure 1 The Crease pattern (figure 1) of this model is freely available on the Itagaki Yuichi Twitter profile , so there is no reason not to try to fold the model itself. Figure 2 – Hatsune Miku Crease pattern If you look at a crease pattern (figure 2), the first thing you would notice is the fact that the crease pattern is asymmetrical eve ..read more

Every box-pleated origami model is based on a grid. But not all grids are made equal. Some are easier to construct than others. For instance, grids like 2×2, 4×4, 8×8, 16×16, and so on are relatively simple to make, because they could be constructed by the consecutive halving of the paper.  This is possible because their size is multiple of 2.  On the other hand, a 12×12 grid is more complex, because it can not be constructed by a consecutive halving of the paper. Nevertheless, even for this kind of grid, the procedure is simple and straightforward. Procedure We need to break down th ..read more

Post is a part of a larger series (Advanced concepts): Elias stretch Pythagorean stretch Pythagorean stretch – advance concept (no.1) Level shifters How to Collapse Box Pleated Crease Pattern? This blog post assumes that you are familiar with the Pythagorean stretch concept, or at least that you have read (and hopefully understood) previous blog post on that topic (the Pythagorean stretch). In the above-mentioned blog post, I have shown you how to move a Pythagorean stretch element along the diagonal. In this blog post, I will show you what could happen if we move a Pythagorean stretc ..read more

Is it possible to use printing paper in origami? The answer is plain and simple: YES, but with few limitations. First of all, printing paper is rather thick. On average, it is 80 g/m2. Even though much thicker origami paper can be found and used, Elephant Hide, for example, almost all types of origami paper are much thinner. On the other hand, if you are a beginner, printing paper is more than a good choice for several reasons. First, printing paper is omnipresent and easily obtainable in any office supply store, and second, it is much cheaper than any origami paper. Let me show you something ..read more

Post is a part of a larger series (Folds): Valley and mountain fold Swivel fold Sink fold Petal fold Rabbit ear The petal fold belongs to the group of moderately complex folds. It is so because it cannot be described as a fold along a single line.  Nevertheless, it is regularly performed by absolute beginners. You see, the petal fold is often used as one of the folds during the folding of the classical bird base (figure 1). Hence, even if you are an absolute beginner, there is a good chance that you already fold one. Figure 1Petal fold  – simple implementation But why I have ..read more

Walking in the rain by Chen Xiao (Twitter. Flickr) is one of his most fascinating and, at the same time, one of his simplest models. Figure 1 – Waking in the rain by Chen Xiao I have to say that, for this model, only the crease pattern is available on the Internet. Unfortunately,  the available crease pattern is not fully accurate from a flat-foldability standpoint. Nevertheless, that should not pose an obstacle to fold the model since the accurate version is available in figure 1. Figure 2 – Walking in the rain CP The crease pattern in figure 2, may look complex, but it is not. It has on ..read more

Anyone who has ever tried to design box pleated origami models knows that those models have rather narrow flaps. This feature doesn’t have to be a problem, quite a contrary, it can even be an asset. But when wider flaps are needed, gadgets known as level shifters have to be used. Level shifters, in their essence, allow us to change the elevation of axial creases. In other words, they make flaps wider. In a model where no level shifters exist, all axial creases or folds are in two levels. Valley folds are at elevation zero, while mountain folds are at elevation one. But, if we introduce level s ..read more

A ..read more