Popularized in 9th century China, paper folding is one of the world’s oldest art forms. It continues to be a popular outlet for creatives of all stripes today, inspiring cleverly-folded masterpieces.
If you want to learn the art of paper folding, you’ll find great resources in the Paper Folding Kit from MyDesignShop.com.
Inside, you’ll find:
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Paper Folding Templates for Print Design by Trish Witkowski of foldfactory.com
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Paper Wonderland, a collection of super kawaii-like paper toy templates that are ready to be cut out, built and played with or displayed.
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Fold-tastic, a collection of paper folding projects, tips and resources by Bryn Mooth, Trish Witkowski and Al Parrish
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Urban Paper, a PDF download taken from the book Urban Paper by Matt Hawkins, containing a collection of 26 of the coolest designer paper toys ready to be printed out and built
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A Field Guide to Folding by Trish Witkowski
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Fold Picker, a 2-sided accessory that offers 30 low to moderate budget “frugal” folding ideas in one direction, and with a simple flip, offers 30 high-budget “fabulous” folding splurges in the other direction
Whether you’re looking for the “wow” factor to add to your print projects, want to expand your paper folding knowledge base, or need folding techniques that are appropriate for every budget, the Paper Folding Kit is packed full of the resources you’ll turn to again and again for every paper folding project that will cross your desk.
Supplies are limited, so get your Paper Folding Kit for 20% off retail value today at MyDesignShop.
Need some paper folding inspiration? Check out some of our favorite paper folding projects from designers like you:
Paper Folding for Malmöfestivalen
The theme of the 29th annual Malmöfestivalen, Scandinavia’s largest cultural festival, was “paper.” So Snask, charged with branding the event for the fifth year in a row, wanted the entire city of Malmö to be coated in paper, in hopes of attracting the 1.5 million visitors who participate in the eight-day event.
“We created a visual concept where everything was made by hand and in paper,” says founder and creative director Fredrik Öst. “For a month, cutting, folding, gluing and modeling became the everyday task at Snask.”
Learn more about the project in the March 2014 Issue of HOW Magazine.
Iggesund’s Biggest Fan
Iggesund Paperboard promotion by Structural Graphics, Essex, CT (structural design/production); Schindler Parent, Meersburg, Germany (design/copywriting)
To showcase a paperboard that doesn’t crack when it’s cut or folded, the creative team put the product through its paces with a fan fold that demands high production performance. Iggesund is a Swedish paper manufacturer whose Invercote grade is used for high-end product packaging. The German ad agency Schindler Parent collaborated with U.S. packaging producer Structural Graphics to show how even heavy stock can be scored and folded into unique design solutions.
Learn more about it in Paper and Folding Inspiration.
Burning Heart
Heart Illustration by Kyle Bean, illustrator/designer, London (www.kylebean.co.uk)
An art director at Men’s Health U.K. approached Kyle Bean with a very specific idea: Create a burning paper heart to accompany an article about heart disease.
“Early on, I pointed out to them that in order to communicate ‘heart disease’ more than ‘heartburn,’ it would make more sense for us to place less emphasis on the flames,” Bean says. The magazine signed off, so Bean set about crafting a slightly blackened heart emitting smoke.
Learn more about it in the May 2014 issue of HOW Magazine—the cover of which was also designed by Bean.
Big City Paper Folding
Urban Fold by Paper Punk, Mill Valley, CA (www.paperpunk.com) | CREATIVE TEAM: Grace Hawthorne, creator/founder; Kelly Wahlstrom, Celia Leung, graphic designer
Paper Punk seduces you into stepping away from your devices to actually build something with your hands. This colorful kit gives you free range to build the city of your imagination with 48 shapes and 697 stickers. It looks perfect now, but it took more than a year for the team to get all those colors, patterns, shapes and sizes just right.
“There’s no shortcut,” Hawthorne says. “I’ve learned that you have to manually print, cut and physically build the pieces with the printed patterns and play with them together before finding your way to the place where you say, ‘Ahhh.’”
Learn more about it in the May 2014 issue of HOW Magazine.
Cootie Catchers
Fold Me Up: 100 Paper Fortune-Tellers for Life’s Pressing Questions by Michelle
Taute
In early 2011, Michelle Taute set out to make a cootie catcher every day for a year. Fold Me Up is a book of 100 paper fortune-tellers for readers to tear out and fold. These magical devices spit out fortunes that answer a wide range of grown-up questions: What would Mr. T do? Does my boss hate me? Is living alone making me peculiar? Am I in love? Each one looks like a tiny piece of art, but when you fold it up, the graphics change and morph in unexpected ways. It’s a testament to just how much a few folds can transform any ordinary sheet of paper.
Learn more about it in the May 2014 issue of HOW Magazine.
Masked in the Fold
A far cry from wearing a paper bag over one’s head, the winners of the 2ND SKIN mask contest from Curious Collection took paper art and design to the next level. Out of 440 entrants from six continents and 30 countries, a panel of judges narrowed the winning masks down to just 20 selections. Olivia Frémineau from France won the top prize with her colorfully patterned creation.
Want to learn how to create incredible paper folding masterpieces like these? Get the Paper Folding Kit from MyDesignShop.com.
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