Been Awhile

So I have been, comparatively, out of commision to a large extent the last two years.  Work and getting a graduate degree took precedence over life, liberty, pursuit of happiness, and all that jazz.  Here is what I did in the last week and two modular instructions for units I did (sometime in the last several years, probably more recently, but memory is a fallible, short-term, gnat like thing for me) no guarantees they are not redundant.

Links to two modulars

Proper Diagrams for Bulldog Bookmark

Bulldog bookmark 1.1

So Himanshu Agrawal asked a week or two ago about doing diagrams for a bookmark I posted pictoral diagrams for and I said sure that sounds great.  Wow are his diagrams wonderful.  I did  not expect anything so wonderfully done and really appreciate the work he put into it.  Diagramming is a talent I don’t have and Himanshu’s diagrams are concise and even are colored.  He is on facebook and flickr.

Link to an amazing dragon done for Dell computers from his flickr pics-amazing!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/orukami/3962399562/

His flickr site is www.flickr.com/orukami and the diagrams are here Bulldog bookmark 1.1 .

Waterbomb Modular Instructions

Standard disclaimer:  The simpler the unit the more likely it’s been done before, please post information and links if you’ve seen it, done it, or something very similar.  Creative commons applies to all and have a happy new year.

30 units

12 and 6 units respectively

1.  Fold in half.   2.  flip over and fold bottom edge to center, same on top.   3.  What it should look like.

4.  Fold quarter fold to center repeat on top   5.  Vertical view.  6.  Side view.

7, 8.  Fold bottom edge to right edge and then bottom edge to left edge. 9.  Collapse to a waterbomb.  Repeat on other side.

10.  Fold in half to the smooth sides of the two waterbombs meet.  Refer to picture 11.  that is the final unit

I recommend the 12 or 30 unit first as they are easier to assemble.  Refer to picks for connections at each vertex.  The twelve unit is functionally a cube and the 30 unit a dodecahedron.

Happy holidays from sock monkey.

Dollar Bill Wreath and Inchworm

So I have ended up on a tangent that I would eventually like to use for posting tutorials for my students and have lectures students can view if absent.  So I decided to try to create an origami tutorial.  I may have done this design before I sadly don’t remember.  Editing is a challenging business, as is seeing yourself (in all your redundant glory) on camera.  So for those who do post tutorials online kudos, it’s a lot harder than it looks.  I will within the next week post about Italy, but this comes first since it’s done.  Bear with me as it is my first attempt at video instruction and it is not polished all pretty, plus I am using the camera in my mac which doesn’t allow for as much flexibility in filming.  Youtube said it’s processing so here you go, remember creative commons applies to all unless stated otherwise.  Happy holidays.

Below is an corrugated automata that doesn’t inch the way I originally plan, but sometimes the best laid plans fail.

InchWorm

New modular “Woven Wreath”/”Sun Dial” and some links I like

For people who have sent requests for things I apologize as I spent the better part of the last three weeks away from home and if it is for computer based candy container diagrams my other computer is not functioning right now.  I will send stuff when I have the computer up and running.  

As usual if anyone has seen this modular please post information and links as applicable.  The unit was designed to create the same effect (although with a completely seperate unit) that another 3d wreath has.  The units are not remotely similar, and sadly my unit does not have the flexibility or strength that the other one has.  The modular can be done in 8 or 20 depending on the variation, of which there are many.  The instructions are for the 20 unit variation.  As for the oddly bolded sections that is something the blog is doing and I can’t fix-since wordpress is free I can’t complain.

 

 

 

1.  Get 20 square sheets.  I recommend between 4-6 inches square.  Fold in half diagonally.

2.  Fold as indicated and crease and then undo.

3.  Fold the bottom right edge to crease line

4.  Fold tips around edge and tuck them inside.

5.  Take top point and fold to bottom point and crease.

6.  Take the two flaps folded in the last step and fold inside the pocket.  You will have to reverse the direction of the crease on the front fold.

7.  Put the unit sideways and fold the tip so it is roughly parallel with the vertex of the obtuse angle.  Do it one and then rotate the unit and do it the other way.

8.  Take the top point and fold down to 1/3 from the bottom and then let fold the unit back on step sevens creases.

8.  Finished unit, make twenty total

9.  Tuck in as indicated.  Make sure that you are tucked in on both sides.

10.  Keep adding units until you have the original photo.

 

Some fun sites.

http://www.archicentral.com/origami-chapel-st-loup-switzerland-local-architecture-771/

http://www.designshell.com/architecture/origami-inspired-bamboo-house.html

http://fcms.its.utas.edu.au/scieng/arch/cpage.asp?lCpageID=267

http://www.architecture.com.au/awards_search?option=showaward&entryno=2008031648

http://www.internimagazine.it/Dynamic/Publication,intCategoryID,72,intIssueID,306,intLangID,2.html

Instructable: Easter Egg Box

Made an instructable for one of the containers

http://www.instructables.com/id/Easter-Egg-or-Candy-container-computer-aided-orig/

Computer Aided Origami-Candy Boxes

So I reverse engineered a box for a friend that has the origins listed as a Japanese Anemone box that Christiane recognized as similar to a Fujimoto box.  They are all variations on a theme.  So I decided to play with curvature on these boxes and the results are below along with nondirectional crease patterns.  What was so interesting is that a slight change with where the curvature is makes a large difference in the end product.  So everything is creative commons on this site as always.  Hope you enjoy.  If you would like the viacad or adobe illustrator files email me and I can send them so you can tweak the design yourself.  Remember playing with a design is half the fun.

 

 

This particular design is reminiscent of the collapsible lids.  I also employed these nibs in a box I did awhile back.

Origami Dollar Bill 3d Mini Dress Instructions

1.  First fold the dollar bill lengthwise with a mountain fold using the top and bottom of the one as a guide.

 

2.  Fold over between one to two mm to the outside.  This is to taste.

3.  Mountain fold in half.

4.  First orient the dollar bill like below.  Take the crease and fold up to the inner part of the O.

5.  Mountain fold so you are folding across the semicircle.

6.  Fold the semicircle up to about the tip of the pyramid.

7.On an angle fold back the bottom edge of the bustier.  The top part of the skirt angles because of a spreas squash.  I recommend looking ahead to the next few steps first.

8.  View from the back.  Do the same symmetrically to the other side.

9.  Back View-flip over.

10.  Front view.

11.  Fold down so there is about as much white as color.

12.  Fold back up so the white is the bustier edge detail

13.  Mountain fold edges on either side to shape bustier

14.  Pull the center flap down

15.  Flatten symmetrically as shown.

16.  Shape edge of lower skirt on both sides symmetrically

17.  Fold the bottom up to taste.  In the back fold over the edges that are sticking out and tuck under the pleat at the waist.  Pull apart the creases at the bottom to give 3 dimensionality to the bottom.  It will not necessarily lie flat.

18.  Now I push the pleat apart where the bust should be to make the bustier 3d.  You are expanding the pleat only at the tip of the breast and then flattening the new creases.  You can see the side view.

19.  The last step is to push down the centerbar so that the bustier is more 3d and you only see the white band.  Then you are done.  Shape till happy.

Instructions for Pleated Origami Dress From a Square

1.  This starts from a square.  I recommend a thin paper, kami is fine.  Fold in half lengthwise and then quarter.  

2.  Then fold in eighths as shown above.

3.  Flip over.

4.  From the eighth crease to the left of the center crease you will fold it 1/3 away from the center line.  You will repeat this action 2 more times on  that side.  Then repeat on the other side.

5.  Mountain fold to a little less than a third away from the bottom.  A lot of these folds are to taste.

6.  Then fold back up-about a quarter inch.

7,8.  A little less than a half inch below mountain fold and then bring it back down about a quarter.  This is the belt area and will be fairly thick.  Mountain fold the dress back down to get the belt as shown in the picture.

9.  You are spreading  the pleat in the back so the edge from the tip of the pleat goes to the bottom of the dress. It folds back on the first pleat.  You can see the light mountain folds in the previous step.   The spread to the top is to taste.

 

10.  If you like the neckline as is you’re done, otherwise(this works better if the belt is bigger and the bodice shorter)….To do the neckline mountain fold as indicated symmetrically on both sides.  Fold the rest on a curve to taste.  

11.  To flatten on the back you will need to spread the pleats a bit.

12.  These are minor variations.  I did a small inside reverse fold on the bottom, then I did it to the other side.  The final dress I pulled apart the skirt pleats lightly and enlarged the belt so it became more of a bodice.

 

It is easy to play with these and simple corrugations will work fine in the skirt area.  Changing the size of the belt and how you fold the neckline can greatly modify the aesthetics of the dress.  Plus it would be easy to play with the bodice pleats.

“Origami Tessellations” by Eric Gjerde and Most Recent Creation-Sortof

So I originally was waiting until my ordered copy of Origami Tessellations:  Awe Inspiring Geometric Designs came to write a review about Eric’s new book, but while it hasn’t come a copy has come from another source.  To be fair this review is hardly unbiased as I know Eric and he is in part responsible for sending me down this path of obsession.  He is always trying to bring people into the tessellating fold and his book is part of this.

The book starts off explaining what a tessellation is, a basic history of origami tessellations,  and how to do a basic grid.  He shows the fundamentals of tessellation design, such as how to create pleate intersections both with a square based grid and a equilateral triangle based grid.  Interspersed throughout are pictures of tessellations that appear in Islamic architecture.    After showing basic twists and folds with computer illustrations he has a beginners section on tessellations.  Number two, Spread Hexagons, is my favorite, probably because it was the tessellation that he had out that I looked at when we met at OUSA (Oops edit 2.5 not 3.5 years ago).  Five by four has a beautifully modern look, while Chateau-Chinon by Christiane Bettens evokes traditional tilings.  His intermediate projects are great introductions to folding designs with more than one type of fold/twist.  My personal favorite in the book is Negative Space Stars, a design that seems impossible without cuts is clean and compelling.  The one side clean negative stars and the other a pattern that really evokes the Islamic Tessellations that I personally love so much.

At the end of the book is a gallery and has tessellations from a wide range of people; Robert Lang, Joel Cooper, Christiane Bettens, Chris Palmer, Polly Verity, Sipho Mabona, Eric (of course), and me.  I have to say it was very surprising when Eric first asked if he could include some of my tessellations as I hadn’t been folding tessellations very long.  The creating and designing of tessellations has exploded recently and I know that it is in large part to Eric, to the Flickr group he started and his website http://www.origamitessellations.com.  The book is as clear and concise as a book can be in teaching origami tessellations.  Purchasing a copy is a great idea for the math lover, origami lover, art lover, or just anyone who can find the beauty in the transformation of paper into art.

So order here http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1568814518?ie=UTF8&tag=origamitessel-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1568814518 or go to his website to order.

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Recent mod of an old and problematic tessellation.  I made the grid about a mm to small and it created a host of problems so I took photos and then modified it a bit.

Pretty old school for my tessellations design, but I like it well enough.