Origami, The Art of Designing and Manufacturing Masterpieces
Nowadays there are so many forms of art, where it is really hard to distinguish real artistic value from kitsch. But when comes to a form of Japanese artistic expression, Origami, which is hundreds of years old we can be sure there’s no room for bad taste.
Origami is the traditional Japanese art of paper folding. It started in Japan in the 17th century and was introduced to western culture in the 1900s. It has since evolved into a form of modern art. One might be inclined to consider this artform easy given that many of us have been folding paper since childhood. Far from it. After spending about 4 hours with an Origami book, and armed with the one hour Youtube tutorial, and still being unable to get it right; I can safely say Origami is not for everybody.
Each piece is a wonderful tale of precision, beauty, sophistication, mystery and enthusiasm that transforms something ordinary like a piece of paper into a masterpiece. Which is the very essence of art. Origami itself is a great learning tool for every designer, of any kind.
As a designer, you create something visually beautiful from nothing, just as this amazing art creates masterpieces from a simple piece of paper. The millimetric precision, the careful design, the perfect proportions, the symmetry present in every piece can and should be a real inspiration for every designer.
Below we present you a number of Origami masterpieces for your inspiration.
Gallery of Origami Creations
Additional Origami Resources (Making of videos)
- Origami Instructions: vixen / fox (Román Díaz)
- Origami Fiery Dragon (Kade Chan)
- Origami Ant (Robert J. Lang)
- Origami Tarantula (Robert J. Lang)
- Origami Fish (Jo Nakashima / Davor Vinko)
- Origami Jedi Master Yoda (Fumiaki Kawahata)
- Origami Scorpion Tutorial (Tadashi Mori)
- Origami Lotus Flower
Awesome post! I have a question for you. I’ve been following your blog for a bit and when you a post like this do you contact everyone and ask their permission to use their images or is it enough to just provide the link back?
I ask because I started a site about origami and I’ve been doing some blog posts like this and it’s a huge hassle to ask everyone for their permission.
Hey Peter,
Thanks for the comment. It really depends on the licensing for each individual images. Some require permission beyond just a link, some don’t. Some do require permission for sites like ours, some don’t. So it all comes down to which images you wish to feature. :)
Noupe Editorial team
Although Robert’s answer right on the spot, in this case I contacted the authors for permission, as I was wisely advised by Rob.
Thanks, exactly what I was looking for!
really creative list!
All of the pieces shown above are really beautiful! Most I like the reptiles and the dragons because of the perfect illusion of their scales. I know how much time and patience it costs to create even the most simple-looking models on this page. Making Origami is really great fun, I can highly recommend it to everybody! There are even more simple models which look great and if you invest a bit of your time, you will receive marvelous little masterpieces!
I’m not sure exactly where that you are getting your information, but great topic. I needs to spend some time learning much a lot more or understanding more. Thanks for excellent info I was looking for this information for my mission.