I have been playing with an origami pattern design tool called ORIPA, made by Jun Mitani (his blog here). Once I figured out how to get it properly running on my Mac, it was pretty easy to figure out. here’s a handy tip for that. it needs latest java release 1.5.0; the mac still uses 1.4.2 by default, so you have to call the 1.5.0 version specifically to execute the runtime. I did this by stashing the jar file (the packed program file) in my origami directory, and created this shell script: #!/bin/sh /System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions/1.5/Commands/java -jar ~/origami/oripa012.jar which I saved as /usr/local/bin/oripa on my machine; although you could just as easily save it to your desktop as a clickable icon. anyhow, that bit of stuff aside, I was having problems getting it to properly fold some of my hexagonal design right- but I had seen other files which were more complex and folded quite well. So I uploaded some simple examples to the upload board for ORIPA, and I saw today that Mitani-san had written some …

Sem Nome Avesso Originally uploaded by mawelucky. Jane says: A client of mine once saw me fill out an entry for his dog and put “Sem Nome” (nameless) at the name field (the db required it). He liked it so much that he named his dog “Sem Nome”… I’m as good as he is when naming things – any sugestions are welcome. it’s quite OK to just say “Sem Nome Tessellation #1” and stick with it! not everything has to have a name, really… sometimes it’s better to just be able to focus on the art, rather than try to figure out why someone named a piece a particular name. I personally like going to the art gallery and never looking at the little name cards- it doesn’t do anything other than tell me how to think about some piece of art, and I should be able to make that decision on my own. Jane has consistently been producing some amazing new origami artworks; I’m always happy to see something new from her show up …

Origami-like Vase ShinyShiny and Gizmodo have a post about a $6 plastic flat vase which turns soft when placed in hot water, and turns into a nice curved 3d vase- and solidifies when put in cold water. interesting concept in flat-packed items! of course, following the link trail, we get back to the original site at the Jung Seed Company, who says: The magical vase you shape yourself! Stores flat! You’ll have loads of fun with this ingenious vase. It comes flat and is as thin as a few sheets of paper. To shape it you simply add hot water and hand form it, then empty the vase and refill it with cold water to ‘freeze’ the shape. After use, empty the vase, rinse in hot water and smooth flat for easy storage. Made of strong, thermal sensitive polymer, it can be used again and again. Measures 11″ by 6″. Ideal for centerpieces, showers and other special occasions. Makes a memorable gift any time of the year. Available in 3 colors. Each card (blank inside) …

I just came across this website: www.papercrafty.com. Anytime I find a site that features origami, papercrafting, links that I have seen from boingboing.net, and a reference to Make: Magazine, I know it’s a place I need to keep in my RSS rotation. Looks to be pretty new, but I’m tossing it into our links section as well as keeping the feed active in my feedreader. (By the way, if you haven’t explored the fun and ease of using RSS to keep up to date on things you’re interested in, check out how!) I should also give a link to Paper Forest, which is perhaps one of the neatest sites on papercrafting I have seen. another site I check daily. Interesting side note- Papercraft, when filtered through Japan, becomes Pepakura (or, at least, for some people it does). so you find interesting stuff out there referencing that name as well. one of those is Pepakura Designer, a shareware program that allows you to import 3d models and turn them into papercraft patterns. Pretty interesting, all in …

Variação Pétala Originally uploaded by mawelucky. Jane has been doing a lot of work lately with double pleats – a two pleat wide strip, centered on the pleat division, which yields a single pleat width on each side of a major fold division. This gives you a non-directional fold structure, and saves you from having to deal with directionality in the pleat folding- you’re free to give any pleat intersection any orientation you desire. this allows you to do many new and interesting things, but at a large cost: you eat up significantly more paper in the process. I have done this on some patterns and decided it was overly wasteful; however, Jane’s work is definitely more elegant, and so it just seems to come naturally to her. the use of a patterned paper here with stars on it lends some additional effect to the overall design, too. I’m a sucker for complex layered models, and this is one of them. the stars in the intersections are also very cool. stars == good.