Functional Origami

In the next couple blogs I'm hoping to show the beauty of functional origami. Static origami is cool, but there are certain functional origami designs that are simple to make and fun to use. Later I'll return to more advanced, more traditional origami to admire and look at.

Kasahara explains the concept of the evolution of origami well in the omnibus as he describes "...modern origami has added to this appeal the stimulation and interest of investigating functionality, posing and solving puzzles, and pursuing geometric qualities through folding paper. And this has had an elevating effect on the quality of origami in general" (Kasahara 56). It's fun to explore models like the jumping frog or the bird that flaps its wings, and it's very rewarding with the way you can interact with it after it's done.

The first type of functional origami I tried was the noisemaker. The noisemaker is actually extremely easy to make, it is just a series of folds and very rewarding for the shenanigans you can pull off. There were two provided models, and they had varying amounts of success.

1st model

This model made the least noise, very weak, but easiest to fold and use. In fact, the only folds were simple valley and mountain folds (Kasahara 57). No tricky folds where you twist the paper and manipulate it farther than just simply folding it. In my opinion, this model looks sharper and more polished, despite the noise being very dull and quiet.

2nd model

Of the above models, the second one made more noise. If you wanted to wake someone up (which you would probably just shake them and make noise yourself) this would be the way to go.

If you want to have a go, try looking up a video tutorial online. Videos really help me out when I need help understanding origami instructions from my book.

But if you had to choose, would you pick practicality or presentation?

Citation:
Kasahara, Kunihiko. Origami Omnibus: Paper-folding for Everybody. Tokyo: Japan Publications,     1988. Print.