origami related diagrams, sharing some tricks and best practices that I've developed over the years.

Getting to Know Inkscape

First, we will need to download Inkscape from inkscape.org by choosing the appropriate operating system page in the Download menu. I'm
using a Mac, so I choose the Mac OS X option. In this tutorial, we'll use Inkscape 0.91, which is the same version across all desktop
platforms. Apple users will also need to download and install XQuarz which is the windowing system that Inkscape runs in.
After completing the installation on your machine, go ahead and open Inkscape. The first time you open Inkscape it may take a while to load
while it configures initial preferences. Once it opens, you'll see the Inkscape environment. We will be drawing on pages located on what is
called the canvas in the center of the view.
Around the canvas are useful menus and toolbars. Most commands can be accessed through the menu bar. The command bar houses
shortcuts to the most common global actions. The tool box on the left holds the different tools you will use to draw and manipulate graphics.
When a tool is selected, special tool specific shortcuts are available in the tool controls bar. On the right is the snap bar for configuring snap
preferences. And on the bottom is the color palette and status bar. There are a lot of options, but don't worry about them for right now.
Before we even start drawing, there are a few preference that we'll want to change that to help with diagramming. Inkscape has two types of
preferences: preferences associated with the application, and preferences associated with the document. First, let's modify the application
preferences by going to Edit/Preferences, or by pressing the rightmost icon in the command bar. We're just going to make four small
changes here.
First, under the Tool category, change the bounding box from "visual" to "geometric". The bounding box outlines the extent of a selected
object. A geometric bounding box references the underlying geometry instead of object styles like stroke width.
Next, under the Node category, and select "Always show outline". Showing outlines will make it easier to see selected geometry.
Next, under Behavior choose the Transforms category, and deselect "Scale stroke width". When diagramming, we'll want to use standard
stroke widths, so when we transform objects, we won't want those stroke widths to change.
Lastly, under the Steps category, and change the Rotation snaps to every 22.5 degrees. This is typically the most convenient setting for
origami.
That's all we need to change here, so close that and open the document properties under the File menu or by clicking the second to last
command bar icon. Notice that pixels are the default unit in Inkscape. There are 90 Inkscape pixels in one inch, but be careful. Other
programs use a different default pixel sizes. Illustrator for example uses 72 pixels per inch.
I'll be diagramming for an American publication, so I'll change my page size to US Letter. The last option to change is under the Snaps
menus. Here, adjust the snap distance to 5. This will allow us to be more precise when using snaps. Snapping is really useful when drawing
origami diagrams. Let's close out of the document properties and turn on snaps. I've turned on all the snap options except for the ones
involving bounding boxes.

Tool Box
Now in order to start drawing, let's take a look at the Tool Box. There are a lot of tools here, but for right now, we'll only need six of them. The
Selector is the primary tool for moving and transforming objects. The Node is used for manipulating endpoints. The Zoom is used for
navigation. The Ellipse tool is used for drawing circles. And the Pen tool is used for making straight and curved lines.
These tools are so useful, we will want to be able to change between them quickly using keyboard shortcuts. Press spacebar to access the
Selector tool, press 'N' to access the Node tool, press 'Z' to access the Zoom tool, press 'E' to access the Ellipse tool, and press 'B' to
access the Pen tool. (Why 'B'? The pen is really called the Bezier tool, but I digress). You can find a full list of keyboard shortcuts on the
Inkscape website, here.
We'll start be making sure we can navigate around the canvas. To pan around the canvas, you can obviously use the scroll bars or possibly
trackpad gestures, but the easiest way is to press and hold spacebar and move your mouse. To zoom in and out, use the Zoom tool. Click to
zoom and shift click to zoom out. You can also click and drag an area to zoom to the selection. There are many keyboard shortcuts for
standard zooms, such as zooming to the page by pressing '5'.

Drawing Lines
Now let's start drawing. The Pen will be our drawing tool of choice for pretty much everything. Let's start by selecting the Pen tool and
clicking on the canvas. Clicking around creates a chain of line segments. To end the chain, just double click.
Now let's modify the chain. We can see its bounding box which means the chain is selected. To move the chain use the selector tool and
press and drag. We can move the nodes of the chain individually by using the Node tool. While we can access the Node tool by pressing 'N',
we can also access it by double clicking the chain with the Selector tool. The cursor changes and the nodes of the chain are highlighted.
Click and drag to modify the chain.
Much of the time, we won't want our line segments to be connected since we might want to give each segment a different style. So let's get
rid of the chain by selecting the chain and pressing delete.
To demonstrate some key aspects of drawing in Inkscape, we will draw the full crease pattern for a traditional crane. We'll start by drawing a
square. We will do this by constructing four equal line segments at right angles to one another. First, we'll draw one of the horizontal sides.
With the Pen tool, click one endpoint somewhere. If we hold down the Control key, we will notice that the line is constrained to multiples of
22.5 degrees, ensuring that we are drawing lines at the correct angles. Holding down the Control key, double click to the right to complete
the segment. One side done!
We will construct the remaining three sides by transforming copies of this segment. With the segment selected, we can copy and paste
objects by pressing Control-C and Control-V respectively. However, most of the time, we will want to just duplicate geometry, which we can
do by pressing Control-D. Move the copy away from the original, and then rotate it 90 degrees by clicking either rotate icon in the Selector
tool control bar. Then drag it to the right of the other segment until it snaps.
Snapping is really precise. If we zoom in on the connection, it looks like the two lines meet up well, though the line strokes make it difficult to
be sure. When we only want to look at the underlying geometry of our drawing and ignore line styles, we can switch over to outline view. Click
View/Display Mode/Outline. The line styles go away, and we see that in fact the lines match up perfectly. Outline mode can be great for
checking the precision of your drawing, but we will stay in Normal mode most of the time. We can continue the same process to construct
the last remaining two sides, duplicating, rotating, and then snapping. Square complete!
Now let's draw a bird base inside this square. First we draw the diagonals by snapping to the corners. Then we draw the horizontal and
vertical halves by snapping to midpoints, holding down the Control key to make sure the lines are perpendicular. The petal fold crease lines
are easily drawn, also by holding down the Control key. We can actually draw two of these diagonal lines at once, but these segment will be
connected. We can separate this chain into two segments by selecting the middle node with the Node tool, and breaking the path at the
selected node. Now they are separate lines, but they are still in the same path. We can break them apart by choosing 'Break Apart' in the
Path menu. We don't have to draw the rest of the creases since they are the same as the ones we just drew. We can instead duplicate and
rotate the existing creases and snap them into place.
This is a bird base crease pattern with all four corners folded together. To fold a crane, two flaps are folded up to form the wings. We can
use the node tool to modify the creases. Folding the traditional crane further thins the head and tail by bisecting those flaps with a kite fold. I'll
talk about two good methods for accurately constructing angle bisectors using Inkscape.

Bisecting Angles
Both methods involve constructing an isosceles triangle from the angle. We construct a circle centered at the angle's vertex using the Ellipse
tool. Click on the vertex while holding down Shift and Control. Shift tells the ellipse to be centered at the starting click, while Control forces
the ellipse into a circle. It is important that the circle intersect the two sides of the angle being divided.
The circle we just drew has a red fill color which is a little distracting. We can change the visual style of objects using the Fill & Stroke Dialog,
accessible from the Object menu or the Command Bar. This Dialog will be useful for changing stroke widths and dash types later on, but for
now, we will just remove the fill on this circle by pressing the X.
With our circle in place, we will draw a line between the circle's intersection points. Rotating this line 90 degrees splits the angle in half along
its angle bisector. Now we would like the line to extend further than it does, and we can use the Selector tool to scale it appropriately. But
when we scale the segment, we will want to keep its stroke width the same, thus we will turn off stroke width scaling in the Selector's tool
control bar. Selecting the bisector, we can expand it along the same line by dragging a corner while holding down the Control key, using
snapping to guide its final location.
Alternatively, we do not need to use the Ellipse tool at all. Instead we can simply duplication and rotate the angle's shorter side onto the
other. To rotate about a specified axis, we select the side with the Selector tool, and click on it again. This will change the corner icons to
rotation arrows, with a crosshair at the center. Drag the cross hair to the angle's vertex, and then drag a rotation arrow until the side snaps
onto the other. Using the node tool to move the vertex endpoint to the starting location, and rotating by 90 degrees also results in an angle
bisector. Duplicating, reflecting, and trimming finishes one quadrant.
We can duplicate these creases faster by grouping them by pressing Control-G while they are selected. Groups stay together until they are
ungrouped by pressing Shift-Control-G. Duplication, rotation, and reflection complete the remaining sides.
Now for the reverse folds. The position and angle of the reverse folds for the head and the tail of the crane may be different from person to
person. But for any angle, the creases corresponding the reverse folds will reflect across existing creases in the crease pattern. Like angle
bisection, reflection is another common procedure in origami diagramming. We'll look at two different ways for reflecting lines.

Reflecting Lines
Let's concentrate on the head reverse fold. We can mark the reverse fold as an arbitrary line crossing one of the layers which will also be
folded through all the other layers. All we need to do is reflect this line across each existing crease. To reflect a single segment using the first
method, duplicate the reflection line and rotate it 90 degrees, snapping one end to the segment we want to reflect. Construct a segment to
the reflection line, duplicate it, and reconstruct the reflection.
Alternatively, to reflect more objects, duplicate them in a group along with the reflection axis. Mirror it using a Selector shortcut, snap the
ends of the reflection line together, and rotate until the lie on top of each other. A few more reflection, and the crease pattern is complete.
Using snaps and careful transformations allow diagrams to be quite precise. Again, we can check the precision of our drawing in Outline
mode.
This concludes our first tutorial on vector drawing for origami. Knowing how to draw lines accurately is the foundation of drawing origami
crease patterns. Join me next time where we will focus on line styles and drawing origami diagrams with multiple layers.
© Copyright 2015 by Jason Ku
This document was published by OrigamiUSA’s online magazine, The Fold, with permission from the author.
If you did not obtain this document from The Fold’s website, you may have infringed upon the author’s copyright.
This document can be obtained legally by joining OrigamiUSA online at http://origamiusa.org/
 May–June, 2015

Convention Report: OASIS 2nd Origami Convention

by Francesco Mancini
by Ilan Garibi
convention

Prelude

When last October Ilan Garibi invited me as a special guest to the second OASIS (Origami ArtistS of ISrael) convention I was really happy
and flattered. It would have been my first convention outside of Italy, my first convention as a guest of honour and my first trip outside Europe.
You can understand that my worries started soon after: I had to get my passport, inform myself about Israel, plan how to carry my exhibition
models safely without destroying them during the trip, prepare at least three official workshops, prepare a conference on how I plan my
models and find an alternative gift to my booklet (QQM #51 Mancinerie) since it was already been included by the organizers.

The first issues were easily solved: passports are ready in a short time (I write in the plural since my girlfriend Cloe was more than happy to
accompany me) although I nearly did not manage to collect mine due to snow; Ilan suggested to arrive a few days earlier, to host us at his
house and to be our tourist guide; the models are nearly all disassembled and placed in a box to carry as hand luggage and I soon had
various ideas for the workshops. All that was left was the conference and the gift.

Preparations

I was worried about the conference because I do not exactly see myself as a
designer: I do not sit on my workbench and say “Now I want to create a polyhedron, a
star or a box”. I usually pick up a sheet of paper, most times size A4, I play with the
folds and I see what it's turning out. At first it did not seem to me as a good
argument, but given the title of the convention, “Geometrical thinking in Origami”, I
understood that my creative process would have been adequate since I anyway
make use of the geometry of the sheet of paper and I have to think on how to finish
certain ideas, or how to make use of certain techniques. I therefore selected some
of the more meaningful models, prepared some slides with photos and crease
patterns and even that task was done.
Only the gift was left. And just to contradict myself I start designing a model that
would have allowed me to pay tribute to the country and the people that would have
hosted me. I was lucky because the Israeli flag bears the Star of David which is a
six-pointed star composed of equilateral triangles. It can be built as a modular
origami and it does not create difficulties in placing 60° angles in a square.
By then all was ready, we only had to wait for Spring; the convention was between
the 19 and 21 March of this year. We decided to travel on the 16th, a day that turned
out to be cold and rainy both in Florence and in Rome where we had to transit. The
flight was smooth and Tel Aviv greeted us with a wonderful sun, our coats
immediately appeared unnecessary. Entry to Israel was swift, the time needed for
The convention poster, designed by Elina Gur
passport control and to get the entry visa. Luckily they did not check the luggage
otherwise we would have risked being blocked as smugglers of parmigiano and chocolate which we had brought for our hosts.
Ilan was just outside the gates waving his arms trying to make himself seen. He told us that he had just arrived after having driven at the
speed of light since he had thought that our flight would have landed two hours later. We got into the car to drive to his house at Binyamina
and, since we were ahead of schedule, we decided to stop by the beach of Caesarea to see the sunset near the ruins of a Roman
aqueduct. What struck us during the journey was the greenery that surrounded us and the solar panels installed on all the houses' roofs.

Exploration
Once the sun had set we traveled to Ilan's house where we met his wife Sigal and his
daughter Tamar and we settled in our room. We began appreciating the delicacies
of the Israeli cuisine at dinner and planned the two days available before the
convention. In a country with a millennial history and a variety of landscapes such as
Israel you are spoiled for choice. The first stop was Caesarea, one of the great cities
of the ancient world that changed hands several times over the centuries from the
Phoenicians to the Romans to the Arabs to the crusaders. The archaeological area
has been subject to important excavations since 1940 and is now one of the most
visited sites of the country. There were also the elections that day so it was like a
festive day and we encountered many families visiting and even some shows in the Sunset at Caesarea
amphitheatre. From there we went to Megido, also known as Armageddon, the Image by Francesco
place where the last battle on Earth will be fought according to the prophecies of
John the apostle. The most suggestive part is the waterworks and its well that has been dug 30 meters into the rocks and leads into a tunnel
70 metres long. At the end of the visit we returned to the car, stopped along the way for a spectacular lunch in ethnic Druze style beneath
mount Carmel and we ended the tour with a visit to Haifa where we saw a small part of the Ba'hai gardens. We had the time to make some
shopping along the way home and concluded the evening playing with Ilan's puzzle.

It would have been a shame not to go to Jerusalem the next day. This time we had Sasha as guide. The time available was not much since
we had to travel by bus and train but we managed to visit the old city which, apart from being a very ancient site, is a holy place that holds
places worshipped by Christians, Hebrews and Muslims. Amongst these we managed to visit the church of the Holy Sepulchre, located in
what is believed to be the Golgotha, and the Wailing Wall. In the cracks of its gigantic stones there are inserted lots of rolls of paper with
prayers written on them. They believe that they have more chances to be fulfilled.
On Thursday morning we travelled to Ginosar, the location of the convention, on the sea of Galilee. The works were to start at 13:00 so along
the journey we had time to visit Beit She'arim, a necropolis with 31 catacombs dug in the rocks the larger part of which could be visited.
Before lunch and just close-by to the hotel we saw the remains of a ship dating to the times of Christ.

Execution

Once we made the check-in we moved to the folding room. It was a very large room with tables for exhibit models along its perimeter and
other tables for folding activities. My space as guest of honour was close to the entrance. I began placing my models and reassembling the
ones I had disassembled for the journey. My modulars immediately sparked curiosity and amazement, particularly Vertigo and Stella
dell'Avvento. The participants started arriving gradually, the maximum capacity was fixed to 40 so as to have a collective and familiar
atmosphere, an atmosphere which easily come to happen thanks to the admirable organisation. It was also easy for me since, apart from
knowing Ilan and the four girls that had been to Tabiano the previous year, I also knew Boaz Shuval and Mark and Arlene Kennedy who had
been to Vicenza and Herman Mariano and Saadja Sternberg who I had met in Tabiano in 2010. Everyone was warm and friendly. Even the
language was not a problem, English is common amongst both young and old people and, when needed, there was always someone
offering to translate.

My workshop was the

second of the afternoon. The
organisers arranged also for
the paper but I had brought
the paper from Italy,
pentagons of Stardream for
the Nico(let)tiana flower and
handmade "peacock paper"
for the Fortune pouch. The
models were simple and the
folders were of high level so
My exhibition we finished before time. But
I had anyway decided to do
more than the three
workshops that had been
asked so we continued with
Modulosca.

As for Italian convention,

apart from the official
workshops there are the
spontaneous ones and the
It’s my turn
after-dinner is left for free
folding. At dinner we understood what Ilan meant when he told us that it would have been plentiful. It was organised as a buffet and there
 were so many things to eat both in continental and in Israeli style. We opted for the
latter: the hummus, the famous chickpea cream, and the tahina, a sesame cream,
they won our appreciations. After dinner we participated to a few foldings but we
were tired and went to bed before midnight while someone was unrolling a coil of
kraft paper to make a Curlicue with a strip of 12 metres.

The following day, after a similarly abundant breakfast, we got back to work. That
morning I was to hold a conference and a workshop. My talk was not the only one of
the convention, further four on geometric and didactic arguments had been planned.
When it was my turn I began describing modular origami "my way" and revealed two
surprises: the first was the model I dedicated to the convention, and that was named
as Stella OASIS, and the second was the guests of the 2015 CDO convention in
Tabiano. After the conference we moved on to folding the star.

Before lunch we had a group

Paperfolders at work
photo and afterwards we
went back again to the
workshops. My third official workshop was after dinner but I took advantage of this to
improvise a workshop with another star and to do some origami with the children.
One of them also interviewed me for a school project. There was also time to have a
snack with tea, coffee and sweets, to learn something and take some photos of the
exhibited models. One thing we found very nice was that those who had an exhibition
after a workshop they added the model to the ones on their table.

After dinner I dedicated the workshop to Vertigo and after having finished the games
started. It began with the classics: folding only with the left hand, with your feet, with
fork and knife (to which even I took part). The last games were like an origami
pictionary. In the first game each player writes one word on one pieces of paper and OASIS Star
puts them into a hat. The first player takes one note and must fold it from paper. The right guesser takes the next note; in the second game
each player writes a single word on one pieces of paper, and puts them into a hat. The first player takes one note and sticks it to his/her
forehead. All players try to fold it from paper, and the picker must try and guess this word. The person to fold the identified model takes the
next note. We really laughed a lot.

On the third and final day it was time to present the most complicated model, the
Stella dell'Avvento. It was the first time that I taught it after having brought it to the
CDO competition the previous year. The module and the assembly is not easy and
in the bi-colour version 60 modules are needed. But this did not stop us because the
final result was exciting.
The hours passed and we became aware that we were reaching the end of the
convention. Some had already left to respect the Sabbath. A small group was left
and I closed the workshops teaching the Box with a heart after which it was time for
the goodbye hugs and kisses.
We left these new and old friends with tears in our eyes, they were three intense
Folding the water bomb with fork and knife days, full of smiles, enthusiasm and memories that will be kept for long. But the trip
Image by Yael Meron was not over yet. That night we arrived in Tel Aviv at Ilan's brother who hosted us for
the night. The return flight was at 5p.m. So the following morning we had time for a
walk along a street flanked by Bauhaus-style buildings in the historical centre and to have a last stuffed pita in a market. The following days
we kept rethinking of the time in Israel and kept repeating some words we had learnt. The most suitable to close this article is definitely Toda
(thanks) to everyone.

Is it over already?

The most suitable to close this article is definitely Toda (thanks) to everyone.

-Francesco Mancini
Group Photo, image by Yael Meron.
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 May–June, 2015

Convention Report: Origami Deutschland 2015 (Bonn)

by Ilan Garibi
Edited by Patsy Wang-Iverson
convention

We have a Winner!

Our story started a few months ago. Ever since the legendary FIFA World Cup semi-
final match in 2010 between Germany and Spain, where Spain won 1-0, there has
not been another large battle as the one between the Origami Deutschland (OD)
group and the Spanish group. As it happened, both annual conventions were
scheduled for the same dates. To enhance the tension, one was planned to take
place just in Barcelona, the other in Bonn, not far from Koln; both locations, without
any doubt, are high on the list of beautiful cities.

For some time the origami community was torn between the two choices. Many
friends decided to go to Barcelona, but I decided to stick to my original plans,
continuing my quest to participate in all origami conventions around the world.
The main Hall
Having already attended the Spanish one, it was time to falten some papers.
Image by Carlos Natan Lopez Nazario

I must admit, traveling alone for the first time in Germany caused me great trepidation. I have no knowledge of the German language, and the
train passes the stations before one can read the station's name on the sign. But Arno Pfingstner put all my worries to rest. He sent me all
the time tables for the trains I needed. And, thanks to German efficiency, my luggage was brought from the airport to the train station, which
was a mere five minute walk from the arrival hall.

Germany is a big country, and the origami community is spread across the nation. Every year the convention is located in a different city.
This year it was Bonn. The venue was a conference center, GSI, which has rooms and all the needed facilities to host a convention of 250
folders: 60 international guests and 190 locals.

My new philosophy

In my first conventions I was blinded by the origami aspect of my trip. I came on the
first day of the convention and left immediately after it ended. I didn’t set foot out of
the hotel and folding hall. After more than ten conventions, I now know better. I arrive
a day before and stay one day longer. Being early, I have all the time to travel at
leisure, not rushing anywhere, to meet the other early birds, get acquainted with the
area, find the restaurants we may need to use, if the hotel food is not up to par.
Street food in Germany is actually pizza Staying the extra night is even more beneficial, as I don’t have to suffer as much as
all the guests who must pack their exhibition while the paper is still hot in their hands.
This also allows me to sit and enjoy a quiet evening with the organizers and those who share my philosophy. The last day is dedicated to
sightseeing, as I try to enhance my memories form this convention with non-origami issues.

The German way

If you read any of my reports about the Italian conventions, you know about the Italian way of doing things. Well, there is also the German
way.

The opening ceremony lasted more than an hour, with greetings, some statistics, presentation of the three guests of honor – Paul Jackson,
Hans-Werner Guth and Mark Bolitho – explanations about the time table and a group folding with Mark.
 The

Beautful flower installation by Silvia Rubin and Gabi Vogt Robin Sholz`s exhibition presented some marvelous tessellations
Image by Carlos Natan Lopez Nazario
Image by Carlos Natan Lopez Nazario organization was tip top. The first day, Friday, is only for free folding, letting
people enjoy the time together, hugging and kissing old friends, talking, and
drinking some beer. Workshops started on Saturday morning, with a huge table presenting all locations and classes, with the model to be
taught attached to it. Most of the classes started on time and were conducted in separate rooms, in a quiet environment. Three of the
workshops were conducted in the main hall.

As always, exhibition tables were placed along the walls and slowly filled with models. With a community of around 800 folders, 190 of them
attending, there were some beautiful tables, especially the contest one. For the first time, the OD conducted a contest, with the theme of
Wedding.

Another initiative I have never seen before, was the convention book table – each who contributed a model for the convention book also sent
Robin Scholz the folded model as well, or brought it with him/her as I did. For those who couldn’t come or send it, a group of folders sat on
Friday morning to complete the task. It is a great way to show what is included in the book.

For me, two major factors for evaluating a convention are the number of new
models I learn, and what happens during the night folding. Here is my only
criticism of the convention: I learned too few models; my box was not as full as
usual. Although OD has 800 members, I guess there are not enough original
creators among them, or maybe, they are still too shy to teach, as I have seen
quite a lot of interesting and promising models on the exhibition tables. A lot of the
models I could choose on the schedule board were either familiar to me, or not my
cup of tea. I guess the more conventions you attend, the more difficult it is to find
new, unknown, models.

On the other hand, the night activities were truly fun. I just published an article
about origami games, so we tried our hands with many of them – chopstick
folding (we only tried to fold the preliminary base, which proved to be a
challenging task); single handed folding; Fork Only folding (where Hans-Werner
Guth amazed us all by folding Yoshizawa butterfly single handedly, using a fork!) I
mostly enjoyed the company of Martin Rohrmann, while we sat and realized we
have not enough origami games you can play in a group, without any preliminary
preparations. Setting our minds on this target, we managed to invent a game that
includes many preliminary bases, one flat sheet of 15 cm Kami, and a lot of
concentration and balance. This game, and some more, that were provided by
other members of the Night Folding Group will help me to publish, soon, the
Incomplete Guide to Origami Games – the Sequel.

Is it over already?

An Israeli, American, and three Italians may sound like the beginning of a joke, but
it is actually the beginning of our last day in Germany. On the way home we A new origami game in development. Yes, it is a shoe.
stopped in Koln. This beautiful city and beautiful weather made this day the
perfect ending to a great convention. As always, it was all about the people you meet, after a long period of longing, and it was great to feel
a part of the international origami community!

-Ilan Garibi

Comments
 Groovy article!
Permalink Submitted by animemiz on July 9, 2015 - 12:17pm
This is a groovy article.. it definitely shows an experience of foreign conventions
- plus that tidbit about coming early and leaving later also when a foreign visitor.
Also if you don't mind me saying - ideas that can be emulated in other
conventions. I have never heard of a convention book table.. but I think that is
great.. something to also try and see if it can be emulated in other conventions
that would have a convention book. An other activity for future conventions!
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Hans-Werner Guth,Yoshizawa butterfly,

folding single handed with a fork and help from some beer!
© Copyright 2014 by Milind Oka
This document was published by OrigamiUSA’s online magazine, The Fold, with permission from the author.
If you did not obtain this document from The Fold’s website, you may have infringed upon the author’s copyright.
This document can be obtained legally by joining OrigamiUSA online at http://origamiusa.org/
© Copyright 2014 by Milind Oka
This document was published by OrigamiUSA’s online magazine, The Fold, with permission from the author.
If you did not obtain this document from The Fold’s website, you may have infringed upon the author’s copyright.
This document can be obtained legally by joining OrigamiUSA online at http://origamiusa.org/
© Copyright 2014 by Milind Oka
This document was published by OrigamiUSA’s online magazine, The Fold, with permission from the author.
If you did not obtain this document from The Fold’s website, you may have infringed upon the author’s copyright.
This document can be obtained legally by joining OrigamiUSA online at http://origamiusa.org/
© Copyright 2014 by Milind Oka
This document was published by OrigamiUSA’s online magazine, The Fold, with permission from the author.
If you did not obtain this document from The Fold’s website, you may have infringed upon the author’s copyright.
This document can be obtained legally by joining OrigamiUSA online at http://origamiusa.org/
© Copyright 2014 by Milind Oka
This document was published by OrigamiUSA’s online magazine, The Fold, with permission from the author.
If you did not obtain this document from The Fold’s website, you may have infringed upon the author’s copyright.
This document can be obtained legally by joining OrigamiUSA online at http://origamiusa.org/
 May–June, 2015

Origami Designer's Secrets: Ilan Garibi

by Ilan Garibi
Edited by Linda Yau
biography interview diagrams

This series of interviews came to fill two needs of mine - Showing and knowing. Writing
my own story, I wanted to show other folders how to step out of only passively folding and
into the creators circle. The second reason was simply getting to know other folders and
creators. Even though I personally met all the creators I interviewed, I was always
surprised to read their answers, and to see how little I really knew about them.

For my last interview, I chose myself.

Who is Ilan Garibi?? Please tell me in five sentences what I must know
about you.
Ilan: I am an origami artist, following my heart. I am also a puzzler, a designer, a father
and a husband. I am a teacher, a maker, an atheist, and a chocolate lover. I like to
challenge myself, and respond to challenges. I am highly competitive, determined and
disciplined in nature, and if asked to do it in five, I will use only four.

What is origami to you? Why are you interested in origami? What was
your first model to fold? Can you say origami changed your life in any
Ilan Garibi. Image by Yoav Garibi way, or is it just a hobby?
Ilan: I was an intelligence officer for 25 years. Becoming an artist was not a role that went
All uncredited images by Ilan Garibi
through my mind when I thought about my future. Origami totally changed my life. To be
precise, it was the creation process; the magic of creating something original. Six years
ago, while I posted my first models online, nothing really mattered but the number of
favorites stars I got on by flickr. I started to fold at age twelve, 38 years ago. All we had
then was four origami books, by Robert Harbin. I was folding alone, so there was no one
to share my excitement from the simple magic of the square flat paper turning into a Jack
Stone. Now I can surely say origami changed me, and my life, dramatically. As an origami
artist, I travel all around the world, and my works are presented internationally now. Every
unidentified phone call brings the excitement of a new adventure. As an officer in the
army, you never actually do anything by yourself; you have squads of soldiers to carry out
your orders. As an artist, though, you are all alone - if you do, it is done. If you only talk -
nothing happens. The success, and the failures, are all yours.
PowerPuff Modular, 30 units of Tant paper.
What ignited your creation process? What happened that turned you from
a passive folder into a creator?
Ilan: I made my first steps as a creator
thanks to Gila Oren, Ralf Konrad,
Froeble and David Lister. Gila taught
me how to fold the Starpuff tessellation
created by Ralf, and there was no one
happier than me at that moment. I saw
tessellations exhibited in Tikotin, a few
years back, and I couldn't understand,
Templar Garden, from Elephant Hide. how is it done? From a single sheet of
Ralf Konrad`s StarPuff tess, vs. My version.
paper? impossible! It felt so good to
be able to make it myself, so when I got home, I immediately tried to fold it again, but I made a mistake. I didn't get the stars puffed, instead I
got hexagon towers. When I called Gila to ask where I failed, she said, "Well done! you invented a new model". I was struck! It truly was an
original model, as it originated from me! I took the time to analyze what I did, and understanding the way a tessellation is built from
molecules, I studied the properties of the molecules and started to invent (or find) more and more of them.
Just before this tessellation experience, I found folds of beauty in Konihiki Kasahara`s book. Again, I was struck with the endless
 possibilities and I started to find my own variations. Having my creative spirit kindled, I
wanted to do something special with it, so I combined the Escher fonts with the Folds of
Beauty, to create my own origami version font. As it happened, just at that time an email
about cultivating lists and origami spread on the O-list, David responded with a
confession that he collects alphabetical lists. I immediately sent him my Escher-Froeble-
Garibi font, and I was amazed to read about it in his next email to the O-list, praising my
asymmetric version.
In retrospective, I didn't need much to believe in myself, to see that I am capable of
creating something new. All you need is to try, and a little encouragement.
Escher-Froeble-garibi Font
Most of your paper creations are tessellations. Then, it is Modulars. I can
see very little figurative models. Why is that? Nowadays I see you work more with other materials, and less with
paper. Are you going to return to paper? What will be your next field of creation?
Ilan: I once folded a hummingbird, and showed it to my wife. She exclaimed, "Oh, this is
truly a lovely elephant head!" I don't own the ability to define the difference between a dog
and a wolf. For me, straight lines, right angles, repetitions are more comfortable to
handle, than shaping the eyes of the tiger. I am a logical person, and mathematics was
always easy for me. I find the rules and work according to them. It is easy for me to
understand what makes a tessellation, and what properties single molecule must have.
Many of my models are based on asking what if I change the angle of the crease? The
spaces between them? Or if I use a curved line instead of a straight one?
I can divide my creation history into two parts: The first was to establish a foundation of
original models. The second was to find for them applications in the real world. During my
first years of creating, I was on a trance, finding every other day a new model, or a new
variation. On the very good days, I found new fields to explore. Three years ago, I met Gal
Gaon, an architect, designer, and a gallery owner. He challenged me to make something Cube Tessellation from Elephant Hide.
useful with all those folds. A lamp was my first product, and it was a success! From there, "96 Molecules" lamp for Aqua Creations,
I transferred my focus into the design world, mostly exploring new materials to fold, such Image by Albi Serfati
as fabric, metal, leather, wood and even glass.
Going back to paper is not the right term, as I never left the paper. It is always there, as a draft, and even as part of my metal work, and with
folding jewelries.
Regarding my next field of creation; I was truly afraid you were going to ask me that. As for now, I don't know. I would like to publish a book or
to create products to be used in great masses. Time will tell.

The question no one can fully answer - can you describe your creation process?
Ilan: There are some different processes. Doodling for sure is one of them. I take a piece
of paper and play with it until the point where it looks close enough to be something. From
here it is easy to find the way forward.
Being asked to make a specific model is another starting point for a success. "Make an
elephant from a dollar bill" solves most of the problems you have as a designer - the size
says little details; the proportions say the trunk must be from the left side, so the hind legs
are from the right.For the trunk you need to narrow the edge, and just like that a model is
born.
I ask myself a lot - "what if?" what if I change the angle of the pre-creases in this
tessellation? what if I use a curved line? What if I duplicate the fold lines? This process
gave me most of my designs. Changing from tessellations to modulars, and vice versa. I Quadilic, from Elephant Hide
have a few series of models, each differ from the next with just a tiny change.
The more difficult process to master is the one I try first to imagine the model before I fold it. Sometimes it is harder to imagine a new model
than to fold it. Having the ideas is the hardest part. I use a lot of tricks and tools I developed from solving mechanical puzzles and riddles. In a
way, solving riddles is just like creating a new origami model.

What papers do you usually use? Why? And, of course, you I can also ask -what is your favorite material to fold?
What other material do you plan to research?
Ilan: I tried more than 27 types of papers, all are reported in the Paper Review series. Out of all of them, my favorite is still Elephant Hide. It
is the perfect paper for everything I do. Wood indeed is the most fun to fold. I use a Japanese product, a very thin sheet of wood that is
pasted on paper. I can use a laser cutter to score the crease pattern, and it becomes very easy to fold after that. I also love the look of it, and
the fact I can get really small models out of it. There are many benefits in metal folding. Again, no need to fold the pre-creases, as all are
laser cut, and when you fold it and let go, it just stay there. Glass is definitely something I want to explore more. There are many obstacles
before I will be able to fold glass, but that is exactly why I want to do it.

Do you have a motto in your life? Is origami part of that motto? Is there a message in your art?
Ilan: I have quite a few of them. Think differently, mostly differently from yourself. Be consistent. Trust yourself. Share your knowledge, and
learn from all around you.
I think my mottos were developed before I became an origami artist; they actually helped me become one. So origami helps sharpen my
ideas, and prove to me that they were right.
 I am sure there is one model of
yours that you would like to
point out for us. Which one is it,
and please tell us why you
chose it?
Ilan:"Hilula" is the last chapter in the
series of the Cubes tessellations. The
original model, the Cube tessellation,
was found way before me, and for me
Ninja Star Tessellation, from Elephant Hide being first is quite important. What I
like about this family of models is the
huge variety of paper models and
designed works I was able to create
out of it. From lamp shades, to wall
tiles, and metal art works, all are
Wood Bracelet
based on a very simple CP, with four
diagonal lines added to the grid. My chosen model looks so different from the source
model, but believe me, they are truly related!
Is there one last question I should have asked? Ask yourself, but don’t
answer. Just let us know what is the question …
Hilula Tessellation, from Elephant Hide
Ilan: What is your new personal vision for the next decade?

Name Ilan Garibi

Place of residence Binyamina, Israel

Profession origami artist and designer

Email garibiilan@gmail.com

Website Click here

Diagrams!
To really know a designer, you must fold his models. Here are the diagrams for Hilula.
Click here to download the diagram.
-Ilan Garibi

Hilula - detail
Hilula Tessellation CP
Designed by Garibi Ilan

This model is yet another descendant of the Cube

tessellation. You can see it in the CP of the single
molecule. Try your hands with the single one, before
you go to the 2x2 version, on the next page.

One Molecule is 5x5 (marked in Add the four pre creases around
green) , so we start with a 7x7 grid. the centre square, as diagrammed.

**
*

*
*

**

*
*
**
**
*

*
*

The real challenge is the collapse. Red are mountains, green are valleys. The orange areas are not
folded but curved. Push every point marked with * to its same colour partner.
For more explanations, see this video: https://youtu.be/bLYh5kMQBLc .

© Copyright 2012 by Ilan Garibi

Hilula Tessellation Crease Pattern
Designed by Garibi Ilan

Hilula CP, 2x2 molecules.

© Copyright 2012 by Ilan Garibi

Winged Heart
Nguyen Quang Do Lisa
May 2014
20 x 20 cm

1. Mark the centre and the corners 2. Bring two opposite corners to the 3. Mark the middle
center. Unfold

4. Fold twice to obtain fourths 5. Repeat on the other side 6. Fold the middle

7. Divide in two 8. Repeat on top 9. Pleat along horizontal creases

© Copyright 2014 by Nguyen Quang Do Lisa

This document was published by OrigamiUSA’s online magazine, The Fold, with permission from the author.
If you did not obtain this document from The Fold’s website, you may have infringed upon the author’s copyright.
This document can be obtained legally by joining OrigamiUSA online at http://origamiusa.org/
 A

10. Pleat along vertical creases 11. Fold in half 12. Bring the first layer to
the right.
The model will not lie flat.
Note the reference point

14. Repeat steps 12-13

13. Flatten the model 15. Waterbomb base on the bottom flap
on the left side

16. Valley fold through all the layers 17. Turn the model over 18.

19. Crimp the wings 20. Detail of the right wing. 21. Round the tops of the wings
Reverse fold the tips to form
the feathers

22. Push the top to create a heart shape

23. Completed winged heart

© Copyright 2014 by Nguyen Quang Do Lisa

This document was published by OrigamiUSA’s online magazine, The Fold, with permission from the author.
If you did not obtain this document from The Fold’s website, you may have infringed upon the author’s copyright.
This document can be obtained legally by joining OrigamiUSA online at http://origamiusa.org/
 May–June, 2015

Diagrams: OASIS star

by Francesco Mancini
Edited by Ilan Garibi
diagrams simple

OASIS is a young organization, and for our second convention we were able to invite a
guest. We picked Francesco, as we love his models and attitude. He paid us back by
designing a model in blue and white, as our flag colors,and naming it OASIS.
It was taught in the last NYC convention, and to help those who couldn't attend any of the
mentioned conventions, he presents the diagrams here.
- Ilan Garibi

Click on picture for diagrams.

OASIS Star My interpretation of the Magen David
(David's star) designed for the second
Design: Francesco Mancini OASIS (Origami ArtistS of ISrael)
Diagrams: Francesco Decio/ convention.
You will need 6 square sheets of paper
Francesco Mancini all of the same size. Works fine with
any kind of paper.

1 2 3

4 5 6

7 8

9 10

X6

Inside reverse fold

1
Unit finished

© Copyright 2015 by Francesco Mancini

Assembly of the units

1 2 3
4

5a
7A

5 6 7

9 10
8

4-5-6
7 - 8 - 9 - 10

11

OASIS star
finished

© Copyright 2015 by Francesco Mancini