The Fold as a Design Element

I have been working on a small project which in my estimation needed a little kick. Something unique.

What do I mean by that? ….

origami fold

When you recall being a child and someone showed you for the first time, how to fold a piece of paper, specifically Origami, wasn’t that amazing? It was for me.

Recently I attended a seminar given by Sabine Lenz in coordination with Trish Witowski from the Fold Factory - foldfactory.com

Here is a fantastic creative tool - the fold - which can inspire you to do something more to that 2 dimensional sheet of paper.

Check out this video demonstrating how a unique fold and binding brought this project to new heights.

https://www.paperspecs.com/gallery/weekly-paper-inspiration/creative-binding-45-degree-fold-voices-promo-2/

What about those yummy pretzels - they are actually bagels which are folded, come to think of it, maybe the bagel-baker became inspired?

Fancy folded napkin

You can see from this image, how applying a beautifully constructed fold to a plain napkin can turn it into a designed serviette. This adds to the visual of the place setting. Now think of your product, a flyer or brochure and how you could excite the viewer by expanding it’s character with layers of content that ‘pop up’.

Try this the next time you have a basic brochure project - use only a single sheet of paper and use both folds and scores to develop expandable shapes. See below how this can emphasize your content.

pop-up fold developed from a single sheet of paper - fold factory.com

Dimensionality, texture, contrast - all are involved with thinking differently. One thing leads to another, you will find yourself wondering how could you now affect new ways to bind multiple papers ….

Make your next solution bend the way YOU believe it should.