Origami: Radiant Star

Radiant Star

Radiant Star, designed by Madhura Gupta

This weekend, I’m at PCOC, the Pacific Coast OrigamiUSA Conference.  The funny thing is, I picked this photo and scheduled the post ahead of time, but when I got to PCOC I found this exact model in the conference booklet!  I swear it was a coincidence.

This model is made from four units, of successively smaller size.  Each star is inserted into the hexagonal pocket of the next.  I like it!

Origami: 2nd Brillouin Zone of the fcc structure

2nd brillouin zone of the fcc structure

2nd Brillouin Zone of the fcc Structure, designed by me

So let’s talk about photo organization.  I have 13 years of origami photos, and every month on this blog I select one to share.  How do I avoid publishing the same photo more than once?  Well I have a primitive but effective method.  I have one folder of unposted photos, and another folder of posted photos.  Whenever I post one, I move it from one folder to the other.

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Origami: Passiflora Ornata with Spirals

Passiflora Ornata with Spirals

Passiflora Ornata with Spirals, designed by Ekaterina Lukasheva

Looking through my old photos, here’s one from 2014.  It’s a variant on the Passiflora Ornata, of which I have an example here.  The long points, instead of being used to make flower pettles, are twisted into spirals.  I believe the spiral design is quite similar to Tomoko Fuse’s Origami Spiral Star, so if you’d like to try a simple version you can look into that.

Origami: Eye of the Wave

Eye of the Wave

Eye of the Wave, designed by me

This is a pleat-based model that I made in 2020.  You can see some other examples of pleat-based models here and here.

This is made with 64×64 divisions.  Where the horizontal and vertical pleats meet, the paper is layered in a way that causes it to contort.  I really like this one.

How to fold D. Hinklay’s “Stone Board”

Back in 2017, I designed the Cube Tessellation. It’s one that I have shown off here on multiple occasions. I have a crease pattern, step by step instructions, and it appeared in the Geometric Origami Convention in 2024.

Cube Tessellation

Cube Tessellation, designed by me

I recently discovered that a professional origamist, known as D. Hinklay, has been making a model titled “Stone Board” which is identical in design, down to the crease pattern. There are several  several youtube shorts from 2022 and 2023, totaling over 50M views. I also found an instagram post that explicitly claims it’s an original design. At time of writing, his website lists multiple Stone Boards, including one going for $3500.

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Origami: Fish Curler

Fish Curler

Fish Curler, designed by Ekaterina Lukasheva

The Fish Curler is one of the most elegant designs in modular origami.  It’s an all-timer, a classic.  There are instructions publicly available, and they fit into a single page.

The units are attached by simply wrapping them together in a spiral.  There are a number of modular designs based on this same principle, but none so simple and effective.