Origami Heaven

A paperfolding paradise

The website of writer and paperfolding designer David Mitchell

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Naive Origami
 
         
 
Introduction
 
Naive origami is a paperfolding design style which is naive in the sense that the fundamental proportions and look of the designs are largely determined by working within a set of simple rules, with the intention that this leaves the designer less in control of the creative process, in much the same way that a writer is less in control of the language used when creating a short structured poem like a haiku or a limerick rather than unstructured prose.

When I became interested in this idea, I already had a few designs which could be considered 'naive' in this sense, notably P-P-Pig and B-Bear. Treating these as archetypal allowed me to deduce a set of rules that I hoped would allow me to find / create other designs of a similar kind. These rules had to be sufficiently restrictive that my intention to be less in control of the creative process was met but not so restrictive that it was not possible to create designs within their parameters. After some experimentation I settled on the six rules set out below. I would have liked to have a seventh rule that said that all the folds should be clearly and simply located but that proved too restrictive in practice.

Rule 1 - Naive designs should be representational not geometric.

Rule 2 - Naive designs should be made from multiple sheets of paper (two or more).

Rule 3 - All the pieces should be folded from sheets of the same shape and size, preferably from squares.

Rule 4 - All the pieces must be very simple to fold, the simpler the better.

Rule 5 - All the pieces should hold or lock together to create the design.

Rule 6 - No flap or point should be narrowed beyond 22.5 degrees.

The rules do not require that all the folding should be finished before the pieces are put together.

Designs which conform to the six rules with the exception of rules 3 or 5 can only be described as semi rather than fully naive because the proportions of the design are more easily controlled by the designer under these circumstances.

As always I am particularly fond of designs which demonstrate a sense of fun or humour or which hold or lock together in original or unusual ways.

It is worth noting that if you remove the requirement for the designs to be multi-piece then many traditional designs, such as the Flapping Bird, would qualify as naive designs. The Crane would not, however, because the points are thinned beyond 22.5 degrees.
 
Naive Designs
 
  Name: B-Bear - naive design.

Paper type / shape: 2 x squares of dyed / homogeneous paper.

Designer / Date: David Mitchell, 1992

Reference: 084

Diagrams: On-line diagrams are available on the Multiple Sheet Designs page of this site.
 
  Name: Doodle the Dragonette - naive design.

Paper type / shape: 3 x squares of any kind of paper.

Designer / Date: David Mitchell, 2013

Reference: 346

Diagrams: Diagrams not yet available.
 
  Name: Imp - naive design.

Paper type / shape: 2 x squares of irogami.

Designer / Date: David Mitchell, 2013

Reference: 348

Diagrams: Monstergami - Firefly Books - David Mitchell - ISBN 1770852506 // On-line diagrams are also available on the Multiple Sheet Designs page of this site.
 
  Name: Mix and Match Bullock - naive design.

Paper type / shape: 3 x squares of any kind of paper.

Designer / Date: David Mitchell, 2013

Reference: 345

Diagrams: On-line diagrams are available on the Multiple Sheet Designs page of this site.
 
  Name: Mix and Match Bactrian - naive design.

Paper type / shape: 4 x squares of any kind of paper.

Designer / Date: David Mitchell, 2013

Reference: 345

Diagrams: On-line diagrams are available on the Multiple Sheet Designs page of this site.
 
  Name: Mix and Match Dromedary) - naive design.

Paper type / shape: 4 x squares of any kind of paper.

Designer / Date: David Mitchell, 2013

Reference: 345

Diagrams: On-line diagrams are available on the Multiple Sheet Designs page of this site.
 
  Name: Mix and Match Elephant - naive design.

Paper type / shape: 3 x squares of any kind of paper.

Designer / Date: David Mitchell, 2013

Reference: 345

Diagrams: On-line diagrams are available on the Multiple Sheet Designs page of this site.
 
  Name: Mix and Match Giraffe - naive design.

Paper type / shape: 4 x squares of aany kind of paper.

Designer / Date: David Mitchell, 2013.

Reference: 345

Diagrams: On-line diagrams are available on the Multiple Sheet Designs page of this site.
 
  Name: Mix and Match Llama - naive design.

Paper type / shape: 3 x squares of any kind of paper.

Designer / Date: David Mitchell, 2013

Reference: 345

Diagrams: On-line diagrams are available on the Multiple Sheet Designs page of this site.
 
  Name: Naive Butterfly - naive active play design.

Paper type / shape: 2x squares of any kind of paper.

Designer / Date: David Mitchell, 1992

Reference: 552

Diagrams: On-line diagrams are available on the Multiple Sheet Designs page of this site.
 
  Name: Naive Horse - naive design.

Paper type / shape: 2 x squares of any kind of paper.

Designer / Date: David Mitchell, 2005

Reference: 279

Diagrams: Origami Animals - Greenwich Editions - David Mitchell - ISBN 1-86288-770-4 // On-line diagrams are available on the Multiple Sheet Designs page of this site.
 
  Name: Naive Hound - naive design.

Paper type / shape: 2 x squares of any kind of paper.

Designer / Date: David Mitchell, 2013

Reference: 347

Diagrams: On-line diagrams are available on the Multiple Sheet Designs page of this site.
 
  Name: Naive Turtle - naive design.

Paper type / shape: 3 x squares of any kind of paper.

Designer / Date: David Mitchell, 2013

Reference: 356

Diagrams: On-line diagrams are available on the Multiple Sheet Designs page of this site.
 
  Name: Parakeet in flight - naive design.

Paper type / shape: 2 x squares of irogami.

Designer / Date: David Mitchell, 2014.

Reference: 368

Diagrams: On-line diagrams are available on the Multiple Sheet Designs page of this site.
 
  Name: Poser - naive posable design.

Paper type / shape: 2 x squares of any kind of paper.

Designer / Date: David Mitchell, 2008.

Reference: 321

Diagrams: Kid-O-Gami - Sandy Creek - David Mitchell - ISBN 978-1-4351-2338-0
 
  Name: Pigasus - naive design - simple development of P-P-Pig.

Paper type / shape: 4 x squares of any kind of paper.

Designer / Date: David Mitchell, 2011.

Reference: 090

Diagrams: On-line diagrams are available on the Multiple Sheet Designs page of this site.
 
  Name: P-P-Pig - naive design.

Paper type / shape: 3 x squares of any kind of paper.

Designer / Date: David Mitchell, 1992

Reference: 090

Diagrams: Origami - Barnes and Noble - ISBN 0-7607-3331-7 // Super Quick Origami Animals - Nick Robinson - ISBN 1-85605-728-3 // Origami Animals - Greenwich Editions - David Mitchell - ISBN 1-86288-770-4 // Zoogami - Barnes and Noble - Gay Merrill Gross - 0-7607-7251-7 // On-line diagrams are available on the Multiple Sheet Designs page of this site.
 
  Name: Push Me Pull You - Mix and Match naive design.

Paper type / shape: 4 x squares of any kind of paper.

Designer / Date: David Mitchell, 2013

Reference: 345

Diagrams: On-line diagrams are available on the Multiple Sheet Designs page of this site.
 
  Name: Raven in flight - naive design.

Paper type / shape: 2 x squares of irogami.

Designer / Date: David Mitchell, 2014

Reference: 368

Diagrams: On-line diagrams are available on the Multiple Sheet Designs page of this site.
 
  Name: Rhinos 'R' Us / Out for the Count - repositionable naive design.

Paper type / shape: 3 x squares of any kind of paper.

Designer / Date: David Mitchell, 2009

Reference: 328

Diagrams: Kid-O-Gami - Sandy Creek - David Mitchell - ISBN 978-1-4351-2338-0 // On-line diagrams are available on the Multiple Sheet Designs page of this site.
 
  Name: Rhino (2) - naive design.

Paper type / shape: 2 x squares of any kind of paper.

Designer / Date: David Mitchell, 2013

Reference: 353

Diagrams: Diagrams not yet available.
 
  Name: Stretch Pigo - naive design - simple development of P-P-Pig.

Paper type / shape: 3 x squares of any kind of paper.

Designer / Date: David Mitchell, 2013

Reference: 355

Diagrams: On-line diagrams are available on the Multiple Sheet Designs page of this site.
 
  Name: Wolf Cub - naive design.

Paper type / shape: 2 x squares of any kind of paper.

Designer / Date: David Mitchell, 2005

Reference: 299

Diagrams: Origami Animals - Greenwich Editions - David Mitchell - ISBN 1-86288-770-4 // On-line diagrams are also available on the Multiple Sheet Designs page of this site.
 
Semi-Naive Designs
 
  Name: Bull - a semi-naive design.

Paper type / shape: 2 x squares and 1 triangle of irogami.

Designer / Date: David Mitchell, 2009

Reference: 324

Diagrams: Kid-O-Gami - Sandy Creek - David Mitchell - ISBN 978-1-4351-2338-0
 
  Name: Silver Fir - a semi-naive design.

Paper type / shape: Multiple squares of regularly diminishing size all cut from a single silver rectangle.

Designer / Date: David Mitchell, 2019

Reference: 567

Diagrams: On-line diagrams are available on the Multiple Sheet Designs page of this site.
 
  Name: Whale, Diving - semi-naive hybrid design.

Paper type / shape: 2 x squares of any kind of paper, of two different sizes.

Designer / Date: David Mitchell, 2013

Reference: 357

Diagrams: Diagrams not yet available.