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Questions for Origami hobbyists.

Posted: October 16th, 2018, 11:29 am
by Jac722
Hello,

My names Jack I am a university student that is currently undertaking a project to create a magazine article about a hobby. The hobby that I have chosen is Origami, I have a questions about Origami and was hoping you would help answer them.

1. Why have you chosen Origami as a hobby?
2. How long have you been creating Origami for?
3. How much money can be spent on Origami?
4. There are people that claim Origami is as simple as folding a piece of paper, is this true? or is there a lot more to it?
5. What makes Origami an interesting hobby to explore?
6. For people who are new to Origami and want to take it on as a hobby, where would they start? and how?

Thanks everyone.

Re: Questions for Origami hobbyists.

Posted: October 23rd, 2018, 6:29 am
by Ponadr
1. I do origami because there is something satisfying about the difficult—and often frustrating—process of turning an ordinary square paper into a beautiful piece of art.
2. Since childhood.
3. For folders the cost relies on the paper and diagrams. Costs for diagrams tend to be less than they should be given the abundance of illegal diagrams circulating the internet. For origami artists, the costs can be somewhat higher because they have to invest in higher quality materials. Compared to other hobbies, origami is very inexpensive.
4. Yes, origami can be as simple as folding a piece of paper... but at the same time it has no upper bound on complexity. To answer the question best, the origami community is divided into folders and designers. For folders, origami is mostly a matter of following instructions. For designers, origami requires creativity and a lot of thinking power.
5. For me, origami is interesting not only because its challenging and fun, but also because it is not well understood by the contemporary art world. This makes my mission to increase public appreciation for origami much more meaningful.
6. People who want to get into origami folding should begin by folding pieces by other people. They can do this by going on youtube, searching online, or borrowing books from the library. However, if they go on the internet, they should make sure the diagrams or instructions are legal. Another option to get into origami is to just take a piece of paper and fold.

Re: Questions for Origami hobbyists.

Posted: October 23rd, 2018, 1:36 pm
by Grace159
1.Why have you chosen Origami as a hobby?

I spent a lot of time waiting as a child and I was also fidgety. Paper folding was incredibly calming for me.

2. How long have you been creating Origami for?

I have been folding on and off for around twenty years. I have been creating my own origami for around two years.

3. How much money can be spent on Origami?

Not a great deal, honestly I spend more on my Netflix subscription and for something that keeps me entertained for around an hour in the evenings I could be spending double and it would still be cheap.

4. There are people that claim Origami is as simple as folding a piece of paper, is this true? or is there a lot more to it?

It's about as true as saying writing is as simple as putting words on paper.

5. What makes Origami an interesting hobby to explore?

For me it is seeing that glimpse of what is possible in something I am folding and having a new design form. The first nine things I created I spent hours on google images convinced that they couldn't be new.

In terms of when I first started, as I said I am fidgety. Standing waiting for a bus for 15 minutes to 30 minutes was pure torture and I did it every morning. I read, I drew, I wrote and I folded.

6. For people who are new to Origami and want to take it on as a hobby, where would they start? and how?

These days probably YouTube. Keep the number of steps/minutes in the first origami model below your age. For example if you are 15 don't start with an instructional video that is an hour long/ has 60 steps.

If you can buy books they don't run out of battery/ get confiscated by parents.

If you want to start designing take the models you love and try to fold them from a different shaped piece of paper or learn one new fold like the waterbomb base sink and add it to everything.



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Re: Questions for Origami hobbyists.

Posted: October 23rd, 2018, 4:16 pm
by Brimstone
Pure wisdom. Very well said Grace.

Re: Questions for Origami hobbyists.

Posted: October 24th, 2018, 10:49 am
by Folderp
1. Because I enjoy it, find it interesting and satisfying, and find it a good way to easily pass time.
2. About 8 years (and I've been "designing" for about 3 or 4 months :D).
3. As much as you want, you can always buy more paper :D. But realistically, not that much compared to other hobbies.Paper and diagrams are all most people would buy, and they don't cost too much.
4. I doubt anyone can say it better than Grace, so I won't try. What I will say is that in its bare minimum form, yes, it is exactly that simple. However, when done with thought and skill, it becomes art.
5. Many things, for one, it passes a lot of time. The transformation from a square to the final form is incredible and many of the individual steps or step sequences are incredibly satisfying. I also like the way a lot of the finished models look. In terms of designing, the process required to make a new model, learning the ways paper can be manipulated and how crease patterns work and can be folded into a full model.
6. YouTube is definitely a good option, but Joseph (Ponadr) has a point. MAKE SURE THE TUTORIALS AREN'T ILLEGAL! Seriously, it is a big issue. YouTube tutorials are free, and all they require is internet, which most people have. Books are good too though, and are a great way to get started and also introduce you to origami diagrams.

Re: Questions for Origami hobbyists.

Posted: October 24th, 2018, 8:30 pm
by steingar
Jac722 wrote:Hello,

My names Jack I am a university student that is currently undertaking a project to create a magazine article about a hobby. The hobby that I have chosen is Origami, I have a questions about Origami and was hoping you would help answer them.
Jac722 wrote:1. Why have you chosen Origami as a hobby?
-I didn't choose Origami. It chose me.
Jac722 wrote:2. How long have you been creating Origami for?
-since the Nixon administration
Jac722 wrote:3. How much money can be spent on Origami?
-compared to? There are lots of books, and really good papers can get pricey as well. Cheap compared to anything automotive, probably on the same level as most fibre or paper crafts. Really cheap compared to anything aviation.
Jac722 wrote:4. There are people that claim Origami is as simple as folding a piece of paper, is this true? or is there a lot more to it?
-way more to it. Different materials require different techniques, and many involve water and or glue. You might have to do quite a few things depending on the finish you want to give your creation, which can include chemical preservation, painting, and a number of other different crafts.
Jac722 wrote:5. What makes Origami an interesting hobby to explore?
-at its heart it is the most minimalist art form I can imagine, and is strictly bound by the laws of geometry. This makes artistic expression a matter of high creative ability.
Jac722 wrote:6. For people who are new to Origami and want to take it on as a hobby, where would they start? and how?
paper and Youtube.
Jac722 wrote:Thanks everyone.
Good luck with your project.

Re: Questions for Origami hobbyists.

Posted: October 29th, 2018, 3:24 pm
by Jac722
Thanks everyone for taking time to answer my questions, your answers will greatly help my project and its final outcome. Origami is a fantastic hobby and is tempting me to join. Keep creating more amazing designs!

Re: Questions for Origami hobbyists.

Posted: October 30th, 2018, 10:37 am
by Folderp
Happy to help, I hope your project goes well. And you really should take up origami.

Re: Questions for Origami hobbyists.

Posted: October 30th, 2018, 2:38 pm
by Grace159
Jac722 wrote:Thanks everyone for taking time to answer my questions, your answers will greatly help my project and its final outcome. Origami is a fantastic hobby and is tempting me to join. Keep creating more amazing designs!
You're welcome. If you get stuck on any models let us know.

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Re: Questions for Origami hobbyists.

Posted: November 8th, 2018, 4:03 pm
by Gerardo
Sorry for answering these questions only now. I know it might be too late, I had not noticed the thread before :(.

1. Why have you chosen Origami as a hobby?

It was rather an unconscious decision. I created an original box, that made me very proud, and so, I decided to fold some more. I basically haven't stopped ever since.

2. How long have you been creating Origami for?

As a very frequent activity... eight years.

3. How much money can be spent on Origami?

A lot of money can be spent on origami, if you take costly courses (on subjects like math among others) and buy very expensive materials, for example. I assume a sheet of gold can be pretty expensive. It can also be pretty cheap, if you only use inexpensive papers.

4. There are people that claim Origami is as simple as folding a piece of paper, is this true? or is there a lot more to it?

It literally is folding paper. At least in most cases, sometimes it's curving, not folding. Sometimes it's more crumpling than folding. Sometimes it's not even curving, crumpling or folding, like in Jeremy Shafer's Square; I'm not sure if I have the name right. Sometimes paper isn't used, origamists have also worked with plastic, fabric, metal, wood, and glass, among other materials.

Now, in order be better at origami (designing and developing) every time, there can be more to it: for example, understanding math (from the simple to the more complex stuff), understanding the science of materials, aesthetics, and mastering your fine motor skills.

5. What makes Origami an interesting hobby to explore?

I don't know in general, but for me it's very fun and very satisfying to transform a material into an attractive object with very little tools or even just my hands.

6. For people who are new to Origami and want to take it on as a hobby, where would they start? and how?

They could buy a book for beginners or pick them up from the library. The could also look for a starter class, or look up (hopefully authorized) videos on the web.