CUT AND FOLD TECHNIQUES FOR PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS Paul Jackson Published in 2013 by Laurence King Publishing Ltd 361–373 City Road London EC1V 1LR United Kingdom email: [email protected] www.laurenceking.com © 2013 Paul Jackson All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. Paul Jackson has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs, and Patents Act 1988, to be identifi ed as the Author of this Work. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN: 978 1 78067 094 2 Designed by Struktur Design Senior editor: Peter Jones Printed in China CUT AND FOLD TECHNIQUES FOR PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS Paul Jackson Laurence King Publishing Contents 1 BEFORE YOU START 06 5 PUZZLES AND ILLUSIONS 70 1.1 How to Use the Book 07 5.0 Introduction 71 1.2 How to Cut and Fold 08 5.1 Impossible Illusion 72 1.3 Equipment 09 5.2 Negative/Positive Cube Illusion 74 1.4 Choosing Paper and Card 10 5.3 Tangrams 76 1.5 Symbols 11 5.4 Inside-out Cube Puzzle 82 5.5 Left-to-right Transformation 2 FLEXAGONS 12 Illusion 86 2.0 Introduction 13 5.6 Chain-to-square Puzzle 88 2.1 Tri-hexafl exagon 14 2.2 Square Flexagon 18 6 FOLDED BOOKLETS 92 2.3 Windmill Base Manipulations 22 6.0 Introduction 93 2.4 Shapeshifter 25 6.1 Eight-page Booklet 94 2.5 Pivoting Cubes 28 6.2 Back-and-forth Book 96 2.6 Flexicube 30 6.3 Origami Book 100 6.4 Expanding Booklet 104 3 MODULAR SOLIDS 34 3.0 Introduction 35 7 NOVELTIES 106 3.1 Six-piece Cubes 36 7.0 Introduction 107 3.2 Three-piece Cubes 38 7.1 Spinning Spiral 108 3.3 Two-piece Cubes 40 7.2 Hanging Letters 110 3.4 Jigsaw Cubes 42 7.3 Chain of Cubes 112 3.5 Tetrahedron 44 7.4 Desktop Trophy 116 3.6 A4 Pyramids 46 7.5 Masu Box 118 7.6 Tower of Collapsing Cubes 120 4 ENVELOPES 52 4.0 Introduction 53 How to Use What You Make 124 4.1 A4 Random Envelope 54 Provenance 126 4.2 A4 Angled Envelope 56 Acknowledgements 128 4.3 A4 Wrap 58 4.4 Japanese Envelope 60 4.5 French Envelope 62 4.6 Square CD Envelope 64 4.7 Engineered Envelope 66 : 04 Introduction Before watching TV became the main The addition of texts, photographs and leisure activity of most Western households illustrations transforms these superb in the 1950s and ‘60s, many books were paper constructions into ideal promotional published that contained a comprehensive giveaways. They provide a great way to variety of activities for the enterprising describe a new product or service, market family to do in the home; anything from yourself, promote a sale or simply say building your own billiards table or ‘Happy New Year’ to present and future shortwave radio receiver, to learning clients and customers. Some constructions esoteric card games or staging an amateur in the book need no additional surface dramatics production. If the illustrations graphics to carry your message, but can be were to be believed, all you needed to played with or have some useful function. succeed were a neatly knotted tie or Whatever your needs, there is certain to be a pearl necklace and a cheery smile. something in this book that you can use to promote you or yours. These books often contained many wonderful puzzles, models, games and Everything can be mass-produced using tricks, all made by folding and cutting conventional die-cutting and printing paper. Some of these paper ideas have technologies, or can be made in small survived into modern times, but many – numbers in the studio or at home, using sadly – have been forgotten. graphic design software and a printer. Many of them will fold fl at for easy mailing This book brings together classics from that and transform into three-dimensions bygone time, with little-known cut-and-fold when opened. classics from the worlds of puzzling, magic, topology, origami and graphic design, all Today we are bombarded with visual chosen for their special ability to amaze information and it can be diffi cult to make and amuse. A few designs were adapted our message stand out. By using these or created especially for the book. smart, witty and above all memorable cut-and-fold paper constructions, you give yourself a better chance to be heard and for your message to be remembered. Paul Jackson : 05 01: BEFORE YOU START : 06 1. BEFORE 1.1 How to Use the Book YOU START 1.1 How to Use Almost everything in the book is interactive. That is: almost everything will the Book open, close, collapse, turn inside out, change shape or need assembling. These interactions and movements are very diffi cult to show on the printed page, so if something takes your fancy, but you are uncertain from the drawings and photos how it will move or perform, you are strongly recommended to make it and then to play with it. Don’t dismiss something too hastily because you didn’t understand every subtlety and nuance from the static, two-dimensional instructions on the page. Trust that the designs have been chosen for their elegance and ingenuity (they have, they have!) and enjoy discovering them as much when they are in your hands, as when they were on the page. Many of the designs are a total delight – mini masterpieces of paper engineering – but they need to be made to be enjoyed. Due to lack of space, some of the more esoteric manipulations buried deep within some of the designs are not explained. So, when you have made something, experiment with it by folding it this way and that, by doing the opposite (however you interpret that) to what you are instructed, add extra material here and there and generally play with it as though you have never seen it before and don’t know what it is supposed to do. Your experiments will be well rewarded. : 07 1. BEFORE 1.2 How to Cut and Fold YOU START 1.2 How to Cut 1.2.1 Cutting and Fold If you are cutting card by hand, it is important to use a quality craft knife or, 1.2.1 Cutting better still, a scalpel. Avoid using inexpensive ‘snap-off’ craft knives, as they 1.2.2 Folding can be unstable and dangerous. The stronger, chunkier, ‘snap-off’ knives are more stable and much safer; however, for the same price you can buy a scalpel with a slim metal handle and a packet of replaceable blades. Scalpels are generally more manoeuvrable through the card than craft knives and are more helpful in creating an accurately cut line. Whichever knife you use, it is imperative to change the blade regularly. A metal ruler or straight edge will ensure a strong, straight cut, though transparent plastic rulers are acceptable and have the added advantage that you can see the drawing beneath the ruler. Use a handy 15cm ruler to cut short lines. Generally, when cutting, place the ruler on the drawing, so that if your blade slips away it will cut harmlessly into the waste card around the outside of the drawing. 1.2.2. Folding A scalpel is shown here While cutting paper is relatively straightforward, folding is less so. Whatever held in the standard method you use, the crucial element is never to cut through the card along the position for cutting. fold line but, by using pressure, to compress the fold line. This is done using a For safety reasons, be sure to always keep your tool. Whether the tool is purpose-made or improvised is a matter of personal non-cutting hand above choice and habit. your cutting hand. Bookbinders use a range of specialist creasing tools called bone folders. They compress the card very well, though the fold line is usually 1–2mm or so away from the edge of the ruler, so if your tolerances are small, a bone folder may be considered inaccurate. A good improvised tool is a dry ball-point pen. The ball makes an excellent crease line, though like the bone folder, it may be a little distance away from the edge of the ruler. I have also seen people use a scissor point, a food knife, a tool usually used for smoothing down wet clay, a fi ngernail (!) and a nail fi le. But my own preference is a dull scalpel blade (or a dull craft knife blade). The trick is to turn the blade upside down (see left). It compresses the card along a reliably consistent line, immediately adjacent to the edge of the ruler. A scalpel or craft knife makes an excellent tool with which to create a fold. Held upside down against the edge of a ruler, it does not cut the card along the length of the fold line, but compresses it. : 08 1. BEFORE 1.3 Equipment YOU START 1.3 Equipment Most of the designs in the book are made from simple polygons such as squares, rectangles and triangles, and from simple angles such as 90 degrees, 45 degrees and 60 degrees. Even with little prior practice, these polygons and angles can be constructed easily using basic geometry equipment. Making the designs this way may seem old fashioned, but it is often quicker than designing by software and avoids the need for a printer to print out the result. Here is a list of the basic equipment you will need: • Hard pencil (2H is good) • Good eraser (not the one on the end of a pencil) • Good pencil sharpener if your pencil is not mechanical • 15cm plastic ruler • 30cm metal or plastic ruler • Large 360-degree protractor • Quality craft knife or scalpel, with replacement blades • Pair of sharp scissors • Pair of compasses • 45-degree set square • Invisible tape and/or masking tape • Self-healing cutting mat, as large as possible The above equipment – with one exception – can be purchased at little cost. As with most things, it pays to buy items of quality, though it is more important to use equipment which is inexpensive but clean, rather than equipment that is expensive but dirty. Age-old grime on a ruler or protractor will quickly transfer to your paper or card and make everything you create look grubby and trivial. Work cleanly and you will work better. The one relatively expensive item is a self-healing cutting mat. It is pure vandalism to cut through paper or card on a tabletop and the alternatives of wood or thick card quickly become rutted and problematic. A specialist cutting mat will ensure that every cut line runs straight and smooth. Buy the biggest you can afford. If it is looked after carefully, it will remain in good condition for a decade or more. A nice bonus with a cutting mat is that it will have a grid of centimetres and/or inches printed on it, meaning that for some constructions you will rarely, if ever, need to use a ruler. : 09