If you haven't noticed, Wednesday's Google Doodle pays tribute to Akira Yoshizawa, the grandmaster of origami. And to highlight the art form, the designer is encouraging the public to re-create the image by folding paper to create a real-life version of the doodle.
The designer of the origami Google Doodle is Robert J. Lang, considered one of the world’s top origami masters. He walks you through how to create the origami doodle in a post on Google's Official Blog.
To create a origami doodle at home, simply download Lang's PDF with the crease patterns for each of the letters and fold along the lines. The red lines indicate a "valley fold" -- or downward fold -- while the blue lines indicate a high "mountain" fold.
"To design these (or any letterform in this style), one can take a narrow strip of paper, fold it back and forth to trace the outline of the desired letter, unfold it, mark the creases, then arrange multiple copies of the strip pattern on a larger rectangle," Lang noted on the site.
"The resulting crease pattern is moderately complex, and it gives a lovely 3-D form when folded, but conceptually, it is quite straightforward."
Lang also discussed how he approached the design for the Google Doodle.
"When I was first approached by Google to help create a doodle commemorating Yoshizawa’s work, I jumped at the chance," Lang wrote. "Google set the parameters of the design: the Google logo, of course, but to be folded with origami and then decorated with examples of Yoshizawa's designs."
He created two logo styles for the company to select from -- one was a classic style and the other had a 3-D look with pleats. Google went with the latter.
"The butterflies in the doodle are folded from one of Yoshizawa's earliest, yet most iconic designs. It is deceptive in its simplicity, but can express great subtlety in its shaping and attitude," Lang said. "The combination of simplicity and depth is part of the essence of origami, and is key to Yoshizawa's work and legacy."
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