Favorite origami I've memorized

As my blog has developed over time, somehow I ended up writing about reading, videogames and technology above all, but the J in my logo is themed after folded paper for a reason.

I love origami! And it was about time I wrote about it some more. My story with it and the like will have to wait for later, at the moment, I just want to focus on the title of this blogpost.

On a very lovely email, a reader of my blog asked me this:

What’s a model you still enjoy folding even though you’ve long since figured it out?

I would like to say that to me this question has a couple of premises that don’t really apply to me!

“Figuring out” a model isn’t really something I think about? Like, I either memorize the folding steps/crease pattern, or I don’t, and I just follow the diagram and not worry too much. My assumption is that what you mean is memorization here, so I’ll only focus on models I can do on a whim without looking at some instructions online.

I enjoy when the final result looks traditional, if I can fold it in under 20 minutes, or if it takes me 2 hours, I don’t really mind, as long as the design looks effortless. Unfortunately I can’t quite memorize all the steps of some of my favorites, but there’s still plenty of options to choose from.

And because there are so many options, I’m not going to share just one favorite, but five of them!

Dollar Bill Camera by Won Park

When it comes to orgami made with dollar bills, few models get close to this one. This is such a simple design that only takes a few steps to fold, and the last result is extremely pretty and instantly recognizable.

The only caveat for this design, in my opinion, is the way the camera lens is kept in shape. It is just very reliable, and will often slowly unfold, unless you use a clip or something to keep it together. Making the model with a bigger paper helps fix this though, although it looks less impressive than using an actual bill-sized sheet.

Diagram found at Dollar Origami by Won Park

Dollar Caterpillar/Fireworks by Jeremy Shafer

Jeremy Shafer is one of the most prolific designers and very active on YouTube. This model of his is extremely entertaining to make, consisting of a rather easy pattern done over and over again! It was one of the first models I learned how to do from a YouTube tutorial, and I remember making dozens of them for my friends.

After all, this is fun to fold, and it doubles as an amazing fidget toy to have at the office or the school desk or wherever.

Video Tutorial freely available

Full-Rigged Ship by Patricia Crawford

Perhaps this is one where I may consult a diagram for a certain step, but I still had to include it as a favorite. This is one of the best looking designs I have seen, and to think that it’s only a few steps beyond a traditional bird base boggles my mind.

Doing this with a big dual-sided sheet is an absolute treat, you can fold this and put it on a stand, this one is an artpiece and a joy to fold as well, unless you go too small, since some paper layers can overlap and thicken it a bit. No matter, a truly gorgeous model.

Diagram found on Creating Origami by J.C. Nolan

Rat by Eric Joisel

If something that comes from a bird base sounds impressive, a design made from the fish base, and from none other than Eric Joisel. This guy was a beast, you only need to look up the work he did during his lifetime to understand.

The Rat is easily on my top 5 of all time, memorized or not. The fact that I can fold it by memory is only a blessing for me. It can suffer a bit when done with thick office paper though, this one definitely deserves to be made with quality origami sheets. This is a true piece of art and the artist behind it was one of a kind.

Origami Diagram freely available

Origami Human by Claudio Acuña J.

However, if there is one model that I can do with my eyes closed, over and over again, this one has to be it! This is my most folded model ever, I’m sure. It was not just entertaining to fold, but super fun to play with!

After all, you basically had a super cheap, barebones action figure you could play with without worrying about anything at all. I did this every single day at school, I carried one with me during trips.

In my mind, this model turned into a superhero, doing parkour on the walls and dodging bullets in slow motion—there was just no limit to my imagination!

Video Tutorial freely available

Finishing thoughts

Joisel’s Rat may be my favorite masterpiece to show off what origami is capable to look like, but toy-like nature and simplicity of Acuña’s model was just enough to make it a favorite for me, and the design I’ve folded more than anything else in the list, and maybe second of all time, only behind the traditional crane.

I took the time to link tutorials for some of these models when they are available with the author’s permission.

If you read this, let me know if you also do origami, and what your favorite model to fold by memory is! Did you know the ones I showed here, or was any of these a surprise? Happy to talk more about it.

This is day 37 of #100DaysToOffload