Product Description

Explore geometry and tilings through the art of origami! The simple beauty of repeating geometric patterns - used in art and architecture for centuries - is introduced to the world of folding paper in this first book of its kind to be published. This book provides the fundamentals of origami tessellations - including techniques unique to tessellation folding - as well as step-by-step instructions for 25 origami tessellation projects. This book can be enjoyed by beginners, intermediate folders, and expert origamists.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #39903 in Books
• Published on: 2009-01-31
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 128 pages

About the Author
When asked by his parents what he wanted to be when he grew up, five-year-old Eric Gjerde replied, "a paperologist." Throughout his childhood and adolescence he enjoyed paper crafts and origami. After preparing for a technology career, Eric kept looking for an artistic outlet to balance his creative side with his professional life. He returned to his childhood love of paper and discovered a deeper appreciation for the beauty of origami by exploring and researching new areas of folding - including the geometric art of origami tessellations. He currently balances dual careers as a technology professional and as an artist in Minneapolis.

Customer Reviews

A good origami tessellation book
If, like me, you've been wanting to get into origami tessellations but haven't had much idea about how to get started beyond a few tutorials and the odd web site here and there, Eric Gjerde's new book is just the thing to get you started on the road to mastery.

The first chapter outlines the essential skills and techniques required to create origami tessellations. Even although the techniques are well explained and illustrated with stylish diagrams and clear photos, it must be said that the learning curve involved in creating tessellations is fairly steep.

There are quite a few things to be mastered before you can even begin to attempt making a tessellation, so if you're a beginner (even if you're an otherwise very experienced origamist), be warned that you may have to spend a few hours practising before you've picked up the necessary skills. It's time consuming rather than terribly difficult.

The author himself notes that with tessellations being such a `hands on' craft, you will need to work through the basics until you reach an `Aha' moment and everything becomes clear.

And let's not forget the precreasing - most tessellations in the book are made out of precreased grids of squares or triangles, often as many as 32 or 64. I found I could precrease a 32x32 square grid on a 20cm piece of paper without much effort, but doing 64 would be exceptionally difficult, if not impossible. Larger paper, say at least 40cm square, is probably better for most of the included projects. Learning to precrease a triangular grid is significantly more difficult than making a square grid. So be warned this is not a book for those who lack patience. That's not the fault of the author - it's simply that time and patience is required to make tessellations. However, they're so beautiful that it's well worth persevering.

There are 25 projects included in the book, divided into beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels. They all look good and will certainly inspire you to begin creating your own designs once you've worked through them. Crease patterns and fairly detailed instructions and lots of photos are included for all models. Gjerde is very enthusiastic about his work and that comes across clearly in the text.

All things considered, this is a very good book and as far as I'm aware is the only book dealing with origami tessellations on the market at the moment. The price (£20.99) is quite high for what you get, but considering that it deals with a niche topic in a niche hobby you can't really complain. I'm happy to own this book and if you have an interest in tessellations I'm sure you will be too.

advanced
Great book, very well done.....daunting when you start your first tessellation....it drive you well to succeed..