Another Flickr Find, Paper Toy by Mari-e

I just started a Flickr account recently and I'm addicted. I spend way to much time on it, but I do find a lot of cool stuff. Here is a paper toy I came across tonight by Mari Milanezi. It's her first one! Download the large version of it here. If you like it why not drop here a line in the comments and let her know?

Photo Cube - Simple Fun

So- this is certainly not an advanced paper model, but it is personalized. Here's an interactive template to easily print out some photo cubes of your own. This little tool at the tabblo website can even use photos from Picasa and Flickr, so you can create all kinds of little photo cubes to print out and assemble with just a few clicks. (via How about Orange)

Paper Garden

Free cute paper bugs and plant models can be found at the Rodale Institute website...

Catapult at Raven's Blight

This new working paper catapult at Raven's Blight is a two-player game and can be downloaded for free. I've mentioned Raven's Blight before, as the website has all kinds of other downloads to cut and paste as well!

Gloo Man

I've been seeing a lot of Readymech type paper toys lately but this one has a real cool twist. You actually customize Gloo Man right on the spot. First choose the boy or girl and then things like hair style, shirt and belt buckle etc. He has two sides casual and business. Then you get a pdf of your custom Gloo Man to print and build. Pretty cool idea!

Speakerdog

Speakerdog is an environmentally aware paper toy by Ben the Illustrator.
There are a lot of different Speakerdog designs to download by Ben and his many collaborators. It's hard to decide which to build first.
There is also a blank template so you can customize yer very own Speakerdog.
Update: A little bird just told me there will be a new batch of Speakerdogs dropping this Monday the 18th. Sweet!

Kako Ueda

I came across the amazing cut paper work of Kako Ueda in the latest issue of Craft magazine.
This stuff just blows me away .
From Kako's biography:
"Paper has been my Primary medium of choice for a long time. It is such a mundane material yet has potential to manifest itself in surprisingly diverse ways."

Kinetic Horse Sculpture

This has to be The Finest Automata Mechanism I've Seen To Date. A friend of mine, animator, Mike Brent, sent around the link to this two minute Kinetic Horse Sculpture clip on YouTube (redundant statement, I know).

The artist, 36 year old bot creator and genius, James G Watt from the Bahamas (really?) describes it as; "Study for a solar powered kinetic sculpture inspired partly by the work of Theo Jansen [astounding natural movement metal mechanisms]. Apart from the motor drive and crank shaft the machine is constructed entirely from paper."

I love that he shows the digital animation of the sculpture's workings at the start so we can see how all the luscious, organic motion that James achieved originates from a single, circular rotation at the figure's center.

I found this a thrilling design and think that if he were ever able to build it as a solar-powered kinetic sculpture as planned, it would dawn a new day in modern art, as far as I'm concerned. Don't you agree?

In the meantime, it fills me with paper envy!

The Popularity of Paper

The blog, Three Layer Cake posted some pics and a blurb on the trend of using paper in home decoration and display. I found this via the blog, Oh Joy, a nice compilation of all things lovely and functional.

Wow- posting about a blog I heard about on a blog to my blog. That may be excessive, but the pics (top) of Daniele Papuli's beautiful flowing paper designs is well worth the post and double credits.

NANA paper toy.

It's an astronaut monkey from the Netherlands. It's NANA. It's pretty darn cool.
NANA is illustrator and graphic designer Marshall Alexander's first paper toy.
I love the little helmet.
Just go to his website.
Look at all his cool work then click on the down arrow at the bottom of the page to download your very own little NANA.

Cuckoo Model at Flying Pig

This model from Rob Ives is new and particularly intriguing. The Cuckoo model actually has two bellows and working pipes that make a cuckoo sound while little birds pop out on the side.

The download is available for a small fee, and you can even see it at work here on this you tube video.

Paper Projects Past

I came upon a nostalgic reminder of childhood while surfing the web for some reference material. I found these lovely little images of vintage children's costumes made from paper!

When I was a child, I tried to make clothes out of paper all of the time. I particularly remember the 80's Michael Jackson red leather jacket I attemped out of construction paper. (Not my most successful project to date.)

I came across this vintage book reproduced as an e-book that has over 60 old-fashioned paper costume projects. The book is $9.99 and can be downloaded instantly. This is great project and reference material. Very Fun. See the website for more info!