Paper Sculrtor Megan Brain

Check out the delicious paper sculptures/illustrations and paper animations by Megan Brain.
Her paper creations in motion have been featured in Yo Gabba Gabba and Madagascar 2!
Lots of goodness to be found on her site here.

Piperoid Paper Robots!

The Piperoids are a unique take on paper toys. Transform colorful paper tubes into robots with movable joints! Piperoids are easy to make—just cut the paper pipes and fit them together.  Assembled size is between 5" and 8" tall. Illustrated instructions and English assembly tips are included. Winner of the Good Design Award in Japan.  There are many models to choose from.

You can get yours at Brooklyn 5 and 10 online!

Pink Hobo this Saturday!

Don't forget the Papertoy and Pop Out Show at Pink Hobo in Minneapolis this Saturday April 16th. To wet your appetite here is a preview of Buster created by the super talented Leo Espinosa. His blog mentions a downloadable version will be made available soon :)

Urban Paper Launch Party and Papertoy Show

I'd like to invite all Paper Forest folks to the Urban Paper Launch Party and Papertoy show May 2 at Mobius in Los Angeles. Christopher Bonnette, Nicebunny and I will be on hand to sign books and meet all you fine people. There will also be an awesome papertoy art show featuring some one of a kind papertoy works by many of the artist featured in the book. Below is a little sneak peak of Bearmaru by Tetsuya Watabe that will be in the show. So please help spread the word about the show and come out and join us, it'll be a blast! You wouldn't want to disappoint Bearmaru, now would you? ;)

Paper: Tear, Fold, Rip, Crease, Cut - Discount for Paper Forest readers!

Black Dog Publishing has produced a book full of amazing paper artistry, and Paper Forest readers can order the book at 40% off!

From the publisher:

Paper: Tear, Fold, Rip, Crease, Cut shines a light on the beautiful world of paper in art, fashion and design. From the traditional art of origami and paper cutting through to contemporary experiments in conceptual paper installations and modular folding, Paper celebrates one of the world’s oldest and most widely used materials in all its visual glory.

Paper profiles over 50 artists and designers who work with the medium, from the vast sculpted installations of Mia Pearlman and the delicate paper incisions of Noriko Ambe, to the light-hearted illustrations of Robert Ryan and the forward-thinking furniture design of Tokujin Yoshioka. The book also charts the history of the material and its role as an art form, from the process of its manufacture in Ancient China to the most recent technological advances.

Following the medium as it is pushed to its extremes, Paper is an elegant and insightful look at the sumptuous world of paper today. A richly illustrated and beautifully designed book which will appeal to designers, art students and paper enthusiasts alike.

If you'd like to get this book at 40% off, just send an e-mail to:  jess(at)blackdogonline(dot)com with the quantity and delivery address, and let them know you found this discount on Paper Forest!

Papershapers show pics

Instead of making a really long post here I've uploaded lots of my pics from the Papershapers show this last weekend in LA into a flick set, you can check out all the incredible and inspiring paper work here. The piece above is by Richard Sweeney.

Hello Craft Summit of Awesome Discount!

Hello Craft is marking its debut Summit of Awesome event May 1-3, 2009 in Washington, D.C.

It will be three days of demos, panels, talks, screenings, crafting, and more! The event is for anyone who is interested in making their craft or art their business. Though I am primarily a 2d artist, I'll be on a panel that talks about craft as it pertains to the fine art world.

The event caters to all crafty folks, and since I know many Paper Forest readers dabble in all sorts of art and craft, I thought I'd post this discount to the event. $25 off registration for Paper Forest readers! All you have to do to get the registration code is e-mail me (jaime(at)jaimezollars(dot)com) for your discount code and register before April 23.


(Individuals must register separately to ensure discount is accurately applied. Discount is valid for one 3 Day All Access Summit of Awesome Pass only. Discount not applicable to any other Hello Craft products or programs. Offer expires April 23th, 2009.)

OrigaMU: the paper work of Mu Pan

Mu Pan will be one of the many amazing artists featured in tonight's Papershapers show in LA at the Scion Instillation. (previously posted) These are some sneak preview pics I found on his flickr of some of his work that can be seen tonight at the show. Check out more of his "OrigaMU" work here. I'll be at the show tonight and will get a bunch of photos to share with you guys, Paper Forest Live!

Calling All Cars and Snakeeyes by Horrorwood

Here is a fun new custom project by Horrorwood he is inviting artist to do their own custom of his "Go Bananas" toy featured in Urban Paper. Once he get's enough customs he'll release them in a group. I've seen some super fun customs floating around the net, this will be an awesome series for sure. You can join in the fun too, download the template here.
I also wanted to mention another cool Horrorwood papertoy project Snake Eyes. He has designed the first two series with an artist series to drop soon!
Check them out too!


I'm off to the Papershapers show in LA this weekend. I'll post a review of the show with lots of pics soon after!

hoophy by Shin

Hoophy # 6 by SKWAK is the latest colab in Shin Tanaka's amazing Hoophy papertoy series. The series has some real heavywhieght designers including David Horvath,Superdeux, David Flores and two by Shin himself. All still available from Shin's site here.

The Paper Cosmos Turns

This rotating paper pop-up gets my vote as the best pop-up design of the year! So simple, so elegant, yet so astonishing an effect! The mechanism moves as if it's operating from a far more complex system.

I took a freeze frame at the :12 mark as a commenter suggested in order to try to reverse engineer the mechanism.

I can imagine using this pattern along with color and imagery to create an incredible paper experience.

I'd love to know more about who Dosmit is, and/or who is behind this design to credit it properly, anyone?

Ah, seems the design was originally made by Ramin Razani, Here are more photos

Urban Paper!

My new book Urban Paper is now shipping from Amazon here, and will be available in stores April 21! I've posted thing here and there about it but I thought it was time to make one complete post about the book and what you'll find inside!
There are 26 papertoys from 26 designers from 10 different countries as well as interviews with each designer printed in the book,
Here's the all star line-up:
Maarten Janssens
Kenn Munk
Ben the Illustrator
BigChief Design
Shin Tanaka
Atelier Alessio Blanco
Carlo Giovani
Ringo Krumbiegel
Jerom
Brain Castleforte
Sharim Gubbles
Horrorwood
Sjors Trimbach
Christopher Bonnette
Jonny Chiba
Rememberthelittleguy
Mckibillo
LouLou
me;)
Marshall Alexander
Cubotoy
Tetsuya Watabe
Nick Knite
Matthijs Kamstra
Phil
Bryan Rollins
plus bonus toys by Bryan Green and Harlancore on the dvd!
There is a forward by toysrevil's Andy Heng!
The first part of the book is about the process of designing papertoys the rest is all interviews and awesome toys by the above designers.
Still not sold?
Okay we'll throw in a DVD-rom free with every book that includes all the templates in the book as a printable pdf, that way you don't have to cut up the book, basic shape templates to aid in designing your own toys, blank templates to customize, 33 bonus templates, video, and links.
It really is an incredible book! Not because of my work but because of the insane talent of all the designers listed above. Getting to put this book together was a real thrill for a papertoy fan boy like myself!
Check out this quick preview!