Intriguing Origami

2014 - 3 languages

Out of the blue, I was approached by Snake Publishing, of Switzerland to write a book. Unusually, they wanted a book featuring exclusively my own work! I’ve not written such a collection since the “Ori Bible” (and that contained a few by other folders) so was attracted to the idea straight away. Origami was a new topic for them and they talked about published a series of volumes featuring various “Origami Masters”. Although they had no track record, trust has to begin somewhere, so I signed a contract with them and began work on “Intriguing Origami”.

With a back catalogue of many 100s of designs, you’d think it would be easy to pick a few, but I wanted them to present a coherent view of my approach to design and to feature models that were unpublished. I also find as I develop artistically, designs that rang my bell 15 or more years ago no longer have that “spark” or may represent a style I no longer follow (like complex designs!).

Eventually, I produced a short list and began diagramming. Very often, a book is necessarily a series of compromise, publishers usually require X models to fit within Y pages. Refreshingly, Snake told me to use as many pages as I liked and if it needed more than the anticipated page count, they would simply add more! They also promised to use plenty of white space in the layout & design, a feature often neglected in origami books. I also recorded a (silent) video for each model, which will be on youtube with a QR code inside the book.

So, the first two editions; French (fascinant) and Italian (intrigant) have arrived, with a deal under way for an English language edition. I always unwrap such parcels with a deal of trepidation, since a glossy package may contain a less than attractive content. However, I couldn’t have been more thrilled with what I found. Top quality in every respect, with entire pages devoted to photos of a single model (shock! horror!). It even smells nice.

Update: the book is also available in American, with the erroneous and somewhat misleading title of “Beginning Origami Kit“. My protests fell upon deaf ears.


Arlington Box by Nick Robinson
page 20 (from Square)

Arrow Tesselation by Nick Robinson
page 26 (from Square)

Baby Rabbit by Nick Robinson
page 30 (from Square)

Buddha Head by Nick Robinson
page 34 (from Square)

Cat Brooch by Nick Robinson
page 42 (from Square)

Elephant by Nick Robinson
page 46 (from Square)

Flexi-Fish Form by Nick Robinson
page 52 (from Square)

Freiburg Dish by Nick Robinson
page 56 (from Square)

Frog by Nick Robinson
page 60 (from Square)

German House by Nick Robinson
page 66 (from Square)

Heart Card by Nick Robinson
page 70 (from Square)

Lauinger Angel by Nick Robinson
page 74 (from Square)

Leaf by Nick Robinson
page 78 (from Square)

Paper Holder by Nick Robinson
page 82 (from Square)

Pecking Bird by Nick Robinson
page 86 (from Square)

Snails In Love by Nick Robinson
page 90 (from Square)

Star Form by Nick Robinson
page 94 (from Square)

Styracosaurus by Nick Robinson
page 98 (from Square)

Time For Lunch by Nick Robinson
page 104 (from Square)

Woodpecker by Nick Robinson
page 110 (from Square)

Images have been sourced from the web or the author. If you want an image removing (or have a better one!) please get in touch.