Yoshizawa, who is considered the father of modern origami, pioneered many of the modern techniques of the Japanese folk art.
He died in 2005, aged 94, but not before inventing the technique of wet-folding, which allowed the use of thick papers, and created soft curves and rounded-organic forms.
Californian origami artist Robert Lang, took a leaf from Yoshizawa’s book when he was asked to create the Google Doodle.
“I jumped at the chance,” Lang said. “Google set the parameters of the design: the Google logo, of course, but to be folded with origami and then decorated with examples of Yoshizawa’s design.”
“I created examples of two logo styles for Google to choose from: one in a classic origami style and a more three-dimensional version based on pleats. Google liked the pleated version, so I set about designing and folding the rest.
“The pleats are created by arranging multiple copies of a single design on a large rectangle of paper.
“The resulting crease pattern is moderately complex, and it gives a lovely 3-D form when folded, but conceptually, it is quite straightforward,” said Lang.
“The butterflies in the doodle are folded from one of Yoshizawa’s earliest, yet most iconic designs. It is deceptive in its simplicity, but can express great subtlety in its shaping and attitude. The combination of simplicity and depth is part of the essence of origami, and is key to Yoshizawa’s work and legacy.”
Want to fold yourself a Google Doodle? Click here for instructions.
