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Miscellaneous Monday: Origami Day

Hana Kučerová

Happy Monday, everyone!

Did you know that November 11 is celebrated as Origami Day?

Traditional origami is the art of folding a single sheet of paper without cutting or using glue. The term "origami" is derived from two Japanese words: ori, meaning "folded," and kami, meaning "paper." Originally known as Orikata, which translates to "folded shape," origami is believed to have originated in Japan during the 17th century, although the practice of paper folding can also be traced back to traditions in China and Europe. Origami has strong ties to mathematics and geometry, and it is used in mathematical problem-solving and engineering.

There are countless guides available on how to create various origami figures, even the special ones like Yoda from Star Wars. However, I haven’t come across anything related to Atlassian. Perhaps we should consider developing something unique ourselves!

I had the pleasure of visiting Japan back in 2012 with my boyfriend at the time (now my husband), and we absolutely fell in love with the country. This is why we decided to incorporate origami into our wedding three years later.

So, do you enjoy origami? Have you ever tried folding something yourself? Do you have any personal stories related to origami? Thank you for sharing!

Comments

Tomislav Tobijas

Love this! (and the idea about Atlassian-inspired origami!)

I was introduced to origami back in elementary school by one of our maths teachers. We had one extracurricular activity (a few times a month) where we would only create origami in different shapes - mostly related to mathematics, but we also made some animals (cranes included 🦢).

I really liked making things by folding the paper so I've continued to do that apart from the workshops we had at school. A couple of years later, I also helped my mum on one occasion when she was decorating her classroom for their annual school event which was sometime around the national Pi Day. I think we made some cool shapes - from simple ones such as cubes up to complex ones such as icosahedrons and dodecahedrons.

Sadly I don't have any photos from that time but here's a cool page about possible math shapes that you can build as origamis: Mathigon 📚

Anyway, great topic and thanks for the reminder
As I didn't create anything in the last couple of years, I'll have to check if I still have the skills to make even some simple objects 😅

Andy Gladstone

I have always been mesmerized watching friends fold origami. I could never conceptualize it, and have a mental block on the process. I have tried beginner origami guides, but to no avail. It's an artform that I believe is so beautiful and relaxing, so I enjoy seeing others create and their creations, but sadly have never grasped it.

In high school I was the editor-in-chief of our literary journal. The art editor would sit in meetings and make paper butterflies, cranes and cubes while we discussed the journal layout and publication. She always gifted me one of her creations at the end of the meeting. I probably still have a collection in my bedroom at my parent's house.

Thanks for the trip down memory lane @Hana Kučerová!

Amanda Barber

Here's Gemini's version of Atlassian origami (it even gave instructions that I haven't tried to follow...lol!)

I folded hundreds of purple paper cranes to make a display for our local Alzheimer's Association office. I had some help at a couple of events I manned a table for as well. We didn't quite make it to 1000, but I was inspired by the idea of senbazuru. Also, as a random aside - my husband and I visited Japan last month for the first time. I hope we can visit again!

John Funk

Though I have never tried to do it, I find origami fascinating. The things you can produce just by folding paper!!

Stephen.Lugton

The closest I got to origami was paper airplanes that crashed within seconds, must try this one one day:

How to make Origami X-wing from the Star Wars

Barbara Szczesniak

I've never tried origami. Although it would probably help me today, I need to add this to the list of things I will try once I retire and have time to spend. 📄

Susan Waldrip

Great topic, @Hana Kučerová! I don't really have a "3-D brain" but I used to do some of this as a kid and really enjoyed it -- total focus on one thing, relaxing, and rewarding. Like @Amanda Barber , I worked on a project to create a ton of cranes and I remember it was a lot of fun! Funny that many of us seem to have done some level of origami as kids, but as adults it's gone by the wayside; maybe a good thing to get back into to quiet the mind....

Laurie Sciutti

Very cool, @Amanda Barber !

Hana Kučerová

@Tomislav Tobijas As a somebody, who studied mathematics at the university, I absolutely love your post!

Hana Kučerová

@Andy Gladstone thank you for sharing your story!

Hana Kučerová

@Amanda Barber Wonderful, thank you!

Hana Kučerová

@Stephen_Lugton Definitely!

Hana Kučerová

@Susan Waldrip Hmmm, you are probably right.

Shawn Doyle - ReleaseTEAM

I've enjoyed origami. I have a habit of rolling stray papers into straw-like shapes at restaurants. I am trying to stop after someone suggested I might have a coke problem.

pawarsachin84

The technique of paper folding, or origami, provides a surprisingly wide range of educational opportunities, from improving patience and creativity to strengthening spatial reasoning and problem-solving abilities. Today I acknowledge that my origami skills are lacking.

Thiago P _Atlassian Support_

As a child I was very curious (still am!) and had plenty of time in my hands, so my parents bought me a book with heaps of origami shapes and detailed instructions. The first chapter covered the basics, such as the "mountain" and "valley" folds, plus a few others - then, it moved on to basic shapes, then medium complexity ones and lastly the really challenging ones.

I remember covering a good part of the book, but some of the shapes were insanely complex and difficult to an ADHD child so I never got those done. For some of the shapes we bough that fancy colored origami paper on a local Japanese store, and I used to gift them to my relatives.

Looking back at the topic I believe this helped me better understand how to leverage my focus and read instructions (Lego as well).

Jason U

Making origamis sound likes pretty good. In primary school couple of times we did that. It used to be fun in the past, but now when I look at it, I can only say, “ah, they did a great job with this...”

Martin Runge

My origami skills stop at the paper boat and the paper plane, but my daughter started once, and honestly, a plane that actually flies still feels like a small engineering win.