Paper Folding Templates: Book Review

Paper Folding Templates:

Folding Solutions for Brochures, Invitations and Flyers

By Trish Witkowski

Apple Press 2012

Paperback with CD, £14.99

ISBN 978 1 84543 435 9

Star rating: ****

When you are trawling for papercraft books, you are often rewarded with a great catch when you cast your net further out – case in point, this nifty graphic design title, published in 2012 but just now on my personal radar. Intended for graphic design pros, this title can really help hobbyist papercrafters up their game when it comes to designing folded cards and pamphlets. This title contains lots of fabulous - simple but effective - presentation ideas. It's a real gem.

The book deals with designing printed matter. As the book points out, “folding is a great way to get a lot of information into a compact size”. The book also points out that “order of opening leads the reader through the material”.  All folded formats pack a punch because they have a built-in surprise factor. There’s always a reveal. Add to that, the appeal of unusual formats and attention-grabbing shapes. A folded project is interactive.

A browse through the headings of this book is paper geek heaven:  there is a chart of “Folding Families”:  Accordion Folds, Map Folds, Exotic Folds, Gate Folds, Roll Folds, and more. How about a Meandering Accordion Fold? Or glueless pockets, a neat trick.

You will learn about lots of technical tips of the trade. For example, in your papercrafting, you have probably noticed (if a card has come up short or doesn’t lie flat) that the fold itself takes up space. You will learn how to compensate for this factor. And of course, the book advises on how to choose the appropriate fold for your project. 

Interspersed with the practical knowledge are delightful gallery sections illustrating folded printed matter. 

Of prime concern to card-makers, the author covers postal considerations of size and cost. Even more important if you sell by direct mail.

The various fold formats are illustrated with step-by-step sketches, clearly labelled with directional arrows.

The book, which is a quality paperback, comes with a CD of printable, scalable templates. Each design is accompanied by folding diagrams and a QR code which links to a how-to video.

The author, Trish Witkowski, intends the templates to be used as a springboard for creativity. So – in my next post I will feature a couple of designs based upon some of the folds in Paper Folding Templates.

Note: I was supplied with a review copy of this title.