Paper presents our life story with the opportunity to create seemingly limitless variations of shape, structure and composition. It is the tactile quality of paper that is so appearing -there is very few materials capable of presenting such a diversity of form- making through manipulation solely by hand. This physical connection with material is perhaps the most importance aspect in the development of work in paper.
The prevalence of hand-craft in creative world today is perhaps surprising given the dominance of digital techniques. I believe it is the sheer physicality -the ability to mould, shape and play with physical ‘stuff’- that makes paper manipulation a far more immediate and intuitive means to create objects, visuals and works of art.
Paper is not only a sculptural material in its own right, but a tool that can be used to bring ideas into a physical reality before they evaporate. Therefore, our designers know better than anyone that paper is the perfect building material for sure.
It is light-weight yet strong, inexpensive enough to be accessible, and infinitely flexible in terms of colour, size, texture, and weight. Fortunately or maybe unfortunately, paper is also ubiquitous enough to be disposable. A functional object made from paper can serve its purpose and be discarded to make room for newer, more innovative designs. For example, when a designer plans to emboss, die-cut, fold,thermograph, letterpress, engrave, or otherwise abuse paper, performance is a huge concern. The sheet has to be beautiful yet tough enough to take it.
Design is planning and communicating our life, which include the place where we live and the materials what we use. Nowadays, the world of materials is a diverse place, with more available to us than ever before. So understanding our given materials is the 1st stage to be qualified for ‘designed life.’ Accordingly, my 1st design story began with the material, especially the paper.
