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Home > Book Reviews > Origami Design Secrets - 2nd edtition

Skill Level :	From low intermediate to super complex
Clear diagrams?	Yes
Tinted diagrams (to show 2 sides of paper)?	Yes
Photos of completed models?	Yes
Is there indication to the model size resulting from size of starting paper?	No
Are the models "Pure" origami (From square - no cuts)?	A few are from rectangles

Overall Impression

Wow. This is a fabulous book. Even if you only use it as a regular origami instruction book, it has diagrams for amazing models, such as the Western pond turtle with a patterned shell, and, of course, the detailed Black Forest Cuckoo clock. However, this is not a conventional origami book. It's much more than that.

This book gives us insights into "technical" origami design.
The object of this approach to design is basically how to get a certain number of appendages of certain sizes out of a piece of paper, in correct relations to each other, and in the most efficient way.

Lang presents several methods, starting with more abstract ones, such as basic point-splitting, modifying existing bases, grafting and tiling, and advances to more "scientific" tools, using circle packing and tree theory to achieve more accurate results.

Each technique is illustrated with many examples, exercises to the reader,
and fully diagrammed models.

Lang's writing is flowing and entertaining. No mathematical
skills are needed to understand the methods presented.

This book has become a classic as soon as it was published.

Notes about the 2nd edition:
Even you already own the first edition, you may consider investing in the new edition. It has some major changes (extending the original book by a whooping close to 200 pages!), which include:

* Updates and corrections throughout the book.
* 4 new models: Dancing Crane, Silverfish, Roosevelt Elk & Organist. All previously published in other publications, but not always easy to find.
* More details about folding the koi's scales.
* 12 complex insect/arachnid crease-patterns added.
* The illustrations and diagrams' color-scheme has been modified for clarity.
* An expanded Box-pleating chapter, including uniaxial box-pleating methods.
* A new chapter on polygon packing.
* If you're interested in the mathematical algortihms behind the methods described, keep your first edition as this section has been cut from the new one.

The Models

Model	Notes	Photo (click for a larger image)
Stealth Fighter
Snail
Valentine	With color-changed arrow
Ruby-Throated Hummingbird
Baby	Also published in Origami USA 1990 convention book
Pteranodon	With flapping action	Folded by Gadi Vishne
Goatfish		Folded by Origami Okiba
Songbird 1
KNL Dragon	A combination of Neal's dragon body with Kasahara's dragon head. Also published in The Millennium Origami Dragon Challenge
Lizard
Tree Frog
Dancing Crane	Also published in Origami Tanteidan magazine #90	Folded by Gabriel Vong
Turtle	Also published in A Arte dos Mestres de Origami and in Paper Animals
Western Pond Turtle	Fantastic - with patterned shell	Folded by Sebastian Curvers
Koi	The 2nd edition goes into more detail about folding the koi's scales
Pegasus	Also published in Origami USA 1996 convention book
Emu
Songbird 2		Folded by Phillip West
Orchid Blossom		Folded by Nicolas Terry
Silverfish	Also published in Origami Tanteidan 10th convention book and in Origami USA 2005 convention book
Alamo Stallion	Also published in Origami USA 2002 convention book
Roosevelt Elk		Folded by Eyal Reuveni
Train	By Emmanuel Mooser - Crease pattern only for an excellent train. From a rectangle	Folded by Grzegorz Bubniak
Organist	From a rectangle. Also published in Origami USA 1999 convention book	Folded by Jake Crowley
Black-Forest Cuckoo Clock	From a long strip	Folded by Sebastian Curvers
Bull Moose		Folded by Eyal Reuveni
Flying Walking Stick	Crease pattern only
Salt Creek Tiger Beetle	Crease pattern only
Longhorn Beetle	Crease pattern only
Camel Spider	Crease pattern only
Water Strider	Crease pattern only
Scarab Beetle	Crease pattern only
Cicada Nymph	Crease pattern only
Scarab Beetle HP	Crease pattern only
Cyclomatus Metallifer	Crease pattern only
Scorpion HP	Crease pattern only
Euthysanius Beetle	Crease pattern only
Spur-Legged Dung Beetle	Crease pattern only
African Elephant		Folded by Herman Mariano