Pak Hei (Kade) Chan, Origami Designer (Hong Kong)

Kade Chan is currently studying Industrial and Product Design at Hong Kong Polytechnic University, a University that has come-up several times during my interviews here on CNCKingdom.com. He is also a professional self-taught origami designer, he started folding paper when he joined the Hong Kong Origami Society in 2005 and since then has obtained numerous awards in various international origami competitions. It’s incredible how far he’s pushed the art that doesn’t allow any cutting and requires a square piece of paper to start.

Key takeaways from from this interview:

• The most difficult part of origami is to design a proper proportion model.
• Tissued-foil, because the paper is too soft and cannot stand firm, a layer of aluminum is added to the paper to steady the structure, sometime metal wire is also added for the same reason.
• There are no tricks on origami, it’s all about being patient.

You can find him at his website at http://www.kadechan.com.

What is it about design that made you want to go to the Hong Kong Polytechnic University in order to become a professional designer? How well are the courses preparing you for the jobs and challenges you face today?

Hong Kong Polytechnic University School of Design is very famous around the world. They allow students to choose their own design fields, such as Interior Design, Product Design, Visual Communication Design and Advertising Design.

For me I’m interested in doing 3D works so I chose Product Design discipline. I’m Year 2 now, these two years I have learnt so many skills on product design, sketching, computer rendering and create my own brand. And the professors loves to share their own experiences, that inspired me a lot.

You’ve made some truly mind blowing Origami – how did you first get into it and what is the most difficult part about making projects using only folded paper? Do you use special paper?

Thank you so much. I started folding since 2005, when I joined The Hong Kong Origami Society. Remember that in 2005, I found a origami dragon tutorial from the Internet, I made that and posted to a origami forum. Same day, The Hong Kong Origami Society saw that and send me a e-mail whether I would like to join them.

The most difficult part of origami is to design a proper proportion model. For example when we designing a origami human body, we need to calculate the proportion of human and transfer the data on the paper. We are not allowed to cut the paper, and the model have to be finished on a single piece of square paper, therefore we may need to try over 100 times.

We will use different paper for different models, sometimes we will add a layer of aluminum between two paper, to make a three layers origami paper, we call it Tissued-foil. It’s because the paper is too soft and cannot stand firm, a layer of aluminum can steady the structure.

I tried origami when I was a child and it was incredibly difficult – it’s quite a challenge. What are some tricks you tell people in order to become proficient in this art? What are some of the general rules about making a project using origami?

There are no tricks on origami, it’s all about being patient. I always tell the beginners, how much time you put, how good your models will be. Origami official refer to using single piece of square paper without any cuttings, to create the whole model.

How long does it take you from initial idea to a finished, working origami model? How do you go about recording the steps you took making a model?

From the draft to the final model, usually I spend more than a month, and in this period, I have modified the model at least 10 times. And about the folding the final model, it takes around 10-20 hours, depends on the size of the model.

Once I confirmed the final shape of my model, I will fold it again and video record the process. If I have time, I will also use Illustrator to draw the folding diagrams to share on the Internet.

Your Gryphon Zero and The Disciple are awesome… how do you make the paper “stand” so well without folding or looking limp?

The secret is I added metal wires inside the model. It’s because the paper is soft and we cannot use glue on the model, so I added metal wires between the layers, in order to adjust the shape more easily.

You’ve been on television and in magazines many times, has this extra exposure helped you get paying projects or commissions for your awesome work? How did you get over your nerves? How have the numerous awards you’ve won also helped you gain exposure in the design field?

In Hong Kong, all the TVC and magazines interviews are non-paying, I didn’t get a single dollar from them. But sometimes I will receive commission projects, but not paying well, just enough for my lunch.

It’s my pleasure to receive those awards, and the organizer also invited me to their conventions, giving me great opportunities to cooperate with famous designers around the world.