Celebrating the Art of Origami in Cybespace

During our group’s presentation of the commercial that we did for our Scriptwriting for TV class this term, we needed to make our props. One of the props is a bird and I was assigned to do it. I want to be creative in doing it and making an origami of a bird first came to my mind. I get a piece of paper and folded it as I recall how I do the origami of a bird when I was a child but I found myself stuck at the middle of the whole process. I always go back from the first step and I can’t finish it, so I thought maybe the Internet could help me.
“How to make an origami of a bird”, these are the keywords that I typed in the Google search engine. The search posted about 1,050,000 results for my keywords for 0.32 seconds. I browsed three websites from the tons of results but I found only one to be effective which is the www.origami.org.uk.

The website is supported by the British Origami Society. It uses animation for showing the step-by-step procedures in making an origami. The animations are created through Flash. The layout is pleasing to the eye for the colors used in the entire website were consistent and unified. It does not look boring because each page has an element of movement in it. For example, in this picture, the boxes piled in a diagonal order sways together, also the links which are also showing movement of animation everytime the mouse points on it. This element of the website makes it user-friendly. The website also offers clear, simple and easy site navigation. Each page contains the links to easily jump from one page to another. It also have the “previous button” so you can go back from the previously opened page. When on the actual procedure of origami making, there are buttons that you can click to pause, rewind, play, forward a step whenever you like that makes catching up with the procedures easier since you can control it. You can go back to step that is still unclear for you. Aside from the animation itself, a written procedure also flashes in the page that will add help in the procedures. It is also a good thing that the website uses the website itself written in the page banner. Its design is somewhat like an ancient scroll of paper that is able to signify how ancient the practice and art of origami is but still it can be learned through a modern technology. I think the only weakness in its form is that it lacks the element of sound for an animation. The website only used sounds in the games that can also be played in the website. The form of this website is child-friendly and if it wants to attract more kids to visit the site maybe the element of sound should be reinforced. But overall, the strength of this site is that the design and functionality fits the purpose of the site. It used a background that looks like a crumpled paper that enhances the idea of origami, the art of using paper folding to create different figures.
The content of the website is suitable for anyone who wants to create an origami especially for children. It is more effective and friendlier to use compared to other origami sites that will show you complicated and formal-looking drawings of the procedures that even it has the complete procedure written, you still won’t be ale to follow through it. From the pictures shown below, the one at the left side (www.origami.org.uk) is easier to follow than the website on the right that only shows drawings of the procedures.

The website’s content is able to present the needed procedures in basic origami in a creative way and is easy to understand especially by the children. I can say it is one of the educational sites that are really suitable for children because the graphics, words, language used are purely educational. There are games offered by the site but these are simple games that aren’t harmful. Most of the games will exercise your hand and eye coordination same skills that you a child should need in making an origami. But the site also lacks content in a sense that it only offers limited kinds or examples of origami. It only has the origami of a flapping bird and a shirt. A visitor will find this a weakness of the site when that visitor wants to learn an origami other than what they have in the site. But I guess it is explained in the home page (about this site page). The makers of the site explained that the site is like a preliminary attempt to teach origami through the use on Internet and the Flash animation. In time, they will add more origami so the visitors might want to check the site again. The site is very educational since it does not only have the procedures and the cool games for the kids but there are also links in some pages that gives factual trivia about a certain origami.
The website has its strengths and weaknesses but in general it is a good site especially for the young users of the Internet. The site is clear in its purpose of celebrating the art of origami and sharing it to the generation today through the use of the modern technology, which is the Internet.