Designing for Folds Inspiration
Fantastic folded designs will never fail to impress, but you don’t need to be an origami master to achieve a similar look.
Breaking down these inspirational brochure, packaging and invitation designs, we’ve noticed they’re actually based on simple templates that you can easily recreate in InDesign. Read on to get inspired…
1. Omnom Chocolate Packaging
Icelandic chocolate producers Omnom produce beautifully designed packaging for their sweet treats.
The design is based on a simple folded carton, with printed triangular edges that seals the fold and gives the design a mountain-inspired twist.
Like chocolate? Who doesn’t! Like wine too? Then check out these awesome wine bottle label designs.
Design: Omnom
2. Mitsuori Architects Business Cards
Going hand-in-hand with a new brand identity for the architecture firm, Melbourne-based design studio Hunt & Co created these minimal yet marvellous business cards and stationery for staff.
Working with the fact that the firm’s name means ‘three folds’ in Japanese, the team set themselves the challenge of creating cards which prioritised a folded design. The result? A super simple design with a single 45-degree fold; a contemporary tribute to origami tradition.
Discover more beautiful business card designs.
Design: Hunt & Co for Mitsuori Architects
3. V&A and Me Maps
Created by London agency johnson banks for the Victoria & Albert Museum, these intricately folded beauties open to reveal a personalized map of the museum put together by a celebrity figure, be it actress Judi Dench or designer Paul Smith.
The maps may look complicated, but the base template is a simple rectangular layout.
Design: johnson banks
4. Jefferson Cheng Wedding Invitations
San Francisco-based designer Jefferson Cheng brings a whimsical touch to these origami-inspired wedding invitations.
Created as a folded envelope, containing multiple cards inside, the design is disarmingly simple and is made even more charming with Cheng’s romantically childlike illustrations.
Get inspired with more gorgeous greetings card designs.
Design: Jefferson Cheng
5. Maaemo Menus
Norwegian design agency Bureau Bruneau put together these minimal folded menus for Oslo restaurant, Maaemo.
These menus are a great example of how folds don’t have to intricate to look fantastic. Staying true to a very Nordic aesthetic, the menus reveal an ice-blue interior when opened and prioritise minimal, functional type.
If you’re on the hunt for more foodie inspiration, check out more mouthwatering menu designs.
Design: Bureau Bruneau
6. Imperial War Museum Identity
UK-based design consultancy hat-trick were tasked with giving the Imperial War Museum’s brand a face-lift in 2011.
The result? Designs built around fragmented block imagery, to emphasise how war fractures lives, were integrated across a range of media. Diagonally-folded brochures in color-block designs are a simple yet highly effective way of translating the brand imagery to print.
Design: hat-trick
7. Pocket Calendars by Studio Servaas
We love these quirky accordian-style pocket calendars by Studio Servaas.
Created with a diamond-based structure, and printed on one side with the dates and the other with vintage-inspired geometric patterns, these calendars show how folds can be fun!
Design: Studio Servaas
Hopefully these examples have shown you that folded designs don’t need to be complicated – sometimes the simplest designs work the best!
Learn how to create your own print design documents, ready for folding, with our selection of InDesign tutorials; or discover more inspiration for print design on our Inspiration page.