THE PAPER
The Magazine of OrigamiUSA society
Issue # 72, December 2000, Page 22

100 Oriland Origami Originals
Skeletons Team
Oribana
CD-ROMs
by Yuri and Katrin Shumakov

Many of you are already acquainted with the amazing imagination and creativity of Yuri and Katrin Shumakov from their incredible Oriland website. These CD-ROMs present wonderfully clear diagrams and instructions (translated into English) from their repertoire of hundreds of originals, charming models.

All three CDs feature instant start and run on either PC or Mac. The bright colorful artwork, all diagrams, and production of the CDs was done entirely by these talented Russian creators.

100 Oriland Origami Originals is a delightful potpourri of models. They range is difficulty from simple to complex and are beautifully diagrammed in standard line drawings that can be printed. A chart at the beginning shows the eight categories (including boxes, decorations, animals, bureau, heroes, Oribana, plants, plus assorted models) and the level of each model. My favorite is an adorable modular clown – the five pieces cleverly interlock to form this wonderful 3D model. There are almost 2,500 step-by-step drawings on this CD.

Have you ever struggled through 39 steps only to be told to repeat the last 17 on the opposite side? Well, then learning from Oribana or Skeletons Team might be just what you need. Not having the restriction of space imposed by the print medium, these CDs show each step, the result, and each step on opposite side, too.

Oribana has almost 4,000 clear photo diagrams with superimposed standard origami symbols. There are 10 complete flower arrangements including leaves stems, flowers, vases and the holder to keep the arrangements in place, making up the Oribana Episode 1 collection. The title is a clever combination of the words ikebana and origami. The models generally fall into the intermediate through complex range and are stunning examples of creations which assemble and are held in place without glue.

Skeletons Team features the photo diagrams of Oribana plus one hour of full-motion video. By the sheer amount of nodules needed to complete these amazing forms, I’d characterize them as high-intermediate to complex. They assemble without glue and stand well without support. The skeletons consist of a stegosaurus, tyrannosaurus, dimetrodon, diplodocus, and ancient man.

Convention 2000 attendees were treated to an exhibition of Katrin and Yurii’s models, many of which are on these CD’s. The Shumakov’s are friends of mine, and I have been involved in publicizing these CD’s. But friends and non-friends alike will agree that the CD’s are as charmingly produced as the models themselves.

Reviewed by Rachel Katz (NY)