Creative Educators Series
March 26, 2025
Cardboard Fabrication: Making Things Move
NuVu brings creative education to students around the world.
Our Core
Mission
Introductions
1
An Ode to Cardboard
2
Mechanisms
Make & Chat!
3
4
Joselyn McDonald
Head of Teacher Experience
A Carnegie Mellon University grad, Joselyn's exp. is in design+human-comp interaction.
Kate James
Head of Product Experience
A HGSE alumnus, Kate has years of experience developing creative learning experiences.
Moderator
Host
Name
Position
School/Organization
Last thing you made with cardboard!
Introductions via Chat
Introductions
1
An Ode to Cardboard
2
Mechanisms
Make & Chat!
3
4
All I want for Christmas is... a really big cardboard box
HIGH-FIDELITY
LOW-FIDELITY
. . .
We usually think of cardboard as a material for low-fi prototypes. It is cheap and easy to try ideas out with.
DYSON VACUUM
Low-Fi
High-Fi
James Dyson spent 5 years developing 5,127 prototypes for the G-Force vacuum. Many of those in the early stages were made out of cardboard.
When we use cardboard for low-fidelity prototypes, it is usually to experiment with and show forms and basic functionality.
In this way, the cardboard designs serve as a testing ground, with the intention of the designer to move into other materials in further iterations.
LOW-FIDELITY
Mindfulness Eating Kit
Low-Fidelity
High-Fidelity
Drawing Machine
Low-Fidelity
High-Fidelity
Wearable Performance Piece
Low-Fidelity
High-Fidelity
HIGH-FIDELITY
LOW-FIDELITY
. . .
In some cases, though, cardboard can be a high-fi material, where more advanced building methods and mechanisms can be used
In higher-fidelity cardboard models, the pieces might be laser cut, and other materials might be introduced to work with the cardboard pieces (including motors/ electronics). There is careful design and construction in these models.
Prototype One
Prototype Two
Prototype Three
CARDBOARD ITERATION
COOL CARDBOARD PROTOTYPES
Illumination Studio
COOL CARDBOARD PROTOTYPES
Deep Se Bots Studio
COOL CARDBOARD PROTOTYPES
Responsive Architecture Studio
COOL CARDBOARD PROTOTYPES
Transitopia Studio
COOL CARDBOARD PROTOTYPES
Transitopia Studio
Introductions
1
An Ode to Cardboard
2
Mechanisms
Make & Chat!
3
4
CARDBOARD TECHNIQUES: SHAPING
Bending
Scoring
Curving
Faceting
Layering
Hinging
CARDBOARD TECHNIQUES: JOINERY
Brads
Flanges
Brace
Skewer
Bend
Hinge
Slots
Butt Joint
Don't Drop the Ball!
GEARS
SCISSOR
SLIDER
RAMP
PULLEY
TENTACLE
SPINNER
CLAW
ADVANCED CARDBOARD TECHNIQUES
Precedents in the world of art and design
Designer Frank Gehry's "Wiggle Chair, 1972"
FlexibleLove Chair by Chishen Chiu, Taiwan
Melbourne-based artist Greg Olijnyk sculpts mechanistic figurines and architecture completely out of cardboard.
Japanese artist Monami Ohno's cardboard designs
Also from Japan, Aidakko Shishou makes functional cardboard wearables and weaponry.
Artist Tom Burckhardt spent 8 months recreating his entire artist studio out of cardboard
Introductions
1
An Ode to Cardboard
2
Mechanisms
Make & Chat!
3
4
Make
If you have materials and want to give one of these mechanisms a try, we'd love to see what you make!
& Chat
How have you used cardboard in your classroom?
Did we miss any cool cardboard techniques that you know about?
SHARE YOUR WORK!
Curious to learn more? Reach out to our team at nuvux@nuvustudio.org
Thank you!