instructions for folding my calling card
If you read these lines, chances are that you have one of my calling cards in your hands (if you don’t, know that there is a url leading to this article on the front of the card — also, drop me an email and I’ll send you one). These cards were created with a specific folding sequence in mind which transforms it in a smartphone stand, so that people getting the card can then place their pocket-sized devices on it and read this blog, or check out other websites that I have made.
paper constraints
This was a lot of fun to design but quite challenging because of the various sizes that smartphones come in now. Not only do they get bigger and bigger, they are also relatively heavy with some of them 160 grams or more. A 300g/m2 9x5cm business card, on the other hand, is just 1.35 grams which means it is about 100 times lighter than the thing it is supposed to stand up. As an additional difficulty, the folding pattern respects the rules of origami so no scissors are needed. You just need your hands, eyes and 5 minutes to fold it.
What my desk looks like with the stand. 
The pattern printed on the front is generated from the header of this blog. Incidentally, the card doubles as a tool to check the color reproduction of your smartphone display. Aaaaand… it’s pretty bad on a nexus 4. 
And this is the stand by itself. The thing to consider is that thick business cards paper is tricky to fold: it tears and leaves white marks where folds have been made… At the same time, the paper needs to be thick and strong to stand the weight of the smartphone. I haven’t found the ideal paper just yet but this one is ok. 
Side-view of the stand with a smartphone on it. Most of its weight actually rests on the table, not on the card, which is how the card can stand that much weight without collapsing on itself. 
instructions
- White side up.
- Fold the bottom-right hand corner to the top left, aligning the right edge on the top edge.
- Unfold.
- Like this.
- Fold the facing corner down, edge to edge.
- Unfold.
- Like this. Turn over the paper.
- Make sure the text is on the right of the card. Fold the top-right hand corner to the intersection between the fold and the edge, on its left. Don’t fold all the way down!
- Only fold the top half, stop at the mark in the center. This makes sure we don’t have any unneeded folds on the final design. Then unfold.
- Fold the left edge to the right, along the two intersections. You might be tempted to use the pattern’s lines as references but don’t! The white margin on the four sides makes the pattern irrelevant for this fold.
- Unfold to the left.
- Fold the left edge to the crease you just made.
- Fold the edge again, this time to the left.
- Like this. Now turn over.
- Bring the bottom right hand corner to the left. Use the folds that are already there.
In progress… 
- … like this.
- Now for the difficult part: there is a flap on the left (under my index finger on this photo). Fold it to the right, along the crease. See the next picture before folding if you have doubts.
- You should have this. Now turn over.
- Unfold the front flap (this is called a crimp by the way) a little, just enough to get a pyramid-shaped fold.
- And you’re done!
Place your apparatus in its new cradle. Depending on what your device is, you might need to adjust the front fold. So far it has been tested with iPhones, Nexus 4 and 5 and Galaxy S3. 
suggested sites
Now for some responsive visits! This is a list of some websites I have made:
- homepage of this blog:beautifulseams.com
- my portfolio:louiseveillard.com
- website of the frac île-de-france (with Baldinger • Vu-Huu):fraciledefrance.com
- portfolio of design studio Chevalvert (with Stéphane Buellet):chevalvert.fr
- MFPP (with Aurèle Duda):mfpp-origami.fr
- Free Art Sundays events website:freeartbureau.org/sundays
- Connexe semantic search website (with the team):connexe.org
- Design research carthography:pw.louiseveillard.com/2014-carto-design-research
variations
The card can also be folded in different ways.
A modular composition from 6 cards 
Each module is locked to the next with a fold. 
What a module looks like. The front is a little different to the stand to allow for the lock mechanism but otherwise most of the above steps apply. 
I am looking forward to creating a larger collection of models from the same material. I didn’t write about teaching them in person but it’s been rewarding and fun! Will document that when I can.
This content is Creative Commons BY-SA 3.0.