Google doodles for Akira Yoshizawa, grandmaster of Origami

If you never picked up a square piece of paper and folded it into a swan when you were a kid, do it today. If you did, do it today, anyway. Google's folded itself up for the birthday of Akira Yoshizawa, the grandmaster of origami. Yoshizawa was born on the 14th of March, 1911 in Kaminokawa, Japan. Over his lifetime, he made over 50,000 models of of origami, a few hundred of which were featured in his 18 books. He is also credited with growing origami from a craft to a living art. He taught himself origami when he was a child. When he was 26 years old, he left his full time job at a factory to pursue origami full time. Of course, he did not make the big bucks, right away. He lived in poverty for the next 20 years, making ends meet by selling a Japanese condiment made from seaweed, going door to door.

Google in origami

His work for a magazine in 1951 launched his career, though, his work had been included in a book of origami in 1944. That's when galleries and art collectors started contacting Yoshizawa for his work. He never sold his work, he always gifted his models to people or let galleries borrow his work without a fee. He pioneered the wet-folding technique where the paper is dampened a little prior to folding. Yoshizawa died on the 14th of March, 2005, on his 94th birthday from complications of pneumonia.

Today's Doodle features the letters of "Google" folded as though made from origami paper with origami crafted butterflies placed on the first 'g', the second 'o', the 'l' and the 'e'. Do you origami? Let us know what you can make in the comments section below.