I’ve been avoiding writing about Foldable.Me for a while because I find the process of paper craft to be in the realm of obsessive hobbies that require a degree of intensity and sufficiently unsweaty palms that I simply do not possess. But, we must ask ourselves, what if a startup did the hard, hard work of printing out laser-cut paper craft models for you without all that mussing about with an Exacto and an aversion to mature adult relationships?
That’s where these guys come in. The site allows you to design, print, and fold your own paper homunculi for a mere $11.99. The service offers a unique 3D editor so you can add mustaches, clothes, and hair. Shipping is free and your intended recipients get little sheets of paper with their paper craft dolly ready to pop out and build.
The company offered to send us little figures of ourselves, but I found the prospect of staring at myself in paper craft form for hours on end akin to staring into the Nietzschean abyss but without the potential for self-discovery.
The project started as a Kickstarter last March and is now completely commercially available. It’s the brainchild of Kejia Zhu, a London designer (where, I am told, paper craft is quite popular with the gentry) and aims to disrupt the paper foldable figure industry wholesale, a noble if short-sighted goal.
Some day, when they write the definitive book on ecommerce efforts in the 21st century, I hope that Foldable.Me is up there with the gift greats – InflatableGrapeBowls.com, DancingPigECards.com, and LifeSizedHumanFiguresMadeOfBakedPork.com.