Hello, I’m Alex. I’m a paper engineer specialising in the design of paper toys with over a decade of experience in the industry.  I’ve turned my obsession with paper based design into a career designing for a wide verity of clients including game developers, book publishers and educational providers. My constant drive to create engaging paper products and international exhibition pieces has lead to numerous awards and seen my work featured in news papers, magazines and television. Overall I believes in the power of paper as a 3D medium and live by the mantra “limitation breeds innovation” striving to find elegant solutions to complex problems.

My services include :-

• Paper engineering
• Paper Toy Design
• Consultation

I’ve worked on everything from simple one piece digital downloads to entire books of die-cut designs and glueless medical diagrams. Having designed over 1000 different paper crafts and card based projects through out my career, I’m confident I’ll be able to help you achieve your goals. Let’s fold something beautiful together.

Send me a message with some information about your project and I’ll send back my handy-dandy client guide, which outlines my hourly design rate along with some questions clients may not have considered about their project such as paper weight, tab type and texture style.

How long is it going to take to design my toy?

I pride myself on my quick turn around time, the time a project takes to finish depends on the complexity of the paper engineering as well as the texturing style of the design. A simple, single page, single sided, digital paper toy can be turned around as quickly as three working days if needed.

How did you get into paper toy design?

I originally found out about papertoys during my GCSE art exams, the final exams in UK schools, I wanted to make urban plastic toys but lacked the funds to buy clay and silicon moulding equipment. Instead I designed a set of paper toys, falling in love with paper engineering in the process. I’m still designing paper toys over 10 years later.

What paper would you recommend we use for downloadable projects?

In general, I use 150-200gsm card stock, the cheapest I can find when designing and building models. Most models available for download on the Fold Up Toys will recommend a specific thickness of card on the bottom of the page. I’d also recommend using matt card and not gloss.

Can you design glueless die-cut models?

Absolutely, I’ve developed a glueless system called ‘Soft-Slots’ which are adapted slot tabs that allow models to be held together securely without the risk of material failure that comes from traditional slot tabs. ‘Soft-Slots’ are easier to put together, less likely to break and can be un-stuck more effectively and with a lower rate of material failure.

Do you provide printing and die-cutting services?

I do not provide printing or cutting services, I am a designer, not a production company, if you need to print or cut your product, this is a service you will need to find yourself, however I do provide die-cut designed, recommendations on which card stock to use and am happy to coordinate with printers and adjust artwork if needed.