Creative Spark Plug: Paper Structure

Even with these Creative Spark Plugs, it’s easy to stay in our comfort zones. I consistently come back to the same few over and over again, usually the drawing ones, since it’s so easy to pull out a pen or pencil and some paper. But some of my biggest creative breakthroughs have come when I’ve ventured into new or little explored areas, especially when I change the medium I use or the type of work that I make.

For this spark plug, I thought that it could be good to change gears a bit and move into some 3-D work. Now, you don’t need to be a sculptor or a potter to challenge yourself with three-dimensions, and if you’re feeling a bit apprehensive or a bit nervous at the mention of it, well then, you’re in the right place. After all, these are meant to be challenges that push us into new areas and new ways of working so let’s dive in and see where we can go.

The objective of this exercise is to build the tallest and most stable paper structure that you can. It seems simple enough, but I’ve got a way to make it a bit more challenging. I am going to give some strict limitations for this one because this is about opening yourself up to new ways of doing things, so here are the only materials that you will need.

Materials

• 10 pieces of small paper

• scissors

• craft knife

• cutting mat

Notes about the materials:

Index cards are ideal for the paper, but if you don’t have any index cards, small papers around 4x6 inches are good. If you don’t have a craft or hobby knife (think X-acto knife) and cutting mat, then just use scissors. Notice that there are no adhesives listed. That’s because this challenge is all about challenging yourself to not use tape, staples, or glue. You’re only allowed to use paper, scissors, a craft knife, and cutting mat. Nothing else. No string, no wire, no pencil, and no pen.

Process

1. Before you dive in, take some time to explore some possibilities. Since you want to build the tallest and most stable structure that you can, you first need to think about how you’re going to get a flat material like paper to stand up. How do you make it 3-dimensional? And second, simply stacking the papers isn’t going to be stable, so the pieces need to be connected or attached in some way, but remember no tape, staples, glue, string, or wire. Take 2 pieces of paper, and experiment with how to make them 3-D and how to connect and attach pieces. Feel free to cut these two pieces into smaller pieces to try a variety of ideas. You can set a timer if you’d like. Ten minutes could be a good time. Explore some possibilities.

2. Now that you’ve had some time to explore and experiment, it’s time to begin the challenge. Using the remaining 8 pieces of paper, construct your structure. Use some of the ideas you explored before, but leave yourself open to new ideas as you work. Setting a timer can add another limitation and give you incentive to work faster without overthinking things. Fifteen or twenty minutes is good for this. If you’re using a timer, you might not get to use all 8 of the pieces of paper, and that’s ok.

This activity will most likely end up with something that you may not necessarily want to keep, and that’s fine. It’s easier to do something additional with the two-dimensional challenges, so if you end up trashing these results, that’s no big deal. After all, it’s never been about the results anyway. But take some time to reflect on the experience. What worked? What didn’t work? If you were to do this again, what would you do differently?

I encourage you to try this again, especially in a day or two, and see if you can come up with new ideas and new ways of completing the task. And what if you allowed yourself to use glue or tape?

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Happy Creating!

Eric