We (Noreen and Genny) created a folding papercraft shadowbox inspired by our previous 2D collage of Uganda’s landscape with a giraffe silhouette. Each layer of the card represents one component of the original collage, and when assembled, the layers come together to form a complete image. The card folds out in an accordion style, with each frame connected by gluing tabs along the edges.
Although we reused many of the silhouettes from our 2D collage, we had to make several adjustments in order to adapt them to the papercraft format.
Our first challenge was creating the base papercraft frame, which is a square with a hollowed-out circular area that highlights the part of the Ugandan landscape we wanted to feature. This was fairly easy to execute in Inkscape by following the instructions, but sizing proved to be more difficult. We had to carefully adjust the hollowed-out circle so it was large enough to clearly display each landscape element, such as the grass, acacia tree, and giraffe. Because of this limited space, we chose to simplify our design by removing the layers of dirt, and include only one giraffe instead of two.
The most difficult part of the process was ensuring that all landscape elements were securely attached to the papercraft frame. The giraffe and tree were easier to attach because they had clear connection points. The grass, however, was more challenging. We did not want it to curve with the circular opening, as that would disrupt the flat ground effect typical of a Ugandan landscape. To solve this, we placed the individual grass pieces on a flat rectangular base and combined the grass with a flat ground layer.
Lastly, we decided on the order of the layers and the color choices. We arranged the layers so that the smallest elements appeared toward the front, preventing them from being visually overwhelmed by larger background pieces. We kept the same color palette as our original collage, but lightened the shade of green for the grass so it would not blend in with the acacia tree leaves.
Overall, we think the papercraft turned out aesthetically appealing and successfully captured the vision of our original collage, while adding depth through the layered, three-dimensional format. If we were to do this project again, we would consider adding a sun or clouds to make the blue sky feel less plain.
