Sea Salt & Paper - Pierre-Yves Gallard: Art in Board Games #77
“The idea was to immerse the players in an ocean of folded paper. To achieve this goal, we established a few guidelines: simple compositions with few secondary elements, a sheet of paper as a background, and lights and shadows to bring depth to the pictures.”
Interview with origamist Pierre-Yves Gallard
In this board game art interview, I’m speaking to Pierre-Yves Gallard, whose origami photography brings the Sea Salt & Paper artwork to life.
Sea Salt & Paper is a set-collection card game (like Rummy) that combines easy-to-learn rules, a small travel-sized box, and tons of replayability. Since its release in 2022, it’s been charming audiences worldwide thanks in large part to its beautiful use of origami in its artwork.
Origami is the Japanese art of paper folding. Its roots can be traced back to the 7th century, when paper first arrived in Japan from China. Since then, it has developed a rich history through its ceremonial and recreational use. I only have the slightest connection to origami, but there definitely was a time in my youth when I briefly fell in love with the art form.
In simple terms, an origamist's goal is to transform a flat sheet of paper into a sculpture by folding and manipulating the paper to create beautiful pieces of art. Modern origamists generally don’t cut, glue, or mark the paper, with the sculptures created through intricate design, a select choice of paper, and, of course, folding.
Pierre-Yves Gallard and Lucien Derainne created the origami art featured in Sea Salt & Paper. I reached out to Studio Bombyx to see if they could set up an interview, and thankfully, Pierre-Yves was able to join me. Enjoy our chat!
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For more great insights into board game art, check out the interview archive.
Thanks for joining us, Pierre-Yves! Could you tell us a bit about yourself?
Thanks for inviting me! I live in France, in the Jura, a medium-mountain region that is quite rural and very green, near the border with Switzerland. I teach French language and literature to junior high school students. During my free time, I practice origami. At first, it was just a hobby; with time, I got more and more serious about it until it became an important part of my life.
When not reading books or folding paper, I love being outdoors: hiking, cross-country skiing, gardening, mushroom picking, or taking care of my bees.
How long have you been an origamist?
I used to fold paper airplanes and boats when I was a child. But I really discovered origami as an art form about 10 years ago. Since then, I got more and more involved, to the point that I now feel it has become a part of my identity. Origami gives me a way to express myself, it shapes the way I look at things, and it enables me to keep growing and learning new things. Also, it has given me opportunities to meet many people and to make dear friends.
When did you first start creating your own designs?
The first model I designed was a lighthouse, which I created in 2019. I was looking for diagrams or a video tutorial, and I couldn’t find any. So I thought I would try and make my own. But, the main event in my origami journey was COVID isolation. During this period, I was folding every day, several hours a day, and that’s when I really got into origami creation.
Before that, I used to interpret models from many different creators, among which Jun Maekawa, Hideo Komatsu, Tomoko Fuse, Roman Diaz and Oriol Esteve. These origami artists have played an important part in defining my approach to folding and designing origami.
How did you become involved in Sea Salt & Paper?
Laura Rouquié, the editor in charge of the project at board game publisher Studio Bombyx, contacted me. They wanted to illustrate the cards of Sea Salt & Paper with pictures from actual origami models. The first version of the game was set in a garden, but we eventually decided that the marine universe may be even more evocative and poetic.
The idea was to immerse the players in an ocean of folded paper. To achieve this goal, we established a few guidelines: simple compositions with few secondary elements, a sheet of paper as a background, and lights and shadows to bring depth to the pictures. We also wanted to insist on the texture of the different sheets of paper: some very grainy, some with visible fibers, others with metallic reflections or marbled patterns…
What was your process for creating the origami of Sea Salt & Paper?
Lucien Derainne and I started by making a list of all the sea creatures that would make interesting origami models, and we then started designing them. It was the first time we had worked on a tight schedule and with an imposed theme, so this was an exciting challenge.
Finally, we met, folded the models together, and took the first pictures. This was probably the most difficult part, for neither of us is a professional photographer. But we felt it was important that we took the pictures ourselves, or at least that we should be present during the shooting, so that we could shape the models, choose the point of view, and arrange the lighting so as to complete the optical illusion.
Do you have a favorite piece you created for Sea Salt & Paper?
My favorite cards might be the crabs. However, the model I prefer to fold and exhibit is definitely the penguin: I think it has a good structure and a pleasant folding sequence.
What makes the art of origami so special?
There are several ways to answer this question. I’d say the kind of origami that I love involves both artistic sensibility and “engineering” skills. It starts like a puzzle game, in which one needs to figure out how to transform the sheet of paper by folding it. Nothing added, nothing taken out. All you can do is fold. The magic happens when these combinations of folds somehow breathe life into the paper. This is where the artistic sense steps in and plays an important part.
I am also very attached to the idea that origami works can be taught and reproduced. This goes against the common conception that a work of art should be unique. In the case of origami, I think that a model's reproducibility is part of its beauty. This second idea has become increasingly important to me over the past years. I realized that what brought me the most joy was being able to share my designs and see people putting effort and talent into the interpretation of my models.
Where do you find inspiration for your origami creations?
There is no rule, nor magical recipe for inspiration. I’m often inspired by the nature surrounding me: for instance, I watch birds in my garden and I want to fold them. This is how I created my robins, sparrows, and magpies. Since I got into beekeeping, I started to fold hexagonal sheets because I was touched by the beauty of the honeycombs and their repetitive structure. But sometimes inspiration comes from a book I read or a discussion with friends. I also really enjoy design challenges with other creators, as it is a very good way to stimulate creativity.
Lastly, the idea for a model sometimes comes from the act of folding in itself. I start folding without anything too specific in mind, and if I’m lucky, an idea emerges at some point.
How important is the paper used in origami?
Learning origami is as much about learning folding techniques as learning about paper. The size of the sheet, its thickness, its texture, its transparency… many criteria influence the result you’ll get. That’s why choosing the right kind of paper is a critical step when you want to interpret a model. Most of the time, you have to compromise: some papers will look great in pictures but will tend to fade or loosen with time, some will be very sturdy, or very pleasant to fold, but they will lack texture when you take a picture of your creation.
I have a large collection of sheets of paper in my study, and I experiment a lot - with paint, ink, sometimes even glue (to make double-sided sheets of paper, for instance).
What are some resources for anyone interested in becoming an origamist?
For beginners, I recommend searching on YouTube. There are lots of great origami channels with clear tutorials and fun models. I especially recommend the videos that include diagrams, such as those on Jo Nakashima’s channel. They are a great way to understand the symbols used in books.
Once you can read origami diagrams, the vast realm of origami unfolds at your feet! And since it is even more fun to fold with friends, try to reach your local origami group! There you’ll meet other people who share your passion and who will help you grow as an origamist.
The big shell is designed by Tomoko Fuse - Origami by Pierre-Yves Gallard
What are you reading, listening to, or looking at to fuel your work?
I love to listen to music as I fold. I’m a big fan of the baroque period, and lately I’ve been listening a lot to this recording of “Apri le luci e mira”, composed by Vivaldi and sung by Roberta Mameli.
Finally, where can we see more of your work?
I have a website and an Instagram account, where I share pictures of my models, news about the origami events I participate in, and sometimes diagrams or tutorials for folding some of my models. I’m also working on a book with pictures and diagrams of my models, but this project will still require some time.
Thanks to Studio Bombyx for making this interview possible and to Pierre-Yves Gallard for providing many of the images.
Hedge Lord - Timbrook Toys: Art in Board Games #65
“The appeal of handmade products is that each item has special details which reveal the hand that made it.Working with irregular surfaces results in the kind of printing imperfections that distinguishes handmade art from mass-production… “
Welcome to issue 65 of my series sharing the stories behind board game art. This week, I wanted to bring to your attention a small company called Timbrook Toys, which is creating handmade games in Huntsville, Alabama. This project made me feel nostalgic for a bygone era, and I want to see more games like this in the modern era. I hope you enjoy this interview and a small insight into their work.
For more great insights into board game art, be sure to check out the interview archive.
Hi Dustin/Molly, thanks for joining me! For our readers who aren't aware of your work could you tell us a bit about yourself and what you do?
Dustin - Thanks for featuring us on your blog, Ross! I’m an artist who has lived in Huntsville, Alabama for a little over a decade now. I’ve worked professionally in a lot of creative fields during that time, including a lot of social media marketing and video production. A big part of what drew me to live in Huntsville is our local arts venue, Lowe Mill ARTS & Entertainment, which is actually the largest privately-owned studio art facility in the US. Being a part of this diverse creative community has been a highlight of my life. Outside of making art, my favorite pastime is probably watching British murder mysteries with Molly and our dogs.
Hedge Lord - top down view of game components
Molly - I've known since I was little that I wanted to write for a living. I'm a technical writer at one of Huntsville's many tech companies; my background in technical writing really informed how we wrote the instructions for Hedge Lord. As an aside, while Huntsville does have a burgeoning arts scene, Huntsville is more commonly known as "the Rocket City" or, sometimes, "the Silicon Valley of the South;" many technologies that got humans into space were developed by NASA in Huntsville and the city has attracted technology companies ever since. In my spare time, in addition to watching too many British procedurals with Dustin, I read, bake, and train our deaf dog, Ernest, who we adopted a few months ago.
Hedge Lord - Concept Sketches
Have you always been into games and puzzles?
Dustin - I’ve honestly never been much of a gamer, so it’s surprising to have a game be one of the most popular projects I’ve ever worked on. Molly and I did have a brief phase of being obsessed with the idea of obscure, failed games relegated to thrift store shelves despite being good ideas. The magnet-based game Touche' is one that we found during that time that fits the model. That idea of losing a game to history certainly had some influence on Hedge Lord, which we designed to have the feel of something uncovered from a past era.
Hedge Lord - Game art spread
Molly - Same. I appreciate a good board game, but I wouldn't have called myself a fan of board games until recently. I like how board games can create a kind of community, whether it's only for the duration of the game play or as a regular occurrence over the course of weeks or months as you play a game regularly with friends or family.
Hedge Lord - First game prototype
You've created your own game called Hedge Lord! What is it, and where did the seed of the idea come from?
Molly - Dustin and I were on vacation in Asheville, North Carolina in the fall of 2017. On the drive from Alabama to North Carolina, Dustin talked incessantly about gears. How to make them, how to make things with them, and all the endless possibilities afforded by gears. Eventually, this postulation turned into a line of inquiry along the lines of "What would a gear-based board game look like?"
We visited the Biltmore Estate, while in Asheville, a manor built in the late 1800s and the largest privately owned home in the United States. While touring the Biltmore grounds, we noted how inappropriate it was that for all of its grandeur, the Biltmore did not have a hedge maze. A hedge maze just seems like the kind of finishing touch you need for a palatial manor house. (Dustin is also obsessed with hedge mazes, even more obsessed than he is with gears.)
So, these two ideas collided. We started talking about what a gear-based, hedge maze board game might look like. We created a back story, rules, and characters on the drive back home, and while stopped at a bookstore in Knoxville, Tennessee, I came up with a name for our imaginary game -- Hedge Lord.
We got back into the grind of life when we got back home and I honestly didn't think much about Hedge Lord until I came home to find Dustin fiddling with a paper prototype of the game. From then on, our lives became consumed by developing, testing, and then marketing, selling, and producing Hedge Lord. The gear-based aspect eventually fell by the wayside, but I don't think Hedge Lord is any worse off for it.
Dustin - Like Molly said, I'm just obsessed with hedge mazes. The Jim Henson movie Labyrinth was a huge influence on me as a kid. So was the British stop-motion TV series The Wind in the Willows, which had a great episode where the characters race to solve the hedge maze at Toad Hall. Despite being fascinated by their appearances in TV and movies, I've never actually been in a real hedge maze. If we ever get rich off of this game you can bet we will be establishing one on the grounds of Timbrook Gardens.
Hedge Lord - Early game prototype tests
It sounds like you got well and truly bitten by the design bug. After that first prototype roughly how long were you playtesting the game and what did you learn?
Molly - I think we spent at least three or four months learning how to play the game with a prototype that Dustin made out of copy paper. The circle "hedge pieces" were attached with little brads and the playing pieces were different color beads that had angry faces, for the beasts, and happy faces, for the lords. We made our friends play constantly. The rules didn't change much from what we had in mind in the early days, we talked about it incessantly on vacation, but we did test different ideas, like if the beast should continue playing after the lord has been devoured and when and how the hedge pieces should be turned.
Our friends were really patient to keep playing through every iteration of the rules. Folks really seemed to enjoy the "entrapment" features intrinsic in moving the hedge and some people were frustrated to discover that "camping" their beast near an exit or guarding their lord with their beast were not full-proof paths to victory.
Hedge Lord - game illustrations
Every copy of Hedge Lord is handmade. Could you give us an overview of what goes into creating each one?
Dustin - We wanted these early copies of Hedge Lord to genuinely resemble something manufactured in the early 1900's, so using traditional methods like screen printing and woodworking was a must. Each copy of the game requires a painstaking process that involves 13 stages of screen printing and a lot of time at the drill press. Hopefully soon we will do the milling stage of production with a CNC router, but so far we've made over 100 games the old fashioned way.
Timbrook Toys - Handmade flyer
Hedge Lord - Game flags
We still aren't totally sure how long it takes to make each game because we do things in batches and stages rather than making one game at a time. It's safe to say each game takes 2-3 hours total though. I recently quit my day job to make games and toys full time, so I'm the main person in the shop. Molly still has a day job so she focuses on the matter of running our business and lends a hand in the shop a few hours a week.
Molly - It seems like it might take about thirty hours to produce twelve games, so Dustin's math checks out.
Hedge Lord - printed rules
What is the appeal of creating handmade products and why do you think it's important that people continue to make things this way?
Dustin - The appeal of handmade products is that each item has special details which reveal the hand that made it. I particularly like screen printing projects on wood because every copy that is produced ends up being unique. No two pieces of wood are going to have the same grain pattern, and working with irregular surfaces results in the kind of printing imperfections that distinguishes handmade art from mass-production.
Dustin - With a stack of Hedge Lord game copies
Most copies of our game have some registration errors and places where the wood surface is scarred. As long as the "flaws" in a print don't interfere with anyone's ability to play the game, we consider it a perfect copy. Your copy of Hedge Lord won't be identical to your neighbor's, and that's a good thing!
Hedge Lord - Game Parts
With such a DIY project how have you tried to spread the word about Hedgelord?
Molly - We have been very fortunate that our promotion has been largely organic. Folks seem to like Hedge Lord as much as we do and word spread quickly after we first offered Hedge Lord for sale on Dustin's personal Facebook page. We were approached by Alabama Public Television and the Alabama Media Group as a result of word of mouth promotion and both pieces from both organizations brought Hedge Lord even more attention.
Hedge Lord - Tournament
We've attended events as exhibitors and we've hosted a tournament at a local brewery. Those promotion avenues weren't successful, in terms of sales, but they've been extremely fulfilling in terms of meeting our audience, getting feedback, and sharing some wild games of Hedge Lord.
Dustin - The great thing about board games is that they are shared experiences. Word of mouth marketing is built directly into the product by the very nature of requiring multiple people to play. Since Hedge Lord is fun and people who play it end up wanting their own copy, the game really kind of sells itself.
Hedge Lord - Grid of game lids
What were the goals you set yourselves with this project and how have they changed?
Molly - Hedge Lord is the first of what we hope are many, many board games and toys, but making Hedge Lord takes up most of our time. Our current goal is to find ways to better automate the production of Hedge Lord (right now manufacturing is 95% powered by Dustin) so that we can pursue other ideas, too.
Dustin - In the big picture view we want to develop a whole creative universe around the characters and story of Hedge Lord that takes place outside of the confines of the maze. The business that we hope to build will allow us to focus on design and storytelling through other games, toys, comics, and film. It will be a dream come true to some day hire other artists to help bring our imagined world to life. For the near future though we are buckling down and focusing on making these early edition collectible games.
What are some non-game related creations (books, music, movies, etc) that you’re currently enjoying?
Molly - We watch a lot of murder mystery shows... probably too many. We're enjoying Endeavor (UK) and The Brokenwood Mysteries (NZ) right now. This week, I binge-listened to the podcasts Who the Hell is Hamish and Bear Brook and Dustin has binge-watched Call the Midwife while making games out in the shop.
Spinning top DIY prototypes
Do you have any current projects underway, or coming up that you’d like (or are able) to tell us about?
Dustin - We’ve got more fun hand made products designed and ready to sell once we are further caught up with Hedge Lord production. Simple spinning tops, some colorful magnetic sticks for building with, and a really fun wooden watercolor palette.
Those items are fully developed, but we’ve got other games and toys in the works that still need months of design and testing before they are market-ready. These new products are spin-offs of the aesthetic and story we have established so far with Hedge Lord.
Hedge Lord - Game in play
Finally, if we’d like to see more of you and your work, where can we find you?
Molly - You can visit our website https://timbrook.toys and follow our Facebook and Instagram pages. We post a lot of process and progress videos on Instagram.
All images provided by and copyright of Timbrook toys.
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