What do these symbols actually mean? That’s a far better question to ask than memorizing the complete list of origami symbols. A fold line, arrow, rotation mark or turn-over is meaningless unless you know where the model is. So before you fold, look at the diagram. Look at the model. Make sure the two are consistent with each other. What side is up? Where are the flaps? Where are the creases? If the picture doesn’t match reality, keeping on usually gets confusing even if you know what the symbol means.
Most basic diagrams will have multiple types of information in a single step. You might see a valley fold line (dashed line), a mountain fold line (dotted line), an arrow indicating the direction of a flap, a rotation symbol indicating the direction to rotate the model and a turn-over symbol indicating that you need to flip the model over. The last is the most easily overlooked. When you do the turn-over, a fold on the left hand side will now be on the right hand side and you will see different layers that were previously hidden from view. But you won’t see any new folds because there are none!
Instead of looking at multiple frames at once, focus on one frame at a time. Identify the part that is moving. Figure out where it is moving to (a corner, edge, centerline, intersection of creases, etc). Determine if it needs to be reoriented at the end. This is helpful when multiple flaps are being moved or one flap is sitting on top of multiple other layers. And it stops you from just folding every piece that’s in view just because there’s a lot in the diagram.
Try this exercise: go through a few steps of a very simple origami pattern. Stop after every step. Before you do the fold, state out loud what the fold is doing. For example: “this top flap folds down to the center line” or “the entire model rotates clockwise and does not create a new crease.” Then fold and check against the next frame. If it matches, keep going. If it doesn’t, go back to the last frame and double check that you correctly interpreted the symbol. Did you miss a rotation/turn-over? Is the wrong layer moving? Then try folding another simple pattern, and read the next step before you do the fold. Do this until it feels automatic.
The symbols themselves are usually straightforward. If the arrow points to the middle, it might mean there is a centerline or diagonal crease in the way. If the instruction says to open and squash a pocket, you might see a small arrow between layers indicating that you should only pull back the top layer rather than open the whole flap. Reverse folds can be tricky because an existing crease will change direction within the model. Don’t rely on the arrow itself, look closely at the model in each step to see how the crease changed.
After doing a short sequence of folds, go back and look at all the frames. Where did the model change orientation rather than shape? Those are the places you will likely lose track. The easiest self-check I’ve found is this: at each new fold, my paper should match the diagram in outline, layers and orientation. If so, the next symbol is easy to understand.
