Origami Cats
Open the game- Brand
- Lexus
- Year
- 2018
- Objective
- Awareness
- Industry
- Automotive
- Mechanic
- Puzzle
- Platform
- Web
- Agency
- AMAZE
Objective
Lexus wanted to make the abstract promise of "Lexus quality" tangible rather than just claim it. The brand's Takumi master craftsmen are certified through a real entrance exam — folding a paper cat with their non-dominant hand in under 90 seconds — and that test became a symbol of the precision and dexterity the brand expects of its artisans. The project, built for the craftsmanship section of the Lexus Europe site under the "Experience Amazing" platform, let visitors try the exam themselves instead of reading about it.
Solution
The page opens with the Takumi entrance exam explained: fold a paper cat with your non-dominant hand in under 90 seconds. A flat sheet of paper sits in a 3D scene, and on-screen prompts guide the visitor from fold to fold. Each fold is made by dragging a slider on desktop or swiping the touchscreen on mobile, and the paper reacts like real paper — creasing along the correct lines, with shadow and light shifting as each new fold takes shape. When the cat is complete, the page scores the attempt for accuracy and speed and returns a result, the same verdict a real Takumi candidate would get.
- 1
The experience opens on the craftsmanship section of the Lexus site, which introduces the Takumi: the company's most skilled artisans, responsible for quality-checking every car. It explains one of their entry tests — folding a paper cat into origami using only the non-dominant hand, in under 90 seconds.
- 2
The site invites the visitor to attempt the same test themselves, turning the Takumi trial into a browser-based challenge.
- 3
A 3D scene shows a blank sheet of paper, with on-screen instructions walking the player through the sequence of folds needed to form a cat.
- 4
For each fold, the player drags a slider or swipes across the screen to mimic the physical folding motion, and the paper bends in response; the shape stays three-dimensional afterward, with lighting and shadow revealing each new crease as the cat gradually emerges from the flat sheet.
- 5
The player repeats this hint-gesture-fold cycle through the full sequence — diagonal creases, ears, head and chin, nose — until the paper cat is complete.
- 6
At the end, the experience scores the player on accuracy and speed, showing how their result compares to the Takumi's own 90-second benchmark.
