Folding Globes

Our story · A MapScaping project

From the first fold to the conference table.

Making these globes took a lot more than checking the shape would close. I tried different fold lines, fiddled with the tabs and slots, and went through a few sizes before I had a globe that’s good to build and looks good once it’s done.

Here are some of the tests that got it there, and where it’s ended up: globes printed and cut in proper runs, and custom versions for businesses.

Follow the story The tests behind the finished globe
Two assembled globes, in relief and red-and-white map styles, beside a stack of flat colour globe sheets on the conference table.
On the conference table: finished globes next to a stack of flat sheets from the same run, QR code already printed on.

What I wanted to get right.

I’m Daniel O’Donohue, the person behind MapScaping. I wanted folding a globe to feel like a small puzzle you can actually finish: something you work out with your hands and feel pleased with at the end.

That comes down to small things you don’t notice on a screen. How does the card bend? Can you get a tab into its slot? Does it stay there? And does the finished globe look like something you’d want on your desk?

White-card globe patterns laid flat, showing different face shapes, fold lines and tabs.
Early flat patterns from the folding trials.

01 / Fold lines

How should the card fold?

I tried creased fold lines, perforations and small cuts along the folds. Each one changes how the card bends and how the edge looks once it’s folded.

I wanted to know two things: which was easiest to fold, and which gave the neatest globe. The only way to find out was to make them, fold them and compare.

02 / Tabs & slots

A small clearance makes a big difference.

The width of a tab and the room around it in the slot have to work together. Too loose and the tab slips out. Too tight and it’s a fight to get in.

I kept adjusting it until the tabs went in by hand and stayed put. There’s no glue in the physical globes, so the tabs have a real job to do.

The puzzle should be the globe, not fighting the tabs.

A flat triangular globe pattern with rounded tabs and cut slots visible along its edges.
A flat test piece makes the tab shapes, slots and fold lines easy to see.
A colour map on a cutting mat, laid out as the twenty triangular faces of an unfolded globe.
The chosen shape laid out flat, ready to cut and fold.

03 / Shape & size

Choosing the shape, then getting the size right.

The site has lots of shapes to try. For the physical globes I went with the icosahedron, twenty triangles. Of everything I tested, it’s the one I liked the look of most.

The size of those triangles matters too. Too small and the folding gets fiddly. Too big and the globe loses the proportions I liked. I wanted enough room for your fingers, and a finished globe that’s compact and holds its shape.

18 seconds, silent. The cutter following a printed globe sheet. The QR code is printed as part of the sheet, so there’s nothing to stick on afterwards.

04 / Into production

From one-off tests to a proper run.

All that testing ended up on the conference table in the photo at the top: a few globes already built, and stacks of flat sheets for people to fold themselves.

It’s not a one-off any more. The globes are now printed and cut in runs on the same setup. A sheet goes in, and a globe pattern comes out with the map, the tabs and your QR code or logo already on it. That’s what makes custom globes for businesses possible.

Your brand, in their hands.

If you’re a business, the folding is part of the gift. People spend a while with something that has your name on it, working out the folds, fitting the tabs and finishing the globe.

They get a puzzle they can actually finish, then something to keep on the desk. That’s why how it folds matters as much as how it looks.

Custom globes for businesses & events

Custom globes, made to order.

I make custom branded globes in runs of 50 or more, with your logo or QR code printed on the globe itself. Tell me about your event, how many you need and what you’d like on the globe, and I’ll quote for it.

Talk about a custom order

Your logo or QR code · Flat sheets to fold · Runs from 50