André Santos creates amazing handcrafted paper art – both 2D and 3D – using colorful pieces of paper and card. “Papercraft is the design field that fulfills me the most,” he told The Design Kids. But it took him some time to fully immerse in his craft.
Born in Valongo, Portugal, Santos was drawn to handcrafting early on but didn’t know it was what he really wanted to do with his career until his Master’s Degree. “The turning point was an MA project where Andrew Howard asked us to design several shop windows randomly assigned to the class,” he recalled. “I spent dozens of hours hand-cutting many sheets of that kind of paper. Sure, It was a painful process but I found it quite pleasant and the handcrafted feel of the output was really nice.”
It was then that it clicked for Santos and in 2016 he founded Estaminé Studio, focusing on papercraft, illustration, and lettering. “Step by step, I was developing my skills in these techniques and gathering a few clients,” he said. Now, with a growing audience on Instagram and a few more clients, it seems like Santos is well on his way.
“It took me two years and a few personal projects to improve my papercraft portfolio to the point where I finally built up the courage to make a tough 2018 new year resolution: take on Estaminé as my full-time job,” he says. We wish him good luck as he pushes forward!
