We invite you to visit the exhibition on the second floor of the library featuring student works from the Graphic Design specialization of the Design Studio at the Academy of Arts, Faculty of Arts and Education, Kauno kolegija: “Decorative Toy Design from Paper.”
Annotation
The exhibition showcases works created by first-year students of the Graphic Design specialization within the Design Study Program at the Academy of Arts, Faculty of Arts and Education, Kauno kolegija, as part of the course Fundamentals of Graphic Design. This course is taught during the second semester of the first year of studies. The aim of the assignment is to introduce students to the stages of the graphic design process and apply them in the creation of a specific design object. The design process of various design objects consists of several stages: preliminary research, creative exploration, preparation of the design object for realization, and the development of a conceptual model.
The design of decorative paper toys was chosen as a creative design object through which students develop their creative imagination while simultaneously solving structural and formal design challenges by adapting them to the possibilities of paper as a material. This is an important aspect in developing graphic design skills. As a result, students create a conceptual decorative toy — a fantasy character. In developing these fantasy characters, students draw inspiration from various animals, fairy-tale characters, and animated film heroes. They interpret these references to create new characters, unique forms, and graphic decorations. The creation of a decorative toy requires numerous experiments and sketches, as well as the analysis of various analogous examples, including paper constructions and graphic illustrations. The project also focuses on the expressiveness of graphic decoration and the harmony between graphic elements and form.
Assignments are developed according to different principles. One approach to creating a unique fantasy character is to combine two different animals into a single hybrid creature. The exhibition features creative combinations such as a whale shark and rabbit hybrid, a butterfly and koi carp hybrid, an elephant and peacock hybrid, a monkey and butterfly hybrid, a bat and goat hybrid, and others. Some decorative toys also include transformation principles or additional functions, which further contribute to the development of creative design thinking. The ideas created by students can be adapted for the design of toys, games, paper construction kits, packaging, souvenirs, and other creative applications.
The exhibition presents works by first-year Graphic Design students of the Design Study Program at the Academy of Arts, KK MUF, created between 2015 and 2025. The students’ projects were supervised by lecturers of the Design Study Program at the Academy of Arts, KK MUF: Gintarė Jarašienė and Juozas Dundulis.
Gintarė Jarašienė
Lecturer of the Design Study Program at the Academy of Arts, Faculty of Arts and Education, Kauno kolegija
Chief Curator of the Exhibition: KK MUF MA Design Lecturer Gintarė Jarašienė
Curators of the Exhibition: KK MUF MA Design Lecturer Juozas Dundulis, Librarian for User Services at the KK Library and Centre of Scientific Communication and subject librarian for the Faculty of Arts and Education, Egidija Seikauskienė
Exhibition Dates: 30 April – 30 May 2026
Exhibition Venue: KK Library and Centre of Scientific Communication (Pramonės Ave. 22A, Kaunas)