I'm a Cyborg, but that's OK

As I was trawling through the interwebs this week I came across a very cute virtual pop-up book. I’m always excited when my different interests align so it was a delightful bonus to find that the virtual pop-up book was created as a promotional for one of my favorite Korean directors, Chan-Wook Park. I’m a Cyborg, but that’s OK was released in 2006 and has yet to have make it’s way to the U.S. or Netflix, but I have my fingers crossed. You can learn more about the film at IMDB and Wikipedia.



The virtual pop-up book is quirky creation from the Korean design firm D.O.E.S. which stands for “dreams of electric sheep” and references Phillip K. Dick’s seminal work that spawned one of my favorite movies, Bladerunner. Based on the preview of their 2010 reel it seems they are no strangers to the virtual pop-up book and have created another version of the pop-up book for LG. You can also check out their fun cut paper animation for the LG Cyon Lollipop and don’t forget to see the “making film” section for a behind the scenes look at all the hard work they put in.

Getting back to the charming virtual pop-up book, the viewer can explore three chapters and interact with the characters on each of the spreads in fun ways. While they cheated on the physics of the constructions, it works well with the surreal nature of the project. The pop-up book closes with an appendix that promises three make-your-own masks based on the movie, but I was disheartened to find that the links were no longer available. Guess I will have to make my own bunny mask. Now all that is left is for me track down a copy of the movie this weekend because the pop-up promo sure sold me.

~Kyle

A pretty book about an ugly duckling

On a recent trip to Virginia I came across this pop-up book in a used bookstore and I just had to pick it up!

Besides the pop-ups, the illustrations have a very nice line quality that I admire. The paper engineering was done by Clare and Jack Segnit and Dennis K. Meyer.

I hate to give away the ending of the book, but the pop-up on the final spread is so nice I couldn't resist showing it! It's very simple but also elegant and effective.

The photo doesn't completely do it justice - take a look at this book if you get a chance!

-Shelby

Libros Moviles in Spain

I just learned of a new pop-up exhibit that opened last week in Andalucia, Spain. More specifically at the Teatro Auditorio in the Southern resort town of Roquetas de Mar. The movable books in the show come from the extensive collection of Ana Maria Ortega Palacios and her husband Alvaro Gutierrez Banos.



I have had the good fortune to meet with these lovely collectors on past occasions and know that this exhibition will be tastefully presented with many rare books selected from their 1,700 title holdings. I learned the show is divided in two sections. One side of the hall represents a general history of movable books dating back hundreds of years with impressive examples of Meggendorfers, Nisters, Kubasta, Wehr and other masters of the Golden Age of Pop-ups. As the exhibition continues, viewers can peer into twelve cases to see different book formats and explosive mechanism used by various paper engineers.

The exhibit is slated to run from April through June, which gives me time to save up for a trip to Spain.

~Kyle

P.S. Spanish articles covering the opening can be found here and here.

We all fit together.

Check out these cool Lego animals. Lego artist Sean Kenney has set up this exhibition at the Philadelphia zoo to raise awareness about endangered species the world over. The exhibition also focuses on teaching children and adults the importance of recycling and lowering your environmental impact.



http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/04/lego-artisan-creates-endangered-species-for-zoo.php

Looks like it's time for a quick trip to Phily!
Simon

Fun at the MoCCA Festival!

Last weekend I attended the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art Festival and I had a great time! I originally decided to go because one of my favorite webcomic artists was there (Kate Beaton), but I realized as I arrived that it was just the sort of event that some of my old college friends would be at.

Sure enough, as I walked into the room I saw my friend Marc showing off his illustrations at a table. He pointed me to some great places to browse and I ended up spending tons of money on books and posters as well as a little robot magnet that my friend Alisa made.

One of my favorite things about the festival is that artists had to represent their own work. This meant that there were mainly independent comic artists and cartoonists there - and it was cool to know that whenever I bought something, I was buying it directly from the artist!

I'll definitely go back next year.
-Shelby

Play With Your Food

Some really great photos from the Sydney International Food Festival of international flags made of food! Definitely check out the photos and try to guess which country is which!




Jess

Short and Sweet

I just have something simple to say. At this studio a lot of the art is done in cut paper collage - the colors are mixed and arranged in order to make them pop. All the papers are painted in-house by the talented Jess Tice, but of the hundreds of sheets we have, this one is (in my opinion) an amazing piece of art on its own:



-Simon

NY Antiquarian Book Fair

This weekend is the New York Antiquarian Book Fair! I completely lost track of time and forgot that the book fair was coming so soon to the Park Avenue Armory. I have been fortunate enough to attend the last few years and always get excited to see some amazing books from the past.



As you can imagine my interests tend toward all things movable so I make sure to make the rounds of my favorite independent booksellers. It is so exciting to actual hold some of the rare Meggendorfer and Kubasta titles found at Aleph-bets Books and Joann Reisler’s booth. Or drool over the glass cases of rare antiquities from Justin G. Shiller. I always find wonderful treasures at Chez Les Libraires Associes where the very pleasant Jacques Desse and Thibaut Brunessaux are on hand to share the latest pop-ups out of Paris alongside rare European titles. And the trip would not be complete without checking out the bookcases of Bromer Booksellers and visiting with Peter at the massive Books of Wonder booth.

Below is the essential info for the Book Fair but you can also get a full list of exhibitors and learn more about the 50th Anniversary of the Antiquarian Book Show here.

Location: The Park Avenue Armory at 643 Park Avenue and 67th Street in New York.
Dates: April 9 - 11, 2010 (With a Thursday preview)
Hours: Friday noon - 8pm, Saturday noon - 7pm and Sunday noon - 5pm.
Admission: $20/per day, $30/two-day pass & $45/three-day pass (Catalog included.)

~Kyle

Chupa Chups!

This week I discovered that Salvador Dali had made a logo for a candy company back in the day. And not just any candy company, one of the first companies to make lollipops. What company was this? Chupa Chups! They make some of the best lollipops out there in my opinion (does it get any better than Cola Lemon? Better than Kiwi Strawberry Orange?). I remember these lollipops from my childhood while living in Spain and the Caribbean.

Definitely check out their website:
www.chupachups.com

And check out the Daily Heller for great tid bits on design, type, art (that's where I first heard about this!):
http://www.printmag.com/dailyheller/

Jess

of course

I recently came across this table design and it made me feel like smacking myself in the forehead. Why have people not thought of this before?


(Designed by Beatus Kopp)

The table's legs are hollow, making channels for plugs and cables to stay organized and out of the way! So simple, and so smart. More images and info here.

-Shelby

Gods & Heroes on Telegraph.co.uk

Sunday, April 4, 2010 - The best books for all ages by Dinah Hall:

No matter how many times you open GODS AND HEROES BY MATTHEW REINHART AND ROBERT SABUDA (Walker, £19.99), the thrill never diminishes as a giant Anubis springs out of the pages and unfeasibly folds its outstretched limbs neatly back in as you close it. Tucked on to each page, as well as one large pop up of the Argo or Quetzalcoatl, are several smaller ones, equally intricate. Reinhart and Sabuda are themselves gods of paper engineering and it's a shame to leave this thing of magic and wonder to the collectors who, to maximise its investment value, will keep it in its cellophane wrapper. (Age: 6-11)

On its way from Adobe...

Here in the studio we often use Adobe programs to design and make our pop-ups. We use Photoshop to scan and work with the art, Illustrator to draw die lines and place the art, and InDesign to lay out type for the books. The programs are super useful, and we are always discovering new tools or commands that make our lives much easier! It doesn't help that Adobe adds new features with every new suite that comes out.

Well, I was checking out Gizmodo today and they had a post about this new feature Adobe has just announced for Photoshop CS5. This should definitely help in the rare cases that we are cutting up photos or flat art to turn into pop-ups...that is if we can figure out how to use the tool properly!



Looks like we'll be able to literally tie images into knots!

-Shelby

Pop-Ups in Ohio

This coming Monday marks the opening of a new pop-up exhibit at the Cincinnati Library. The Wonderful World of Pop-Ups: From the Collection of Carolyn S. Hughes will be on view in the Main Library’s Cincinnati Room from April 5 through June 27. Carolyn Hughes is a passionate book lover and pop-up collector that I have had the pleasant of meeting with over the years. She contacted me to let me know that she selected my book, Castle, to be one of pop-ups presented at the library. Carolyn went on to say, “There will be 115 books & things… It will be in the rare book department in beautiful cases that have alarms in them. How sweet! I have 570+ books, so it was really hard to select which would be used. I tried to have variety of subject matter, artists, & of course the all important paper engineer.”



One of her favorite paper engineers is Bruce Foster, who is no stranger to this blog. In fact Carolyn goes so far to claim, “I'm the self appointed President of the Bruce Foster Fan Club, Ohio Chapter!” So it only seems fitting that Bruce will be joining in the opening festivities and give a presentation on his amazing work next Sunday, April 11 at 2:30pm. More info can be found here.

Additional details of both events can be found on the first two pages of the library newsletter.

I had a chance to get a sneak peek at the exhibition list and found it a well balanced show. Go check it out for yourself, you won't be disappointed!

~Kyle

Sweet Dioramas

As Easter approaches and so does the thrill of Easter baskets from the Easter bunny, there is also a thrill that comes once a year- PEEPS! Now I know there are some die-hard fans out there that love eating Peeps (I know we like to microwave them occasionally here), but there are people out there that make art out of Peeps! I was so surprised when I saw these dioramas this morning made with Peeps. They really are great and witty. So far, my 3 favorite are these:

This photo gallery also made me remember making dioramas in grade school and how much I really enjoyed them. Maybe next year I'll think to make a diorama as well!

If you want to see more, check out the Washington Post:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/gallery/2010/03/29/GA2010032903934.html

-Jess

Fun with Venn Diagrams.....Seriously.

Check out these sweet Venn Diagrams that show us the limitless range of things you can diagram through this graph. From self-referencing Venn diagrams to Denzel Washington Venn Diagrams!






Enjoy,
Simon

April Fooled!

Check out these products that were just released today by one of our favorite online stores, ThinkGeek.com:

iPad Arcade

LOST inspired Dharma Initiative Alarm Clock

Programmable Tattoos

Some of us were fooled until we remembered that one of ThinkGeek's most famous products, the Star Wars Tauntaun Sleeping Bag, was originally created as an April Fool's prank, and these are just the kinds of things they'd do for this year's round.

Good one, ThinkGeek!

-Studio