August 6, 2010

Been busy these past few months but...

Hello Pop-Up Studio Readers,

Sorry for the lapse in blog entries these past few months - it's been pretty hectic this summer. Lots of changes in the studio and pop-up projects to finish! Needless to say, all is well and many new books are coming in the near future, including...

DC Super Heroes: The Ultimate Pop-Up Book - to be released October 5, 2010....


and the cover art from the final book in the Encyclopedia Mythologica series - Dragons & Monsters (Spring 2011)!

And that's just a taste of what's ahead! Lots more details on the making of each of these books to come and as well as some teasers on more future projects.

XO Matthew Reinhart


PS - This is my niece Lillian - cute pigtails, huh? I think she just might make an appearance or two in future books...

Smithsonian Pop-up Exhibit

I was excited to learn that June 14th marked the opening of a new exhibit from the Smithsonian Institute called “Paper Engineering: Fold, Pull, Pop and Turn” ()at the National Museum of American History.

I have been following the progress of the exhibition for a few months through an informative blog they launched to showcase various books and backstage stories.

Stephen Van Dyk, the show curator, carefully considered the 1200+ collection of pop-up and movable books in the Smithsonian Libraries before settling on 53 prime examples of paper engineering. The dizzying beauty of the volvelles in Peter Apian’s Astronomicum Ceaesareum start off a timeline of movables that include works from pop-up masters like Meggendorfer, Nister, Dean, Lentz and Kubasta. The current crop of masterful pop-up artists are also on display so look out for titles from Robert Sabuda, Matthew Reinhart, David Carter and others.

Not only are works from Bruce Foster and Chuck Fisher in the exhibition but they make another appearance in the running video that describes much of the pop-up making process. You can take a look at one of the videos here on Youtube.

“Paper Engineering: Fold, Pull, Pop and Turn” will be at the National Museum of American History until Fall 2011 so you have plenty of time to arrange that must-see trip to D.C.

~Kyle

Anton and Atlas



Last month I was lucky enough to swing through BookExpoAmerica at the Javits Center in New York City. I always love to attend this book fair each year to get a sense of what new pop-up books will be released and what the dozens of publishers and printers have to show off. Sadly, my tour of the floor was cut short after a great chat with paper engineer Gene Vosough. I had to hustle off to meet with Ellen Rubin, thepopuplady, Matthew Reinhart, and Bulgarian paper engineer, Anton Radevsky. I was very excited to meet with Anton as I have marveled at his paper engineering feats as he tackled subjects like Space Craft, Architecture or the Wild West.

Anton Radevsky was visiting Manhattan for the first time and was eager to meet some fellow paper engineers and talk shop while he showed us his latest tour de force pop-up book Voyage to the Heart of Matter. His book is a collaboration with CERN in Switzerland to share the story of the Atlas experiment and the Large Hadron Collider.


Voyage to the Heart of Matter is an ambitious pop-up book about an ambitious scientific project to discover the beginning of the universe. This complex experiment is broken down into bite size sections to help kids (and adults) understand what it takes to make protons travel near the speed of light. The book has just been released in the UK but the 2nd edition is set to be in U.S. bookstores in the next two months, so I have to keep waiting for my own copy.

~Kyle

I like Domino!


Even though this book came out a couple years ago, it is still probably one of my favorites! Domino: The Book of Decorating was created by the editors from Domino Magazine (which sadly is no longer with us). The book basically has all the best articles from the magazine on how to decorate a small entryway, the bedroom, living room, etc. It even has in the back how to calculate how much paint you'll need to paint a room or just a wall. But what the best part of the book is the photos! I love decorating books and magazines for the photos. I tend to find inspiration from them. Whether it's the wallpaper or a small trinket, I usually find something amazing!

Enjoy!
-Jess

Etch-A-Sketch King


To be named the king of something is a bold title, but George Vlosich deserves this title. He is also know as the king of Etch a Sketch. Yes. Etch a Sketch. As you can see from the one he did of New York, this guy knows his way around those two little knobs. Vlosich's creations has been on television, museums, magazines, and even the White House!

Check out more of his Etch a Sketch work on his website:

http://www.gvetchedintime.com/

-Jess