June 26, 2008

Virtual Pop-Ups


When people ask me if I feel threatened by the emerging popularity of e-books I feel justified in stating that three dimensional pop-up books don't translate well into a digitized two dimensional world like a Kindle or computer screen.  With brisk advancements in computing and graphics, that may not always be the case. 

It seems that virtual pop-up books are becoming more popular on the Web.  I was impressed with the digital pop-up books at ecodazoo.com (mentioned in an earlier post) and there have been a rash of recent digital pop-up books showing up in music videos and car advertisements that might show up later in the blog.

A few months ago I came across a virtual pop-up book from the Please Touch Museum in Philadelphia.  It seems natural to incorporate pop-ups with a fun kid-friendly museum, and the website did a nice job of engaging viewers by allowing them to manipulate and navigate through the single spread book.  Unbound from the rules of geometry and gravity, the designers have created a bustling composition.  As is the case for almost all of the websites, these virtual books could not exist in reality, but they function well as a teaching and navigation tool for the web.  With another crop of computer science and design graduates storming out of the schools this summer I expect to see many more refined and inventive examples.  I’ll keep you posted!

-Kyle

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(This website may require additional free computer programs and patience.)

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