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The role of the designer in the creation of a pop-up book Kathryn Siegler. San Francisco, California
There are many stages in the creation of a pop-up book. The entire process takes approximately a year. Having worked for Intervisual Books, the largest producer of pop-ups, for over three and a half years as a Design Director, I can say that process of producing a pop-up book is a constant learning experience. No two pop-up books are ever exactly alike, and each new format has its own quirks and surprises. A pop-up book is an extremely collaborative effort, with the writer, designer, engineer, artist, and production team all working together to generate the best book possible. I will take you through these various stages, from the point of view of the designer.
THE IDEA The first step in the creation of a pop-up book, or any book for that matter, is the subject, or story. This can be generated in a number of ways. A client, for example Disney, may have an existing story, like the story of Pocahontas, or 101 Dalmations. There may only be a topic, like colors, shapes or counting, and a concept will need to be developed from that. Or, the designer or editor may come up with an original idea. There may be a character that a publisher wants to develop a book around, like Lucy Cousin's Maisy, it is then up to the designer and editor to come up with exactly what that book will be about. For example, Walker Books wanted to do something bigger and more spectacular than the simple pull-tab books that they had produced for the Maisy character. That was the assignment, to come up with a new, spectacular format for Maisy, everything else was up to the designer, editor and engineer. I met with the editor the project, and we discussed a number of possible topics and formats. Later, I sat down at my desk and started doing thumbnails. working through a number of different ideas, one of which was the playset idea and became the final book, At home with Maisy. Originally, I had Maisy playing in three completely different places, a playground, her bedroom. and a schoolroom. I worked with the engineer, who developed a rough cut working
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dummy from my sketches. After the client saw the dummy, they decided that the playset should be different rooms of Maisy's house, because they thought they might like to do follow-up books in the same format, and the other sites might be used in those.
Another way that a pop-up book can get its begimnings is the creation of a new format, which can then spark ideas that are particularly suited to it. Most often it is the paper engineers who come up with the new formats, but it can also happen in brainstorming sessions where the engineers and designers hash out ideas while working on a project, and the two collaborate to come up with
something completely unique.
THE LAYOUTS After a story is decided upon, the designer must do storyboards, which are sketches of the designer's vision for each spread of the book. Before a designer can start the storyboards, however, the format and specs of the book must be decided upon. This is critical information because it will determine not only the dimensions of the book, but how many spreads, the complexity (how many glue points and folds), how much paper can be used, if the construction of the book is to be accordion, or tipped in pages, whether it will be printed four color both sides or only one side, the weight of the paper, whether it will be hard cover or soft, and whether there are to be any accessories, such as a sound chip, additional booklet, stickers, etc. Some of these specs will be determined by the designer, but often there can be preexisting limitations that the designer needs to know about, such as the target price, or that the book is for very young children which means no small parts. This information usually comes to the designer from the production department. If in the process of designing the book the designer wants to alter any of the specifications, they must be run by the production department to make sure that it is feasible, and will not dramatically affect the cost of the book.
For pop-up books, a designer must also consider the mechanics when laying out a spread. Different types of mechanics operate best from certain areas of the book. For example V-pops usually need to be near the center,