Pop-Up Design and Paper Mechanics: How to Make Folding Paper Sculpture Paperback – August 1, 2010

Let me start off by saying, I don't write reviews to often and this is my very first book review. I'm totally new to making cards and wanted to make something different for Christmas and the upcoming holidays. So, I searched YouTube for "How To Make Pop-Up Cards" and found Duncan Birmingham's videos on "The Pop-Up Channel." I started watching his videos and enjoyed them so much that I had to order his book. After receiving my copy I started reading pages 1 to page 27 and stopped because I wanted create and understand the basic shapes of pop-ups while watching Mr. Birmingham's video tutorials on YouTube (I'm a visual learner.) I spend several hours creating basic shapes along with his great video tutorials in which he shows examples from other pop-up books to help the viewer better understand how the shapes are used. He's a great teacher and his book is easy to read and understand with colorful drawings, photos and also include templates in the back of the book.What I really like about this book is give you the basic foundations for understanding V-Folds, Tabs, Parallel-folds, etc. to create your own amazing pop-up cards and books. Another reason is I can ask the author questions in the comment section of his YouTube videos and he replies. How many authors do you know will take the time to reply back after you have purchased their books? I would highly recommend this book to anyone wanting to learn how to create pop-up cards and books because you're getting more than just a book with the added YouTube videos. I will update this review with photos of cards I've made after I finish the book.

This is a valuable book that clearly outlines the principles and techniques required to make complex pop-ups. The author, Duncan Birmingham, first introduces the reader to a series of foundational shapes that are used to power the pages of most commercial pop-up books. Once you understand the principles behind how they work and learn the technique to make each one, you can then modify and combine them to experiment and create your own. He also has an excellent website with videos of all the techniques illustrated in his book. I find it very helpful to be able to watch him in action when I'm trying to learn a new folding technique. The combination of written instructions, diagrams, AND video support is hard to beat. I highly recommend this book for anyone who would like to go beyond the basics to develop more advanced paper engineering skills.

One of the clearest books about pop-ups I have encountered. I have also used Paul Jackson's "The pop-up book" and David Carter & James Diaz, "The elements of Pop-up" (the advantage to this book is that there are working mechanisms that you can disect).Birmingham is very straight forward and easy to follow. His written instructions and step by step pictures help in the understanding. The disadvantage is that he does not show the closing of the mechanism and does not have any working examples in the book. I had recently attended a class a Penland School of Crafts in North Carolina and I found this book was a great help to assist me to remember the things I had learned as I play at home and hone my skills.

The book is designed to be used by artists/designers who want to create pop-up paper constructions. It’s not intended for use by young children or as an afternoon’s distraction. However, I can imagine that a good art teacher could easily adapt the instructions for classroom situations. What I like best is the clarity of the diagrams and the sequential approach, from very simple to very complex. The ONLY thing I didn’t like was the cover!! After receiving the book, I understood why it may have been the chosen image but … I will admit that I avoided buying the book for a couple of weeks because I found it unattractive. I’m really glad that I pushed past my resistance.

This book was a gift to myself. Pop-up cards are really a puzzle. How to fold the paper to produce the experience for the viewer, each step is covered. There are on line supporting videos. I used my Cricut Air 2 to cut all the pieces. All the directions are clear, and easy to follow. The first card I gave away, the person who received was so surprised. If you want to make pop-up cards, this is the book to get.

I wish I would have purchased this first! I bought a few other books about pop-up and paper mechanics and this is the best. I found it because I happened up the author's YouTube channel - which is excellent by the way - This is easy to follow. I do wish he would have included more samples of how he would use the models. He shows examples in his videos and they are wonderful but I am a beginner and could have used simple examples of finished projects. I also teach art to children and the simple examples may be easier for them to identify with. But really this is great and someone with a more logical mind would have no problem.

Good for beginners and guided projects for children, but not enough for ambitious beginners wanting to do more intricate projects.

I already have enough pop-up how-to books that fill me with envy and despair, so I like this one for its classical, theoretical approach. The book's playful design offsets the obvious effort it takes to really learn something and own the knowledge. It feels like somebody's workshop rather than an art gallery--a place for learning what one needs to know to have this craft serve one's own imagination. The author has been teaching paper engineering for 20 years, and it shows.