Pop-Up Concertina
Do you like cheap art that you can spread out on your mantelpiece OR tuck away on a bookshelf?
Do you like illustrations with tiny details and hidden stories, with new things to discover each time you look at them?
Do you like pop-ups? (What am I saying, EVERYBODY likes pop-ups!)
![concertina all the way open]()
My name is Shelby Arnold, I have been a designer in Robert Sabuda's studio for about five years. If you know his work, it's needless to say that I know pop-ups pretty well. I've been working on this project for about six months on my own time, and I'm excited to see it get printed up for people to enjoy!
I'm raising money to pay for 1,000 copies to get printed by a local printer here in Brooklyn where I live. Right now I'm hoping to go with Rolling Press - an eco-friendly printer in Park Slope. They have been really helpful and detail oriented in the process of putting a quote together for this strange project - qualities you want from a good printer! All the money I raise will go towards the printing - I'm doing the cutting and folding by hand (on an on-demand basis).
So, what is it?
The Pop-Up Concertina is an accordion-folded booklet with pop-ups, covered on both sides with drawings I made using a bunch of .005 micron pens over the course of several months. I then scanned the drawings and assembled them into a digital file that will be sent to the printer. There are tons of little scenes and pictures, but no words. You can look at it page by page like a book (which never ends, it just turns over and continues in a loop), or you can spread it out and look at it all as one (double-sided) piece. Every way you look at it reveals new connections and interactions - the cut-outs and folds allow the pages and illustrations to change and connect to each other in different configurations.
![concertina picture 1, with pyramid pop-up]()
What size is it?
The flattened piece will be 38 inches long by about 6 inches tall. Folded, it is about 4 inches wide by 6 inches tall, with ten panels/pages on each side. There are seven pop-ups in the piece, they have art on both sides as well.
![concertina picture 2]()
Some things you may be asking yourself when you look at this piece:
Why are you self-publishing it?
This piece is more of an art book for the likes of indie comic book stores and art festivals. I'd rather be able to get it out on a table and sell it myself than be shopping around to publishers, trying to convince them why my oddly-formatted, some-assembly-required piece would be worth it for them to produce.
How are the pop-ups assembled?
I'm publishing this thing myself, so after I get it back from the printer, I'm doing all the cutting and folding by hand. I knew from the beginning that I wanted to keep the assembly as simple as possible, so the pop-ups are all designed to be quick cuts off the folds, rather than separate pieces that need to be cut out and glued together indivudually.
Simple construction doesn't mean the pop-ups are less interesting! In fact, because they are cut right out of the page, there are some really fun interactions from one page to another as cut-outs appear and disappear when you turn the pages.
Why is the deadline so soon?
I have some table space reserved at MOCCA Fest 2013 on April 6th and 7th. My goal is to have printed copies of the pop-up concertina on my table at MOCCA Fest, assembled and ready to sell! This means I need enough time before the festival to get everything printed up and a few copies assembled. HOWEVER, the sooner the deadline, the sooner you get your copies, too! Also, if you support this project and you live in the New York area, you can come by my table at MOCCA Fest to pick up your reward!
![concertina picture 3]()
![concertina picture 4]()
![detail 1]()
![detail 3]()
![detail 2]()