Pop-Up book of Opposites- Cover Page

Hey everyone! This is the second part of my pop-up book of opposites tutorial. I would sincerely recommend you read part 1 as it is an important introduction to this tutorial series. If you missed it read it here. In this post, I will discuss the method for the cover page.

It is difficult to add any 3-dimensional pop-up components on the cover directly since there is no central fold. In order to compensate I added some fun components using a pull strip and hub and pivot mechanism.

Part 1: “Opposites” Pull Strip

Here I have used half of a blue A4 size sheet of paper as the base to the cover. I left about an inch on the left side of the sheet and drew a line vertically of length 16.5 cm roughly leaving the same amount of space on the top and bottom. Remember to mark this lightly as it will eventually be erased. It is only for an estimate of where to draw out the letters. Divide this line into 9 sections for the 9 letters of the word “opposites”. Now trace out the letters and cut it out from this section using a blade.

For the actual pull strip, I have taken a white A4 size paper. I have folded this in half and cut it to the height of 17.5 cm (keep it folded so it is double layered). Make sure that this strip is slightly bigger than the length of the cut-out letters. Following this, I have altered the strap on one side to make a smaller size pull strip on the end. This pull strip has to be in the centre of the main strip. So from the top and bottom of the strip, mark a point about 6.5 cm away. The length of the strip end is 4.5 cm with a curved edge for ease of pulling it. It might also help to slightly taper the horizontal edges so that this pull strip end will go in and out of the slit made later on. Finally stick the two sides of the folded paper together to form the thicker strip.

Next, we have to turn this sheet and we will work on the back of this sheet. We need to make markings on each side of the letters cut out. This marking is made at a distance of about 1 cm from the cut out letters on each side. Basically, we need to draw rectangles to the height of the letters from this mark. To the left side of the letters, the width of the rectangle is 1 cm. I did the same thing on the right side as well, but this turned out to be a mistake which I corrected later on. The width on the right side needs to be about 2 cm, else when we pull the strip it comes out of the loop and when we push the strip it won’t go back in.

If you have not guessed already, these rectangles marked are for loops that have to be stuck. Now since the length of the strip is long, the strips of paper for the loops need to be over double the size of the strip. So, in this case we need to stick two strips of paper for each loop. The width of the left-side loop is 1 cm and that of the right-side loop is 2 cm. The colours of the paper used for these loops do not really matter as they would not be visible.

Apply glue to the rectangle drawn on the base sheet and stick the lower side of the loops to this. Following this, place the white strip inside the loops to and stick the ends of the loop. Make sure to apply only a small amount of glue else any glue that leaks will end up sticking to the strip.

From the left side loop, mark a spot 7.5 cm away. Then vertically mark the midpoint of the length of the letters cut out. From this midpoint mark about 2.25cm cm on each side to get a line of 4.5cm. Mark two very small inwards tapering cuts as shown in the overview picture. Use a blade with a mat under the paper strip to cut out this slit. The inward tapering cuts are to ensure smooth movement.

The 2 steps above can be done in any order. As you see in my pictures, I have gone a bit back and forth on each step.

Next, insert the end of the pull strip through the slit and turn the sheet around. We need to make a boundary marking of the letters on the inner white strip. Can do it for few letters only for a general estimate as we would erase this mark later on. Next slightly pull out the pull strip (until you don’t see the earlier marks through the opening) and mark the letters again. Now pull the strip out and you will notice that you can make two sections next to each other. I have drawn lines to demarcate these sections. Remember to erase the letter marking before moving on. The second line is not so important, I in fact erase this line later on. For the left side section, place the upper sheet on top of it and mark the lower edge of each letter. This is just to divide into 9 sections so that I can add one colour to each section. If you want the colour added in a different way to what I have done, then you can do it as you please. I then erase the second line as mentioned before.

Put the strip back through the loops and the slit, pull the strip so that the colourful section is visible through the letters. Now carefully turn the sheet back. Here we will add two small strips of paper each side of the strip right next to the loop. This works like a stopper so that the strip cannot be pulled any further. The length of the strip can be a little smaller. When I do the binding of the book, I actually cut the length a little. It just needs to jut out a little beyond the loops. Also, the length it is currently, I do not have any space at the edges of the blue sheet to glue it later on.

There you are, the pull strip is ready. I wrote “Pull me!!” at the corner of the pull strip to draw attention to it.

Part 2: Smiley face Hub and Pivot

I have used yellow card stock for this mechanism. This mechanism is actually quite easy do make. You need four circles. For ease of understanding I have numbered them in the outline picture. I used a radius of 3.5 cm for three of these circles (1-3). Of these three circles, two have a small jutting out section as you see in the picture (2 and 3). These two circles also have a small circular hole in the centre. I stuck these two circles together so that it becomes a thicker layer. This was needed for additional sturdiness so that when the jutting strip is moved there is no folding.

Next, I take the smallest circle (4), which is of a radius of about 1.2cm. Slits are made on opposite sides of this circle as shown below. For reference if you see the outline picture, cut where the dark lines are and fold the dotted line. When these slits are folded they should just about fit through the hole in the bigger circle (stuck 2 + 3, let’s call this circle 5). 

Following this, we need cut out the windows on the opposite ends of circle 1 as shown. This is for the eyes and mouths of the two emotions. Once the windows are cut, place it above the circle 5. Then, draw corresponding eyes and mouths for one emotion each on opposite sides of the circle. Make sure you note that the strip jutting out is at a correct position (preferably at 1 o’clock position when first emotion is drawn and then to 5 o’clock position when second emotion is drawn). Then I used some marker and gel pens to darken the emotions.

When you have pushed the folded slits through the hole of circle 4, stick the upper edges on the lower side of the circle 1. Align the windows with the emotions correctly. Apply glue on the lower edges of circle 4 and stick it to the base blue sheet.

Lastly, I drew a nose for the face just to fill up the empty space in the centre. There you have it your smiley face hub and pivot is now ready. 

Part 3: Background

Once I was stuck the two components on the base sheet, I added some basic lettering with gel pens.

That completes the tutorial of the cover page. Hope this helps. I will return soon with the next blog for the next page. If you have any questions, let me know in the comments below. I know this is not my typical video tutorial series. But somehow I felt written with outlines are more important to follow the procedure. The gifs may appear fast but they are technically not required. You can follow the written instructions with the outline pictures easily.

Until next time. Bye!

Let's Talk Pop-Up!!!

Hello everyone! I recently uploaded a video on my YouTube channel on a pop-up book I made. A few of my followers requested for a tutorial post this. When I started editing the raw footage I had, I felt I could not do as much justice with it with a video. I thought it felt very rushed if I were to make a video in my usual style. That got me thinking and I felt it was time I revived this blog and decided to start the tutorial here instead. 

In case you have not seen the video I am talking about do check it out by clicking the link here.  I would recommend watching the video before reading ahead.

 

Disclaimer: I am not an expert in pop-up. This is infact my first experience making one. I followed tutorials by Mr. Duncan Birmingham. Please find the link to his channel here. Anyone who is serious into exploring pop-up might want to consider watching his tutorials as they are quite simple and detailed. The purpose of my post here is only to go into specific details of how I took details of his tutorials to serve my purpose of making an opposites themed book. 

Basic Principles

The actual components that pop up out of the page have to be aligned into the central spine of the page. In the picture below you can see that the giraffe and mouse are pieces that pop out of the page and are aligned into the central spine. The same holds good also for the main barn structure.

Alternatively, pop up pieces can be added into gullies that form by existing components. Check out the horse which is outside the barn. This is stuck into the gully created by the barn. Also, in the kitchen page, the fridge is the main pop up which is aligned into the central spine. The oven is added to the gully created by this.

One other way to add pop up off centre is by the use of a strap. I will discuss this element in detail in future but you can see the picture below where the box of flowers while being a pop up element is not in the central spine or any gully but is shifted away from the centre of the page.

Different combinations of mechanisms used in pop ups. You can have one component which holds up another and so on and so forth. In my book it is relatively straightforward. While each page has different mechanisms, there is no complicated mixture of elements into a single bigger element.

Material

Paper- slightly thicker paper with higher gsm helps the structure of pop up become more stable. In my stock I had different coloured paper in different thicknesses. For sheets that were thinner, where needed I have stuck two sheets together to increase the thickness.

Other stationary supplies- Scale, scissors, blade (with mat if possible) and glue.

For some of the components only we need a protractor and compass.

Paints, colour pencils, sketch pens etc.

Tips!

Try to do trials first if possible. You could use regular A4 size paper for these trials. This is especially recommended if you have limited supplies of the specific colour of thicker paper.

Mistakes are likely especially if you are just entering into pop up work like me. But sometimes you can carefully pull out the component with a mistake and redo it fresh. In the picture below, I initially made a giraffe which ended up being a bit longer and jutted out of the page when the page was closed. In addition to this, since the paper was thinner, it also lacked stability when it was opened and bowed into a side.  

Plan! Plan! Plan! However, these plans are subject to change as you work on the book. It helps to better structure the book and its elements.

Decide on the background elements before you stick the pop-up element (image of colouring the green sheets). However, if there are certain other mechanism like slots and hubs planned it helps to do that first.

Add the details on the surface of pop up prior to sticking to the main page. Such as the windows and doors drawn on the out of the barn and the details on the oven. Because once the pop up is stuck, it will be a bit delicate and adding details would be difficult. This might not hold good for the 2 dimensional components like the shelf which can have details added later on as well.

The folds in every component need to be proper. Fold each fold back and forth a few times so that when it pops up it will take shape.

This is not really a tip but more of a comment- I also prefer to make this kind of interactive books with felt and cloth as you can see in my earlier videos as they end up being sturdier. Making pop up structures with paper give a nice 3D effect though.

Mechanisms

    Only details on mechanisms I have used in my book would be discussed. Some of the names of the mechanisms and terms might sound complicated. But they are here only as an introduction. I will be discussing on the method to make each of these but if you want to learn about each of these in more detail check out the YouTube channel linked at the beginning of this post.

Pull strip- In this mechanism, there is a small window in the upper page and a strip which sticks out of this page. When pulled, we can have the image in the window change. I have used this mechanism three times in the book- on the cover page for the word “opposites”; the section in the barn with the off and on, showing the horse inside the barn; and lastly the flowers in the vase which was a filler.

Slots- Pulling the strip here can move an image in the direction of pulling. In my book, I have used this with the hare and tortoise.

I have made the barn by using the technique used to make a house. Before sticking the barn into the page I added a pull strip to one of the sides. An afterthought to making this pull strip is that when it was stuck to the page, the use of the pull strip was not easy as it was not very sturdy.

Basic parallelogram- This mechanism can be used to make structures pop up either in the central spine or in the gully created. I have a few parallelograms in the book in the kitchen page. I have also propped the horse outside the barn with a parallelogram.

Hubs and Pivots- This creates a circular structure which rotates. The top layer can have windows added into it can reveal different objects. In my book, I have used this with the smiley face in the cover and also the circle for the word ‘small’.

Asymmetrical V fold- This asymmetrical structure is used to make clouds which hold up the helicopter.

Floating plane- The bridge is made by this mechanism.

Strap- This mechanism is used to shift the gully of the pop up away from the central fold. In the example here as you can see the empty box and box full of flowers open out in a section away from the central fold.

Flap- There are different types of flaps. In my book there are two types- one where the pulling the strip makes the tree stand. In the second type pulling the strip makes two flaps of the shelves open.

 Symmetric parallel fold with added creases and counter folded strips are used to make the giraffe and mouse.

Dissolve tab- Pulling on a strip allows the picture to dissolve and change. This is used in my book to change the scene outside the window between day and night.

Open topped shape with lattice work- The box is an open topped square and there is some lattice work inside which prop up the flowers.

This post is just an introduction to the upcoming tutorials of making this book. This tutorial series will perhaps remain a blog post rather than a video.

Stay tuned everyone! I will be back soon.