This comprehensive guide to pop-up design and paper mechanics is a delightful introduction to the fun, surprising and intriguing aspects of a fascinating craft. Duncan Birmingham’s accessible approach to pop-up theory and practice distils the numerous mechanisms into a logical set of 18 underlying shapes and the techniques for building these shapes is methodically explained with step-by-step pictures and text.

Pop-up is shown to be a hands-on, sculptural skill, that is not dependent on mathematical calculation, measuring and technical drawing, indeed no measuring is necessary for most of the pop-ups and only card, scissors and glue are needed to make many highly complex folding sculptures. Duncan demonstrates how sophisticated pop-up designs are constructed and shows how to form a three-dimensional reference book, invaluable for both professional and amateur designers interested in this craft.

This is a book that will appeal to craft/hobby enthusiasts who make their own greeting cards, but is also a useful aid to teachers of Art, Design and Technology, designers, illustrators and sculptors.

Duncan Birmingham has been teaching the intriguing art of pop-up art at university level in the UK for more than 20 years. He is the author of several pop-up books and his Pop-Up! A Manual of Paper Mechanisms was praised by one of the UK’s top paper engineers as ‘The most thorough book to date on the subject’.