Physics themed pop-up books using paper engineering to bring abstract physics concepts to life, striking a balance between scientific accuracy and visual appeal.
The Art of Optics: A Light Read and A Short Read were developed in the quest to create engaging educational material without sacrificing on visual appeal. The books are a two part pop-up book explaining the concept of light, how we see things and its properties as electromagnetic energy and the quantum nature of photons.
A Light Read focuses on the macro scale, how we interact with light on a day to day basis and the use and consequences of refraction of light.
A Short Read brings in the idea of light as electromagnetic energy, the emission spectrum, photons and the particle wave nature of photons.
Still images of spreads from A Light Read and A Short Read
Project Details
Individual
4 months (February 2024 - May 2024)
My Role
Content writing
Illustration
Graphic design (Text and Cover Layout)
Book binding
Paper engineering
Tools
Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Illustrator
UV Printing
Paper Engineering
Book Binding (Codex and Drum Leaf)
It started with glow-in-the-dark vinyl and expanded into light, electromagnetic energy and photons.
Inspiration strikes: Explaining phosphorescence of materials using glow in the dark vinyl.
During a Brown Design Worshop training session I learned about glow in the dark vinyl and my first thought was how it could be practical example of how excited atoms emit photons. This moment made the theme of light and photons the central idea of the pop-up spreads.
What can paper do: Understanding the potential of paper through Keli Anderson and Julie Chen’s work with pop-up books.
Book artist Keli Anderson’s pop-up book This Book is a Planetarium inspired other ways I could use paper and different 2D materials to showcase how light behaves. In addition to Keli Anderson’s work, I was also inspired by book artist Juli Chen who employs a variety of paper engineering techniques to talk about topics of identity and grief.
Creating an interactive museum experience within the pop-up book
Splitting content into two books, books need to be able to close…
I started with sketching out 16 double page spreads that tackled light as electromagnetic energy, the particle-wave duality and refraction of light. Making this book would result in one that would never completely close owing to the bulky pop-ups. So the content was split across two books: A Light Read and A Short Read.
Layout proposal sketch with spreads for both Light Read and Short Read as one BIG book
Creating the experience: Folding and engineering potential interactive explainers
I experimented with a variety of folds and materials to find the best ways to explain the ideas of refraction (bending of light) and the idea of photons existing at scale we cannot see but having real consequences. With each example I tried to ground it with phenomenon one would witness in daily life.
Folds for a pinhole camera, lens and box spreads in Light Read
Prism folds testing different materials to represent refraction of light
Prototype folds for electromagnetic spectrum spread in A Short Read
Dial prototype explaining photon release in an atom
Prototype accordion binding for both A Light Read and A Short Read
Pin hole camera prototype which spread didn’t make it in the final
If the experience was designed to be like a museum, I wanted to carry that theme in the design and layout of the pages.
Using layout styles inspired by museum exhibit design: Bold colors and explainer wall text
With the folds and text figured out, I started looking into colour and layout for the pages. I loved the idea of these books being a mini-museum for one experiences and when settling on the aesthetics went with one that you find in musuem gift shops. I laid emphasis on:
Bold colours
Short and simple text, similar to wall text
A composite of the pages and layout of A Light Read
A composite of the pages and layout of A Light Read
Truth is that books are judged by their covers: Designing an abstract cover that hinted at the content within
I wanted the two book covers to work independently as well as when placed side by side. It was a struggle to balance the abstraction while still maintaining the childlike approachability and intrigue. I kept going back and forth on two ideas.
The bright colors stand out however both covers run the risk of looking too similar. Although mirroring the sun and the atom was visually interesting the imagery lacked a real connection to the main themes of the two books which was refraction of light and photons
Final cover design using the abstract prism refraction design
Final cover design using the abstract electromagnetic spectrum
The quest for striking balance between scientifically accurate and visual appeal continues…
Reworking folds: The Art of Optics wrapped up nicely in terms of a semester-long independent study project but upon testing it was noted that some of the folds get stuck and need to be reworked for simplicity.
Redesign for Manufacturing: The books were made without taking into account manufacturing cost or assembly time on a large scale. The next version will include design changes that take into account multiple components, potential loss of loose items and assembly time for many small parts.
Improving contextual clarity: Some of the spreads can benefit from a glossary to add additional information about the concept being broken down.