The TRIAD pop-up book is the third pop-up book title engineered by Rosston Meyer and published by Poposition Press. We have already seen the work of Manga artist Junko Mizuno in the previous Poposition publication The Pop-Up Art Book. This cooperation led to the idea to make a pop-up book completely dedicated to Junko Mizuno’s art. In this review we will take a closer look at this brand new and surprising pop-up title in the category Art. We also had the honor to interview Junko and Rosston about their collaboration for the TRIAD pop-up book.
Let us first introduce to you, the main characters of this book! Meet the Nurse, the Wrestler and the Witch, Junko’s three favorite characters who played the lead role in her TRIAD show at the Cotton Candy Machine exhibition. Fun fact: the Cotton Candy Machine Art Boutique is run by Tara McPherson and Sean Leonard. Tara is the artist who designed the Water Nebula spread in Poposition’s The Pop-Up Art Book. The Nurse, the Witch and the Wrestler are represented on each pop-up spread and there’s also a framed collage in the center of the book that contains a single pop-up of the each character.
The TRIAD pop-up book is a great example of how powerful art as a pop-up subject can be. The effect is beautiful when all the layers of an illustration come to life and pop-out of a page. The process of making such a pop-up book is a close collaboration between artist and paper engineer. Every piece of artwork has to be extracted from the original artwork and new artwork has to be created to fill up the blanks and overlaps in the pop-up. First impressions and more about this on our TRIAD release special.
The Standard Edition of TRIAD contains five pop-up spreads named Ocean, Serpent, Triptych, Mansion and Tree. There’s also a Special Edition available that contains a sixth pop-up named Ink Triptych. You can check out prices, info about goodies, specials and how to order this book at www.triadpopup.com.
The quality of this book is great and the pop-ups feel very strong and solid. It’s not just the use of heavy paper and the nice quality of printing that give this book a very collectable appearance. Because of the artwork and way of presenting it, this book looks more like an art portfolio than a comic book.
Artwork
Junko Mizuno’s artwork is like a genre on its own. Her style could be described as “Kawaii Noir” but that’s just a label that doesn’t seem to stick. Over the years she developed a style and way of storytelling that is typical Junko’s. The characters seem innocent at first sight but if you look closer you’ll find a surprising mix of horror, erotica and humor. It’s hard to unravel the meaning of her artwork but it is certainly fascinating to study every detail. There’s a lot happening on every illustrations and together with the pop-ups, the artwork comes to life and creates a bizarre 3D world of organic patterns, detailed cut-outs and washed out colors.
Paper engineering
The paper engineering in TRIAD is more advanced then we’ve seen in previous Poposition Press publications. It contains more detailed cut-outs, layered scenes, movables and paper animation. You will also find surprises like pull-tabs and a tiny lift-the-flap toilet pop-up. All of this makes it extra fun and interactive to explore the world of Junko’s characters. Most pop-up spreads are big and impressive to open up because of all the motion that is going on.
Rosston Meyer:
“The challenge of transforming Junko’s very highly detailed artwork into pop-up spreads is part of what made this project so interesting”
Read the full interview with Rosston and Junko…
The Ocean spread contains a huge rotating pop-up that swirls out of the book. The 15 inch tall tower of the Serpent spread pops-out like a totem of stacked characters, supported by a decorated lever. It rises up in one solid motion and folds in with ease. The Mansion pop-up is more like a dollhouse of paper and shows a scene of multiple chambers which contain lot’s of details and layers. The Tree spread, engineered by Simon Arizpe, contains two large V-folds that work together to create a moving scene of the Witch. On this spread you’ll also find a lot of details like an infusion of yarn and hidden artwork behind closing parts of the pop-up.
Poposition Press
It all started when Rosston Meyer contacted comic book artist Jim Mahfood about his outdated website and offered him to make a better one. Rosston, who’s day job is Web Designer, later introduced the possibilities of pop-ups and paper engineering and started to create concepts of Jim’s artwork. Jim Mahfood was convinced and this was the beginning of the Pop-Up Funk book. Poposition Press was born and Rosston started to publish exclusive independent pop-up titles and commercial work like promotional pop-ups.
This newest release of Poposition Press is a must have for fans of Junko Mizuno’s art and pop-up book collectors. TRIAD definitely raises the bar for the category of pop-up art books. It’s the beautiful result of a close collaboration between artist and paper engineer, a true pop-up collectible!
Triad is available in two editions: a Standard Edition with five pop up spreads, and a 6 spreads Special Edition, limited to only 100 copies and is signed and numbered by Junko Mizuno.
Click here to order Junko Mizuno’s TRIAD Pop-Up Book
Artwork: Junko Mizuno
Book design & paper engineering: Rosston Meyer
Paper engineering on ‘Tree’: Simon Arizpe
Published by Poposition Press
8.1
Collectible!
Our review
This wonderful TRIAD Pop-Up Book by Junko Mizuno definitely raises the bar for the category of pop-up art books.
