Case Studies

Number 1: Tankstelle Fröhlich by Carlsen Verlag

In this case study I will be looking at a pop-up book called Tankstelle Fröhlich which translates as Cheerful Service Station. It was written and created by Carlsen Verlag in 1977. As you can probably tell by the title the book opens out into a service station which contains various vehicles figures and tools/workstations etc. for the reader to act out their own scenes as they read the story written across the floors of each garage. It is clear almost as soon as you pick the book up that the main theme is car or motoring related, especially if you can read in german. As you look through the book you can also see clearly that it was produced around the 70’s primarily because of the style of vehicles in the garage. There is a very old car which was obviously a classic even back then but the cars which are meant to be the latest ones at the time look dated if you look at the book today. There are also other little giveaways like the moustaches and haircuts of the garage workers, the number plate on the lorry is black too which is definitely old as modern number plates are all white on the front of vehicles.

There is no significant links to any other works, all that I can say is that it looks like many other childrens pop-out books and playsets from around that era in terms of the warm friendly colours and simple drawing style used. These have been used because the book is made to appeal to children so it has to be instantly interesting to look at or else a child will soon lose interest if it even notices the book at all. But at the same time the colours can’t be too extreme else parents may be put off by an uninviting or gaudy colour scheme. I think that there is some sort of narrative due to the text written across the floors of the garage but the numbers and upside down writing underneath suggest that these could be questions and answers, but could just as easily be a way to keep things in chronological order. It is safe to say however that this is not your conventional book, or even a conventional pop-out book because it also doubles up as a free standing playset with separate features and figures. Or at least it wasn’t conventional for the time it was made. Main functions aside, the visual appearance of this work alone is quite similar to many other childrens books due to the previously mentioned colours and drawing styles, along with a very busy composition which would keep a child entertained for a good while as they come across all the intricate little details the book has to offer.

On the cover of the book the most dominant colour is yellow which again is very good for creating a friendly inviting look to a childrens book as it is such a positive colour with its connotations of happiness, imagination and curiosity. Inside is also very inviting but is predominantly red but only because two of the cars inside are completely red. Throughout the book the primary colours are the most widely used with different shades of each to create diversity and a bit more interest. Splashes of secondary colours are also used else the piece would be boring to look at but for a young child it is nice to use the primary colours as these are the ones a small child will be most familiar with seeing and naming. For example parents often say, “Oooh so what colour is that lorry Jack.” and because the lorry is a primary colour, blue, the child can simply reply, “Blue!”. So the colours here have not only been used decoratively but with the child’s early education in mind also.

This book obviously has very realistic depth and proportional qualities because of sections of it being three dimensional, there obviously has to be some depth shown in the artwork to a certain extent such as the engine bays of some cars and external doors of the garage. This has mainly been done using occlusion to save the piece being over complicated and enables it to more easily be put into production as a book for sale within retail or specialist bookstores. Verlag’s work holds together throughout quite literally which is down to some advanced paper and card folding and sticking techniques. But in a less literal sense the work also holds together very well. The drawing style is consistent and is very controlled, of course it is stylized to a certain extent but there is nothing too strong which could confuse a child. Everything is in proportion and drawn roughly to scale with everything coloured in within the lines with no overflow so not a lot has been left to chance, so it is clear that there would of been some design work behind this, especially where the pop-out features are concerned.

If I was going to make this book I would guess that there would of been a lot of planning involved in the early stages as to how all of the mechanisms would work and where to place all of the artwork on different parts to make it all it in as a single piece. The outlines would have then been drawn with what appears to be fineliner or some other sort of ink pen and the colour added by electronic screen printing. I believe this because of the uniform fill which is achieved and the machine like precision in the colouring of some of the more intricate aspects of the work. There is also little evidence of the hand which made it suggesting again to an electronic process and this also means that it could be easily put into production and repeated again and again in no time at all.

I was first drawn to this particular pop out book, one because of my enthusiasm for cars and motor vehicles but also by it’s impressive complexity as a pop-up book along with it’s link to my initial idea for my exam piece due to the cars and being set in a car factory. I think if i was to have a copy of Tankstelle Fröhlich in front of me I think it would definitely make me feel young again and even now I would be impressed and occupied for a good while with all the little features included, it’s that kind of thing that appeals to your inner child, or for me it is anyway. One of the only things I could safely say I dislike about this book is that it isn’t longer.

Number 2: Formula One Pack by Ron van der Meer

I bought a book called Formula One Pack, which is basically a pop out book for older children and adults alike that explores all of the different aspects of formula one. It has 3D sections, pop out sections, moving parts, flaps, pull out cards and also some sections which you need special glasses for to see two different pictures on the same image. So there’s certainly enough features to occupy you for a good couple of hours. I think the title of the book is pretty self explanatory as it is literally a pack full of formula one related stuff.

The dominant theme of this book is giving as much detail about every aspect of formula one as possible in a fun and interactive way, the visual aspects of the book are a mixture of photographs and electronic screen prints. It is influenced by the fact than van der Meer wanted to prove that pop out art can be enjoyed by adults as well as children so this piece features thousands of little details so that it can keep an adult interested, meaning that the book is a lot more complicated than most other pop up books. It is presented in much the same way as a lot of his other works, the only thing that changes from book to book is a different subject to be analysed in the same way, there are ones about music, cars, buildings, boats and even one about maths which all have the same physical dimensions and basic features as this one.

There is no narrative as such to this book except from in some of the history sections which depict specific events and tell the stories of what happened but other than that the book is strictly non-fictional and delivers stacks and stacks of information and facts. I think the very fact that this book is a pop out book aimed at adults makes it very unconventional not just in its complexity but in the whole way it has been put together to appeal to adults. The front cover is very basic and just gives you a brief idea of what is inside the book which is usually the opposite of what a front cover should be. There are no bright, attention grabbing colours or even a catchy title, because for adults I suppose the content of the book is more important and worth spending more money on rather than having a fancy front cover.

The colour palette of this book is very varied due to all the bright and vibrant colours involved in the liveries and advertising of motorsport but I would have to say that one colour which is clearly on every page is red. This will most probably be due to the strong connotations of this colour with sporty, fast cars, passion, courage and pride. All of which are the main aspects of formula one. The textures on the individual bits of paper and pages are pretty flat and smooth, there is not a lot which was left to change and everything is quite neat, organised and lifelike but there are some aspects which do feature things like ribbon for seatbelts or transparent plastic for windows. There is also a faint dotted pattern on the majority of the colour which does suggest to me that the use of electronic screen printing was present and the colour used is primarily for decoration but in some of the ‘x-ray’ sections it is used for function of the x-ray glasses.

Space and depth have obviously been represented in this work by paper folding techniques and also some layering and atmospheric perspective particularly in the crash scene. While this isn’t the most traditional way to create depth, it certainly works in creating very detailed scenes where you can really get a feel for what is going on, making the information in the book much easier to understand. The work physically holds together throughout using some paper joining methods along with the odd bits of glue and other folding and the style of work is consistent throughout with the main attraction of a particular page being in the centre and all little bits of information are dotted around this under and behind various different flaps and mechanisms. I have researched that van der Meer used coated ten point paper because it folded well to produce sharp edges and functioning pop outs which are strong and can refolded when turning pages for hundreds of times before even weakening.

This piece would have obviously had to be designed and then the graphics would be printed out onto the special paper, which would most probably then be assembled by hand and folded in all the correct places before adding all the little extras like fact cards and things to complete the book. This would easily take one person a day to complete hence the original price of twenty nine pounds ninety nine. I guess you could say that the paper folding is evidence of the hand that made this book because it is an amazing skill to be able to fold paper in such a way to produce three dimensional pictures.

I personally am a huge fan of this book and now of Ron van der Meer because it captures all the aspects of learning and reading books as a child but in a way which adults can enjoy, it really makes me feel young again to read this book and play with its many interactive elements and for me I cannot think of a better subject matter than formula one cars and motorsport which was one of the things which first attracted me to this book in particular.