The Mediaeval Nativity

Ron van der Meer was the first paper engineer to insist that adults could be as fascinated by pop-up books as children. Consequently, his books on specialist subjects such as architecture, music and psychology have been international best-sellers and are collected by fans throughout the world. As well as bringing the thrills of pop-ups to adults, his ingenious mechanics show graphic designers the full potential of paper engineering. A flat page of a seemingly normal book can be lifted and turned to reveal the three dimensions of a sailing ship, an orchestra, a volcano or the Sydney Opera House.

Van der Meer's background is in graphic design. At college in the early 1970s he found himself veering towards animation, and specialized in the three-dimensional application of toys.He was very much into fiddling and cutting and making things up. In 1978 his life was changed by a small book a friend had brought over from California. Created by Ib Penick, this children¿s pop-up book was simple by today¿s standards, but at the time such a three-dimensional application to paper had never been seen by many people, including van der Meer. He became hooked.

Van der Meer approached UK publishers Hamish Hamilton with his own idea for a book. Van der Meer visited Intervisual Publishers in Los Angeles and they took on his idea for Monster Island, a book that ended up selling 300,000 copies and is still selling today.

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