Bruce Foster (’76) is a paper engineer
Pop-Ups and Meltdowns
Bruce Foster loves to watch Kate Moss’s eyes roll back in her head. Foster hasn’t been partying with the supermodel – he crafted pop-up versions of Moss and other stars for the new Pop-Up Book of Celebrity Meltdowns.
Foster (’76) is one of the very few paper engineers in the United States. And he wants you to know pop-up books aren’t just for children. In fact, Celebrity Meltdowns has some decidedly adult content such as Janet Jackson’s infamous wardrobe malfunction.
Foster says Celebrity Meltdowns was much different from his previous work, which included a Charlie Brown pop-up book.
“This was the most collaborative book I’ve ever worked on,” he says. “Usually a book starts with a manuscript. This one actually ended with one. I never saw the text until the last few days of production.” The publisher, Charles Melcher, and the editor and illustrators discussed the contents via conference call, Foster says.
“We all had strong ideas about what was funny, appropriate, and relevant. The list started with Janet Jackson and Mike Tyson [biting Evander Holyfield’s ear] and grew from there.”
How does one become a paper engineer? Foster, who lives in Houston, began by studying graphic design and fine arts at UT, then worked as a graphic designer. He learned the art of paper engineering by taking pop-up books apart. Pop-ups are now his full-time job: “This has only been for about a year and a half. Most of my pop-up career [which began in 1989], I have created pops on my own time while juggling a graphic design career.”
His UT training presaged his eventual move to 3-D art.
Bruce at work on a pop-up village
“My major influence as an undergraduate was Walter [Holly] Stevens. He was like a father figure to me, although we did butt heads a little as I was always trying to make my paintings three dimensional. In grad school, I majored in painting, but they were very sculptural, more like assemblages that used paint as one element.”
He says the pop-ups in Celebrity Meltdowns required lots of time and attention.
“They were all challenging, but I have two favorites: Kate Moss’s eyes rolling back in her head [Moss allegedly used cocaine] and Hugh Grant [caught with a lady of the evening]. The pull tab is very complex, making the head bounce twice with one pull of the tab.”
Foster’s pop-up future looks bright – and busy. He has designed a holiday book for next Christmas and has two children’s book in process for Random House. Also on his plate are books of Hindu altars, architectural wonders of the world, and a series of pop-up adaptations of comic books.
Foster also is designing the opening sequence for a new Disney movie, Enchanted.
“The movie will open with a fairy tale book, much like the Shrek movies, but in this case it will be a pop-up book. I’ve designed two scenes to pop-up, and we are thinking about adding a third. Once the designs are approved, Disney artists will recreate my pops via computer generated animation.”
Success has its price though.
“Unfortunately I had to decline an invitation to do a sequel to Celebrity Meltdowns due to all these previous commitments,” Foster says.
