Imagine the thrill of a picture flipbook fused with the timeless majesty of a carnival carousel. Now add a dash of the ethereal look of a shadow puppet show. Now hang it from the ceiling and watch it spin in midair.
The 360 Collection is the artist Yusuke Oono’s debut design for Artecnica, the eco-responsible Los Angeles-based design outfit. Germany-born, Japan-based Oono first created the laser-printed 3-D booklets for last year’s holiday season and has now adapted the twirling snowflakes and snowmen into three different storybook scenes. In Deep Jungle, the animals saunter through the rainforest canopy; Sweet Home depicts a house with kids dashing around the yard; In a Cheese shows–what else?–a Ratatouille-like mouse nibbling on Swiss.
Beyond the (design-precocious) nursery, Oono envisions his booklets as savvy marketing props for brands or stores. In keeping with Artecnica’s mission to foster green design, the paper books are flat-packed for more efficient shipping. Oono’s laser-cutting technique means he created the 360 line to be not only easily transported but easily manufactured as well. “You can simply customize the story without spending a fortune,” he told Artecnica in a statement. “I call this mass-customization against mass-production.”
The Deep Jungle light will cost $114; Sweet Home and In a Cheese booklets, $32 apiece. The 360 Collection will be available for purchase through Artecnica in October.
