This cool pop-up book made by a Pinay received a special citation from The Movable Book Society

The smartphone may be ubiquitous, but books will always have that special charm.

Paper engineer Amy Nayve is using her creativity and skills to make the magnetism of the book even more tangible with an intricately designed pop-up book that's chock-full of things to pull, slide, twist, and turn — like a stress cube, but more visually arresting.

Amy's book, titled "Popfolio", was recognized this August by The Movable Book Society. It received an honorable mention for the 2018 Emerging Paper Engineer Prize.

"Popfolio" is a play on words on portfolio, which her book double as.

"My portfolio presented as an interactive pop-up book with flaps and pull tabs, featuring the best of my college projects. Each pop-up and movable was carefully designed to mimic how the real object works, and some are even actual sized," Amy explained in one of her posts. "There are clocks that move, a chair that rocks, a pop-up chessboard, bags that open and close, apps you can explore, and other wacky inventions brought to life with paper engineering!"

Amy made her first pop-up book when she was 9 years old, but her interest started long before that.

"When I was a kid my grandparents from both mother and father side showered me with books, toys, and art material," she told GMA News Online in an interview via Facebook messenger.

Her grandparents are quite supportive and it's something for which Amy is grateful. " My first pop up books came from them. I still have some of them in my collection today," she said.

Her parents are supportive as well and she would frequently craft with her mom. Amy shared that her mom taught her how to make her first simple pop-up card and she ended up giving the card as a thoughtful gift on Valentine's Day.

Now 22, she is the founder of Pumapapel Crafts, which promotes the pliant nature of paper — the things you can make with it is limited only by your imagination. 

Amy says that more than the possibilities of paper, she enjoys the design process more and how it engages the brain.

"Paper engineering engages both the left brain and the right brain, being the intersection of art and science," she said, "The art also exists in 2D and 3D simultaneously, and that really interests me. I'm amazed that a small flat card can reveal a three dimensional sculpture when opened."

Paper engineering, for Amy, is like a brain teaser. "It encourages analytical and spatial thinking, as you have to think of the way things fold up and open. For me personally, it's form of self expression and self challenge," she said.

In her hands, the pop-up is not a lost art and she's eager to share it with as many people as she can.

Amy is an industrial Design graduate from De La Salle - College of Saint Benilde and she dreams of becoming the first internationally recognized, award winning Filipino paper engineer. — Aya Tantiangco/LA, GMA News