Just when you think whimsy has all but disappeared from the paper realm, along comes something like “Smartbook”.
Created by game designer Marcel-André Casasola Merkle and designer Agnes Lison, this 4.6” x 6.8” German-language hardcover book gleefully replicates many of the basic functions of your iPhone – including a camera, email, contact database and more. Tear out a series of postcards, affix a stamp, and you can communicate with friends via “analog email.” Fold out a perforated flap on another page to create a sundial to tell the time – you get the idea.
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRCUm0JpgCc]
Though the German-language video that the authors created to promote it labels it an “iPhone 5 parody,” this is more like an activity book for adults, where a bit of glue and a pair of scissors allow you to:
- Build a paper camera
- Design an avatar by mixing and matching faces, clothes, etc.
- Play smartphone-like games, only with 3D game pieces.
We certainly wouldn’t mind finding a copy under the tree at PaperSpecs Towers this holiday season. Hmm, the U.S. Amazon has a few copies left….
