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The Circulatory System A pop-up book about the continuous, closed network of vessels distributed throughout the body——transports oxygen and nutrients to cells via blood and red blood cells, and removes cellular waste through gas exchange.
It introduces the main organs and processes of the circulatory system, offering a deeper understanding of what happens during circulation through interactive pull-tabs and pop-up mechanisms.
21 x 22 inch, Procreate, 2024.12




Inspiration


This is an artist’s book project created during the first semester of my first year. It may look like a regular book, but it actually incorporates various interactive mechanisms. The inspiration came from the biology knowledge I once studied: blood flows from the heart to the lungs for gas exchange, then returns to the heart before circulating throughout the body. I find this closed-loop process, which can repeat infinitely, both playful and educational, so I decided to bring it to life through this project.

First, there is a simple introduction to the circulatory system, along with a description of its key organs—the heart and the lungs. I created two versions of the illustrations: one shows the external structure, while the other reveals the internal anatomy, clearly displaying the heart’s atria and ventricles, as well as the alveoli in the lungs.



The most challenging part of the process was figuring out how to make the circulation work. To ensure the loop was complete and continuous, I first calculated the total dimensions I would need and used a large canvas to draw the entire system as one connected piece. After that, I broke it down into detailed sections. The process can be divided into the following main steps:

1.    Deoxygenated blood in the body flows back to the right atrium through the superior and inferior vena cava.
2.    The right atrium contracts and pumps the blood into the right ventricle.
3.    The blood is then sent to the lungs via the pulmonary artery, where gas exchange takes place—carbon dioxide is released, and oxygen and nutrients are absorbed. The deoxygenated blood becomes oxygenated.
4.    The oxygenated blood flows into the left atrium through the pulmonary veins.
5.    The left atrium contracts and pumps the blood into the left ventricle.
6.    The blood is then pumped to the rest of the body through the aorta.
7.    As the blood vessels branch out farther from the aorta, they become narrower and narrower until they become capillaries, which are so small that only a single blood cell can pass through at a time.
8.    In the capillaries, gas exchange occurs: oxygenated blood delivers oxygen and nutrients to the body’s cells and collects the waste products they produce, turning back into deoxygenated blood.
9.    The deoxygenated blood then flows through the veins, converging into the superior and inferior vena cava, returning to the heart to begin the next cycle.

I added interactive mechanisms at the heart and gas exchange areas, along with explanatory text. By pulling the tabs, viewers can explore the circulatory system in more detail and better understand how it works.


Sketches


Since the mechanisms are double-layered, I needed to separate the images and text into upper and lower layers before assembling the physical version. This made it easier to print and later piece everything together.


For example, the different images shown in the same position—like in the picture—are designed to change with interaction. On the outer page, I drew frames that precisely fit these changing elements. After printing and cutting them out, I inserted the inner layers into the outer page, making it possible to assemble the content as a pop-up book.

Final work





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