Nyctous Acrylic Tunnel Book Design

My final design project for this course started with exclusively aesthetic ideas. In the happenstance of exploration, I accumulated a vision of dreamy late nights, atmospheric urban environments, vibrant color, and ambient solitude. The following five photographs captured by my father served as a primary reference to encapsulate this aesthetic and provide inspiration.

Nighttime urban photos emphasizing atmosphere that were used as reference

To make a note on the vibrant color criterion, color seems most dominant in the first photo with autumnal tree leaves and christmas lights. However, the presence of color is also impactful in small quantities throughout the other images, as with the glare of stop lights, the soft yellow of office building windows, or the underlit green of trees shown here. A related element that also makes itself apparent in these photographs is lighting, which accentuates other features within a scene as much as it is a feature itself. The subtler lighting of a star filled dark backdrop is an element I found myself especially drawn to, most prominent in the last photo.

The word nyctous that I chose to describe this aesthetic comes invented by the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows. It defined as follows:

“adj. feeling quietly overjoyed to be the only one awake in the middle of the night—sitting alone with a laptop and a cup of tea or strolling down the center line of an abandoned street—taking in the world like an empty theater between productions, stripped down to a simple black box, open to be whatever you want it to be.” [1]

When I found the word nyctous, I really enjoyed this definition and felt it fit my aesthetic well. I especially resonated with the presence of joy and a metaphorical empty stage as an instigation for imagination or inspiration. Solitude is present in the definition, but it is not lonely, merely contemplative.

Once immersed in the ambiance of this aesthetic, I explored numerous potential artifacts I could create within it. I eventually came upon the idea of a tunnel book, where a series of layered pages creates a 3D depiction of a scene without the visual constraints of 3D objects. Here as an example of a tunnel book from 1740, where separate illustrated panels depict a garden scene when viewed on end.

1740 tunnel book from the Smithsonian [2]

Looking to fit my nyctous aesthetic and use more engineering materials, I settled on a final project idea of laser cutter raster etched silhouettes on acrylic panels arranged into a tunnel book. I would add dynamic LED lights between the layers like present in a nighttime scene and situate a black sheet with holes at the very back to act as stars.

Acrylic tunnel book concept sketch

With this concept, I also envisioned to vary the silhouettes on each panel from more realistic to more abstract as needed to achieve a nyctous atmosphere. There are not really abstract elements in the reference photos above, but the vibe of nighttime fog, blurry camera focus, and a dreamy mindset played into my desire to incorporate abstract elements into the piece. The choice to portray all shapes in the piece as silhouettes was more a constraint from the medium of laser cut acrylic, but solid silhouette outlines played into my aesthetic vision in a similar way to the abstract shapes.

After doing some testing of the fabrication quality and capabilities, I performed the below ideation sketches. I took inspiration from the reference photographs, some elements included on the fabrication test, and some ideas from my peers in class. I dedicated six of the thumbnail sketches on the bottom to various abstract shapes.

Silhouette scene content ideation sketches

The inspirations from these sketches should be readily apparent in the final designs in CorelDraw shown below. The three contexts for abstract shapes that I mentioned—nighttime fog, blurry camera focus, and a dreamy mindset—also all get less realistic with depth, so it felt appropriate to increase the abstractness with each successive pane. The locations for LEDs were thought through prior as the streetlamp, stop light, tree illuminated by the streetlamp, building windows, and however I wanted with the abstract shapes.

Final cut layout in CorelDraw

Where the silhouette shapes were heavily brainstormed, refined, and planned in detail, the LED lighting and backdrop stars came out successfully as I had ideated them on the first try. The complete assembled layout is shown below. Adhering LEDs behind the frosted acrylic created a localized illumination diffused slightly by the acrylic. While not all LEDs could perfectly mimic the illumination characteristics of the light source they were emulating, The LEDs absolutely succeeded in creating a dreamy colorful atmosphere. Cutting holes in dark paper also worked effectively in creating a backdrop of stars. The quantity of stars included is likely unrealistic to the amount of light pollution present in cities, but that could be seen as adding intrigue and some dream-like unreality into the composition.

Nyctous tunnel book complete arrangement of acrylic panels with attached LEDs.

The programming sequence of the LEDs was also done with the aesthetic in mind. All of the output pin channels on the arduino microcontroller were used to create as much lighting timing variation as possible. This allowed the LED pattern to look more fresh and fluid, emphasizing ambiguity and individual experience over regimented structure. It was also an intentional decision for the LED sequences to use subtler changes to reflect a calmer feeling in the scene. The least noticeable of these is the white light of the streetlamp, which fades slightly from a white light to a more yellow light and back. A video recording of the tunnel book in operation follows.

To me, everything in the design creates the effects as intended, but I was surprised by several additional effects that arise within the piece. The LED on the first panel transmitted light through its pane more than expected to spill light onto the grass, the different colors of the multicolor LED used on the stars show up noticeably unblended in places, and reflections appear on the clear sections of acrylic when they wouldn’t on a traditional cut-out tunnel book. One reflection effect that I’ll particularly note is the Pepper’s ghost Illusion of the first pane’s grass. When examined closely, the grass from the first pane appears layered onto the buildings in the third pane, but this illusory grass is actually a reflection in the second pane where the stoplight is. It is a Pepper’s ghost illusion that makes it look transposed in 3D space instead, as shown below.

Closeup of the tunnel book in operation. Note the illusory grass layered on the buildings.

Overall, I am quite pleased with how my design came out. These secondary effects don’t significantly detract from the scene, and I would investigate how to deliberately their interesting qualities if I were to work on this project again. I have really enjoyed learning to use laser cutters and illuminated acrylic, and hope I can find use for that experience in future projects. It is the nyctous aesthetic that will stick with me the most though, along with a strong desire to cultivate the aesthetics of any future project.

References:
[1] “Nyctous – The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows.” Accessed: Mar. 29, 2025. [Online]. Available: https://www.thedictionaryofobscuresorrows.com/word/nyctous
[2] S. I. Libraries, Tunnel Book, Martin Engelbrecht. 2010. Accessed: Mar. 29, 2025. [Photo]. Available: https://www.flickr.com/photos/smithsonianlibraries/4554834794/
[2] S. I. Libraries, Tunnel Book, Martin Engelbrecht. 2010. Accessed: Mar. 29, 2025. [Photo]. Available: https://www.flickr.com/photos/smithsonianlibraries/4554202783/
[2] M. Engelbrecht, J. Wachsmuth, and D. Nessenthaler, Garden scene with dancers, to be used as the set for a miniature theater. Augsburg: Martin Engelbrecht, 1740.