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# New Aesthetic Watch: 8-Bit Pop-up Cards
- URL: https://hyperallergic.com/8-bit-pop-up-cards/
- Published: 2012-05-28T19:51:23.000Z
- Updated: 2025-11-24T16:46:04.000Z
- Description: LOS ANGELES — Open source cards that bring a bit of the virtual to the real world.
- Author: AX Mina
- Tags: Opinion, The New Aesthetic, #wp, #wp-post, #image-position-hidden, #Import 2025-11-24 06:51 (2012, 2013, part 1)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2012/05/8-bit-2.jpg)

(image via www.minieco.co.uk/8-bit-popup-cards)

LOS ANGELES — One of my favorite music videos of all time is Röyksopp’s “[Happy Up Here](http://youtu.be/51Bpx63wkbA?ref=hyperallergic.com),” featuring a bevy of space invader creatures attacking a real-world city. They glow and pulsate, and while it’s strangely incongruous to see two dimensional creatures doing damage to a three dimensional space, the results are incredibly addictive to watch.

A [new post](http://designtaxi.com/news/352529/How-To-Make-8-bit-Popup-Cards/?ref=hyperallergic.com) from Design Taxi tipped me off to [pop-up card designs by Kate Lilley](http://www.minieco.co.uk/8-bit-popup-cards/?ref=hyperallergic.com). These 8-bit cards feature a skull and a space invader and will require a bit of work — colored paper, an X-acto knife and a steady hand are essential. But when you put them together, you’ll get fantastic 8-bit shapes that look a little like the Röyksopp video come to life (albeit on a smaller scale).

What’s cool about these cards is that they’re essentially open source. You can download the templates for free online, which means you can remix them, too, and try your own shapes and creatures or simply mix it up with larger paper and different colors. I could see someone creating an actual space invaders installation designed to look like the original game.

Is it New Aesthetic, or just nostalgia? I remember seeing [street artist Invader’s work](http://www.space-invaders.com/artworks.html?ref=hyperallergic.com) in different parts of LA, long before the New Aesthetic debate began, and I kept thinking, wow, wouldn’t it be cool if those things came to life?