Free Mines Coal Faces, Nick Hodgson. VIKA

Duotone printing

The soul of black and white photography
Whitstable Biennale 2022 branding montage

Sue Jones: Whitstable Biennale

Brand design testimonial
This augmented reality (AR) combines smartphone technology and sign language to inspire families to use British Sign Language with their children. The app contains 20 FREE BSL videos of everyday signs, together with tips for Deaf and hearing families to play in sign language from the Deaf Studies Trust.

A Story of Augmenting Reality

BookMachine
In the Shadow, Leonie Hampton. VIKA

The Never-Ending Photostory

The Bookseller

Press-passing with VIKA

Printing beautiful books
VIKA Books presents Leonie Hampton's In the Shadow at The Performing Photobook at Format Festival 2023.

Design how to share your story, not just how to tell it

The Bookseller

‘Where is the Bird?’ book launch

The Watershed

Silent Stories

One Tech World Conference

Designing with purpose

The conceptual brand design journey
Environmental Considerations. Design VIKA are one of few designers to reverse engineer book design from the production line. Page size, pagination and realistic print runs optimise and reduce wastage (see opposite). The choice of inks used was also minimised. Photographs were printed as duotones, and colour was used sparingly to enhance the texture of the recycled papers. Printer Printed using vegetable inks at Taylor Brothers, a carbon balanced printers certified by both the FSC and the World Land Trust. Chosen for close proximity to VIKA negating international shipping, couriers, and press-passing. Paper Printed on Fedrigoni’s Recycled Materica Viva: FSC certified, ECF free, Acid free, Heavy metal absent, selected secondary fibres. Paper is further carbon balanced through The World Land Trust, an international conservation charity endorsed by Sir David Attenborough. Papers used are: Woodstock: a pulp coloured, recycled, uncoated paper with 80% recycled fibres and 20% ECF virgin fibres, FSC certified, smooth finishing. Symbol Freelife Matt: an environment-friendly ECF paper, FSC certified. High content of recycled material with a 40% minimum recycled guarantee. Triple blade coated on both sides with matt finish. This material was challenging to use with the ink denisities for such dark images. We found that the recycled fibres are shorter and flakier than pristine fibres, meaning that small white dots appeared in some books. To negate this, dots were hand spotted by the printer and the artist. Such imperfections are the cost of sustainable materials. We must stop holding recycled stocks to the same bar of quality as pristene materials. We must learn wabi sabi and embrace what these imperfections represent. Cloth Bound using Winter & Company’s Toile Ocean, the first book cover material made from recycled polyester yarn derived 100% from ocean bound plastic and coated with water-based acrylic. For every metre sold, 1% of turnover goes to clean water projects. This material was challenging to use as it does not adhere easily to recycled board. We are using the cloth’s reverse side as we wanted the bright red colour and so were not using it as designed. We needed to test several glues to get the fabric to adhere well. Foils The cover is blocked using Foilco vegan, recyclable biodegradeable, compostable foils supported by the Zero Foil 2 Landfill scheme.

Sustainable publishing

A new Gold Standard
The Silent Land, Jesse Alexander. VIKA

The Silent Land: A Case Study

Sustainable Photobook Publishing Network
F1 Retro 1970, Mark Hughes.

Mark Hughes: F1 Retro

Book design testimonial
Baby BSL Where is the Bird? The first Augmented Reality book to inspire the use of British Sign Language in Deaf and Hearing Families.

Books inspiring children to play in sign language

Innovate UK South West
Where is the Bird? Bath Book

How D&AD is helping toddlers communicate

D&AD Future Impact
Where is the Bird? at Bristol Technology Festival

Connected Books

Revolutionizing Reading with Technology
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A free VIKA Book of Books

We have FREE exquisitely manufactured, hand-stitched and lithographically printed, Book of Books for potential future clients to experience the production quality of VIKA books.