Velorum Publishing: Room 8 Studio Artists Achievements Beyond The Studio Walls
Room 8 Studio artists are talented in every way! Even the hard and dedicated work in the studio doesn’t stop them – they take their skills, passion, and creativity to the next level with great personal projects. Artem Shapoval, our Project Lead Character Concept Artist, teamed up with friends and founded the local Ukrainian publishing house, Velorum Publishing. Today, we’re going to shed some light on this fantastic project!
The initial idea came up in the summer of 2021 when a group of friends got together to discuss the process of printing books, bringing back the classics, and how they could redesign them. Their team included Kateryna Shedel as the CEO, Artem Shapoval handling illustrations and communications, Ksenia Demchenko taking illustrations, communication, and promotion, and other advisors and team members.
Velorum Publishing’s format is a small crew, clear direction, and painstaking work on each book they want to print. Inspired by indie projects such as Folio Society, Haus Nostromo, Punkt Publishing, and Publisher Oleksandr Savchuk, the team focuses on aesthetic books and products by Ukrainian classical and contemporary authors and artists. This approach reduces the risks and helps them to stay in touch with their audience.
“In our products, we seek a balance between beautiful look, simple functionality, and authenticity. Also, the print quality, the materials we pick, and the design details matter a lot, and a mix of all these things creates an amazing customer experience.” – says Kateryna.
Velorum Publishing’s debut book is “The Worldview of the Ukrainian People” by Ivan Nechui-Levytsky, available for pre-order. However, the first release only fueled the team’s motivation to keep going and find more exciting texts that needed a modern makeover.
