Utrecht studio Today Designers are more than happy to admit that their latest publication stinks. Using squid ink sourced at a fish auction in Scheveningen on the Dutch coast, the studio have printed Naar Inkt Vissen (Fishing for Ink), a 48-page collection of sailors' tales, accompanied by illustrations.
The one and a half litres of discharge collected was enough to print 1,000 books, and more than adequate to imbue an initial edition of 700 with a penetratingly fishy smell, providing a unique sensory experience for readers. Writers Menno Smit and Edwin de Voigt began by dipping pens into the ink - the darkest pigment found in the ocean - before the publication was printed and bound with fishing wire, embodying the hardiness of the seafarers it expounds on within.
The book is the latest addition to a growing print movement where publishers seek to embody the physicality of a reader's immediate environment or movement within their printed matter. It also proves that reading can be just as sensory an experience as digital entertainment.
Naar Inkt Vissen is available to purchase from Today Designers' website.