Print and fish are two words which best describe Josh (below is even another of his recent fish book projects). Growing up in the country with the River Avon and Stonehenge at his doorstep, Josh had a natural penchant for freshwater wildlife and their significance to us throughout human history. Where freshwater wildlife was out of sight, out of mind for some, Josh was captivated by its mystery; every body of water was teeming with life and so few stopped to notice.
Josh discovered with mystery, misinformation is just a short jump away, and with wildlife so easily forgotten, freshwater fauna is increasingly vulnerable. Graduating from the Falmouth School of Communication Design, he was able to apply his skills as a designer with his love of science communication to create exciting and educational media with the goal of informing both young and old about the natural world around them.
He started his career as an editorial designer for Life magazine, moving on to be the Art Director by his second year. During his time there, Josh wrote a number of articles on ancient fishes for the magazine, and created the popular misinformation-themed pocket book Stop Believing in Bullsh*t. Now Head of Book Design at TLC Creative, Josh has worked for clients such as British Museum, Tate Etc., Formula 1 and Art Review, and is now working on the Handbook series covering aquarium fishes plagued with misinformation—starting with The Bichir Handbook.
Josh is a frequent contributor to wildlife publications, having articles, photos and reviews published in magazines such as Amazonas, Life, Pets 宠物情缘, Practical Fishkeeping, 'fish' and DATZ, with a review also appearing in the Journal of Fish Biology.
Ivan Mikolji is a legendary river explorer, film-maker and artist. He has spent hundreds of hours underwater photographing over 150 species for the first in his series of books. I approached the design of this publication like it was a gallery; every photograph treated like a delicate painting.
Like with The Bichir Handbook, this book too was recgonised in the top 20 'Best ever fish books' by Practical Fishkeeping Magazine (March 2021), commended for everything from design to photography!
Ivan has collaborated with Fishbase for distribution data and dozens of ichthyologists including scientific revision by Donald Taphorn - Fishkeeping News
View these species when they are in their natural habitats including GPS locations, pH, interesting anecdotes and observations of the fish behaviour in the wild, and other species which share their biotopes.
The Bichir Handbook © 2020, 2021, 2022
Print run #3 is shipping now
Please be aware, postage prices have seen an inflation due to the pandemic. To help with this, we have aimed to keep the book price low. If shipping is too much, we may have retailers selling copies in your country on the 'Other Sellers' page.