The deck and book are designed and written by Alexandr Ukolov and Karen Mahony. Costumes are by Anna Hakkarainen.

Alex and Karen run a small design studio - "baba studio" in the old centre of Prague,Czech Republic, in the Mala Strana (Little Quarter) district. The studio is very focused stylistically on Magic Realism,  and philosophically on the production of fantastic and bizarre work  that is at the same time socially aware and inclusive. We hope that all our work encourages not only the imagination, but also tolerance and empathy. Baba studio's work has recently featured in many design magazines including UK's Eye and Design Week, US Print and France's Creation..Our work can also be seen in Fundamentals of Creative Design, a recent book Thames and Hudson book by Gavin Ambrose.Click to see a map of baba studio

Alex is from the Crimea. He did thirteen years of madly rigorous Russian training in art and design resulting in a degree from Kharkov Academy of Design and Arts in the Ukraine. He is particularly interested in the history of both technique and style in design and illustration, especially that of Russian artists and designers.

Karen is Irish, but lived in London for many years, running a web and multimedia design company. You can read one of her commentaries on that time here. She has an MA from the Royal College of Art in London, and has taught and acted as external examiner at several leading London art colleges. She has published many articles about design, with a particular interest in women's issues and also on the effects of the dotcom era on design culture.

Anna is Finnish, and studied textile-design at the Academy of Design in Kuopio and Institute of Design in Lahti in Finland. Recently she has worked as a textile designer and teacher in her native Finland. She has also done post-graduate work at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague. Her own embroideries feature tiny figures in a variety of droll or poignant situations.