We create for curious minds
Hungry Minds is an independent creative studio and publishing house. We’re artists, writers, illustrators, editors and other creative minds from all over the world, brought together by curiosity and love for knowledge and beautiful things.
What we create
Sharp ideas that blend illustration narrative and design into collectible artistic pieces, including carefully crafted books, puzzles and other art objects.
The numbers behind the story
The numbersbehindthe story
hands
reached
Kickstarter & Indiegogo
People behind the book
The Book was brought to life through collaboration between artists, illustrators, writers, researchers, and creative minds from around the world. Each brought their own expertise and perspective to the project, shaping its stories, illustrations, and ideas.
Creators
Vsevolod Batishchev
Creator
Curious about the world around him since childhood, Vsevolod has spent his career launching projects where technology meets emotion. He has lived in several countries over the years, taken part in numerous art projects, and built escape rooms across the globe. Then, during the 2020 pandemic, he brought together experts from around the world to begin work on a book that connects fields as far apart as mechanics and agriculture, art and culture, and everything else his curiosity could reach.
Timur Kadyrov
Creator
Timur travels a lot around the world and has been to Burning Man many times, created art for the festival, and now actively participates in the development of the Burner community. He’s also a serial entrepreneur, and his projects are a way for him to interact with the world and with himself. He’s convinced that people can and should be able to make a living through self-expression, art and creation.
Experts
Lewis Dartnell
Scientific and Technical Expert
Another powerful scientific mind supporting The Book stories. Researcher at the University of Westminster, London, and an award-winning science writer.
Boris Ryabov
Advisor
Co-founder of Steamology, steam healer and educator, VC and entrepreneur, father of 4 children. His passion lies in bridging tradition and contemporary through social art.
Margarita Fedorova
Human and Social Expert
Journalist, screenwriter, author of multimedia special projects, expert on topics of social aspects and self-development.
Sergey Adonin
Scientific expert
Scientific expert, leading researcher at the Institute of Inorganic Chemistry.
Aleksey Payevskiy
Medical and chemical expert
Medical and chemical expert, science journalist, lecturer, popularizer of science, board member of the Chemical Society of Mendeleev.
Bogdan Kravtsov
Secret adviser
Bogdan is an artist and a thinker of the 20th–21st centuries. He runs an art project, produces music and helps businesses to make decisions. And also he loves to invent games, puzzles and quests.
Illustrators
Lev Kaplan
Art Director
Lev is a master of beautiful illustrations and head of The Book's team of illustrators and designers. He studied architecture, but worked in advertising for 25 years while always continuing to evolve as an artist, both in the fields of children's book illustration and commercial illustration as well as motion graphics and graphic design. Today he works as an artist and illustrator. He also teaches illustration and watercolour painting at the Kunstfabrik Art School in Vienna.
Oksana Alexeevskaya
Illustrator
Oksana is a passionate artist focused on art and storytelling. Her work encompasses illustrations for product design, city view postcards, portraits, and intricate family tree compositions. Her creativity is evident in every project she undertakes.
Tatyana Konokhova
Illustrator
Tatyana is a versatile artist and illustrator known for her work with oil paints, ink, and watercolor. She's created illustrations for Tarot cards, books, album covers, and more. Her art explores themes of philosophy, psychology, mysticism, and beauty. She is also a composer and pianist.
Irina Vinnik
Illustrator
Irina, originally aspiring to be a botanist, discovered her talent for digital drawing. Her style combines old master techniques, heraldic design, and intricate ornamentation. She values the beauty in every detail and works with paper, ink, and watercolor to create her art.
Marina Rudko
Illustrator
Marina is a successful creative professional known for her work in book illustration, textile design, and game design. She teaches vector graphics at Fungi Studio and is a proud mother.
Gleb Konsulov
Illustrator
Gleb is an architect, a graphic artist, a book illustrator, a concept artist and a designer. He’s also a member of the National Union of Architects.
Olga Khodchenko
Illustrator
Since childhood, Olga has been surrounded by creativity, charming pictures of grandparents in various museums of her hometown of Kiev, sculptures of her great-grandfather, the smell of oil and turpentine. She graduated from two art schools and has a complete art education.
Marina Kupkina
Illustrator
Marina is a graphic artist, scientist and art teacher. She works with illustrations for private collector’s editions, participates in exhibitions, competitions, congresses of printing graphics and possesses many international awards in the professional field.
Yaroslava Bogorodskaya
Illustrator
Yaroslava is an illustrator with a unique style and background in energetic design. She has illustrated 2 books and actively collaborates with the Alien Ugo community, creating posters for events, album covers, and collaborating with musicians. Her designs are also featured in the decorations of the Mangup Tales Festival.
Sergey Vorobyev
Illustrator
Sergey is a foundry engineer and independent artist. Moreover, he is a packaging designer, a shoe designer, a creator of socially oriented cartoons for children, a game designer, a jewelry artist, an architect and actor, a historical reenactor, an illustrator of children's books and an animator.
Viktor Zaburdaev
Layout Designer
Viktor is an art director of our board games publishing company Cosmodrome Games who designs all the spreadsheets of our book. He says he’s always trying to find balance between his love of triathlons and sleep.
Editors and researchers
Maria Mernova
Editor-in-Chief
Maria is an accomplished journalist and executive editor at Vokrug Sveta magazine. Passionate about clear expression, she leads a team of 12 expert copywriters and has made a significant impact in the media industry with her expertise in popular science, geography, and cross-cultural topics.
In The Book, she led a team of 12 professional copywriters who have expertise in a wide range of fields and topics.
Vadim Kulikov
Chief Researcher
Vadim, our schematic and cross-section expert, simplifies complex concepts with ease. As part of our team of 13 researchers, he forms the scientific foundation of The Book. His unique approach combines the expertise of a competent adult with the curiosity of a child.
Sergey Apresov
Editor
The voice behind The Book narration. Journalist, writer, science communicator, TV host. Has worked for Popular Mechanics magazine and Discovery Channel. James Dyson Awards judge.
Dmitriy Mamontov
Technical Editor
Scientific expert and editor of the Polytechnic Museum.
Taylor Margvelashvili
Editor
Translator, journalist and xenolinguist. Graduate of Northwestern University and Middlebury Institute of International Studies. Specializes in speculative sci-fi, LitRPG and constructed languages. Wants to be the official interpreter to the aliens when we make first contact. She also has a team of 3 translators to help her with the flow of the texts.
Eddie Cruz
Editor
Eddie has worked in the publishing industry for 25 years, wearing hats in everything from typesetting to quality control to developmental editing. He was desperate to join The Book crew at first contact. Now he wants to live in an alternate universe.
Dina Apparatova
Сopywriter, editor and researcher
By using her creativity, ability to write simply about the most difficult things and skills to combine undeniable logic and humor she helps people to write books of all kinds.
Elena Suvorova
Сopywriter
Elena is a traveling copywriter, story-teller, story-finder and story-maker.
Aleksandra Markevich
Сopywriter
Sasha likes to meticulously look for small details and to find out unexpected insights for texts, constantly travels and doesn’t really like her profession as an international economist.
The story about us
In 2020
During the uncertainty of the early pandemic, Hungry Minds’ co-founders Timur Kadyrov and Vsevolod Batishchev reflected on a question: "What would be left of humanity if we didn’t make it through this?" This question inspired the creation of The Book: The Ultimate Guide to Rebuilding Civilization, an artistic exploration of humanity’s resilience, creativity, and foundational knowledge.
Bringing the idea
To life
Timur & Vsevolod reached out to illustrator Lev Kaplan to bring their idea to life. Kaplan’s artistic vision shaped the book’s unique visual identity.
Each illustration and line of text went through extensive editing, with countless hours spent refining every element. By December, a first draft was ready. Expert fundraiser Artur Stelmakh joined to prepare for the project’s launch.
The beginning
of something bigger
With a crowdfunding goal of $300,000 USD, the project raised over $1 million within its first week, eventually amassing over $3 million USD across both Kickstarter and Indiegogo. The funding allowed the team to expand to over fifty people, with experts from various fields brought in to refine the content and visuals over the next 18 months.
The Book: The Ultimate Guide to Rebuilding Civilization published on January 1, 2022, quickly became an Amazon bestseller year after year.
Beyond
The book
What began with The Book grew into Hungry Minds - a creative studio founded by Timur, Seva, and Artur to explore ambitious ideas through art, design, and storytelling.
Our commitment is to create meaningful Exciting work while ensuring everyone Who contributes to
it is valued,
supported, and given the tools to do Their very best.
How it’s made
Before a project takes its final form, ideas, sketches, conversations, and research come together. Concepts take shape, different directions are explored, and details are tested, questioned, and refined throughout a meticulous process.
Every choice has a purpose, helping projects develop their own character and identity that connects with the people they were made for.
What comes next?
Subscribe for priority access to exclusive releases and collaborations
Awards & recognition
Hungry Minds is an independent publishing house and creative studio motivated by a deep desire to create extraordinary things. We believe in the power of imagination to inspire, teach, and transform. Our first project, The Book, is a testament to that vision.
We don't limit Ourselves to any one medium. Whether it's a puzzle, a book, or an
interactive artifact, our goal is the same:
to create meaningful work with soul,
craft, and long-lasting impact.
