Our Origin
IFy Atelier was founded on a straightforward observation: that diverse, multi-continental, and culturally meaningful content remains underrepresented in publishing.
The idea has a specific beginning. In the summer of 2025, during a particularly demanding period, the founder turned to adult colouring books and apps as a way to decompress while working on her crime novel, Collateral Identity. There was something grounding about slowing down and focusing on a single page.
But something was missing.
While there were countless illustrated books available, very few explored African locations in a way that felt educational, thoughtful, and visually engaging. From prior experience in elderly care settings, where colouring books were often used to support relaxation for individuals living with dementia or cognitive impairment, another gap became clear. Most options were either too childish or overly intricate, rarely calibrated for dignity, accessibility, or meaningful cultural content.
That gap became IFy Atelier.
The Iconic African Locations series was the first response. It consists of illustrated works inspired by architectural landmarks, landscapes, and heritage sites across the African continent. Each volume covers real locations across North, West, Central, East, and Southern Africa, with no site repeated across the series. Every illustration is paired with a short contextual note. This is designed to inform and spark curiosity without disrupting the experience.
The books were designed with layered intention. For older adults, they provide a tool for calm focus and gentle engagement. For the African diaspora, they offer a quiet reconnection with meaningful places. For families, they create shared moments where curiosity extends beyond the page into the wider world.
IFy Atelier was built to create not just pages to fill, but moments to share.
The studio publishes across formats, from illustrated works to literary fiction, with a consistent focus on culture, identity, and place. It operates as an imprint of House of IFy Ltd, an independent UK-based publishing company, with titles available internationally through established retail and wholesale channels.
The catalogue continues to grow with the same intention it started with.
A welcome from our founder, Ifeyinwa
Founder Bio
Ifeyinwa Nwaejike is the founder, creator and publisher of IFy Atelier, an independent creative publishing studio based in Belfast.
She established IFy Atelier to create culturally inspired books, storytelling projects and creative work that approach culture, heritage and identity with curiosity, specificity and respect for their complexity.
Her work spans publishing, long-form writing, research and creative development. She is the creator of the Iconic African Locations Colouring Book series and is developing a growing catalogue of fiction and non-fiction projects exploring culture, identity, place, institutions and the human experience.
With an academic background in science, shaped by her studies at the University of Dundee and Queen’s University Belfast, Ifeyinwa brings a STEM-informed approach to creative practice. Her scientific training has influenced how she researches unfamiliar subjects, evaluates information, questions assumptions and distinguishes between what is merely persuasive and what can actually be supported.
That approach has become increasingly important to her in an age of AI, where access to information is no longer necessarily the difficult part. The challenge is often knowing what to question, what to verify, what is missing and what deserves greater scrutiny.
Through House of IFy Limited, she leads the creative and commercial development of IFy Atelier while documenting the realities of building an independent publishing studio. Her writing also explores creativity, entrepreneurship, publishing and the ideas behind the studio’s developing work.
Her longer-term vision for IFy Atelier extends beyond books into broader storytelling and creative projects across multiple formats.
Ifeyinwa Nwaejike, Founder & Publisher of IFy Atelier