01 / 042026
Editorial spread
Map of a Long Bakery Day
Linnea Bakery
Booking editorial · summer 2026
Malmö, Sweden04.26 — desk lamp on
Spool
An illustration practice
Studio · vol. 12
Maja
Nilsen.
Editorial illustration, hand-drawn diagrams, and quiet picture-making — usually in red thread, occasionally in ink wash.
9
yrs in ink
214
commissions
47.2%
repeat editors
Plate 014 · Linnea2026
A long bakery day.
Pen, ink, two threads
Available
Three commission slots · Q3 2026
Editors, kitchens, presses
Verge Editions ·Northwind Labs ·Field Notes Co. ·Linnea Bakery ·Maison Château ·Plover Studio ·Mercury OS ·Foundry 47 ·The Fold Quarterly ·Karmel Press ·Verge Editions ·Northwind Labs ·Field Notes Co. ·Linnea Bakery ·Maison Château ·Plover Studio ·Mercury OS ·Foundry 47 ·The Fold Quarterly ·Karmel Press ·
Selected work · 2024 — 2026
A small folio.
02 / 042025
Cover
Patterns of Migration
The Fold Quarterly
03 / 042025
Picture book
Twelve Knots, Twelve Stories
Verge Editions
04 / 042024
Series
A Sewing-Chart Atlas
Field Notes Co.
Practice
Three quiet stages.
Sketch, decide, finish. Slow on purpose. The first round is the one that costs the most pencil.
No briefs by phone · everything in writing
01
Sketch
Five rough thumbnails in a Moleskine. We choose one before any colour or rendering happens.
02
Decide
A single tighter sketch with structural notes. Sign-off lives here, not in the final.
03
Finish
Ink, wash, scan, repair. Final delivered as 600dpi TIFF + working layered file.
Why a small studio
Spool vs. agency illustration.
Practice point
Spool
Agency illustration
Who draws
Maja, every line
Pooled junior team
Sketch rounds
One, on paper
Three to four, digital
File handover
Layered TIFF + originals
Flat PNG export
Rights
Editorial, two regions
Negotiated per asset
AI generated content
Never
Sometimes, undisclosed
Maja sees the diagram inside the metaphor. Every brief comes back richer than I sent it.
Inés Lourenço
Editor, The Fold Quarterly
0
Years drawing for ink
0
Editorial commissions
0
Books illustrated
0
Sketchbook pages
Commission
Three ways in.
I take roughly fifty commissions a year. Editorial spots first, books on Tuesdays.
Tier
Investment
Window
Includes
Spot
from $640
1 illustration, 5 days
- One spot, 1 round
- Ink + colour
- Editorial use, 1 region
Spread
Most commissioned
from $2,400
Feature or cover, 2 weeks
- 1 hero + 2 spots
- Sketch + final review
- Editorial + social use
Bookwork
by project
Picture books, atlases, longform
- Full layout & sequencing
- Author/editor walkthroughs
- Print supervision
Common questions
Before you commission.
Not here? Write — studio@spool.ink
From the desk
Recent notes.
04 / 2026Books
Twelve Knots ships in May — three years of small marks finally bound.
Read note
03 / 2026Editorial
A short piece on drawing kitchens for Field Notes Quarterly.
Read note
02 / 2026Studio
New ink — a darker thread red. Posted swatches to the journal.
Read note
01 / 2026Travel
Two weeks in Lisbon. Filled four sketchbooks of fish-market diagrams.
Read note
Open commissions
Send a brief.
A scribble works.
Most commissions begin with a poorly-photographed napkin sketch. The studio is friendly to half-formed ideas.