Our Story

Have you ever wondered who the guys behind Inkifi actually are? Let me introduce you to the two lads who happen to be the thinking heads behind the brand – the founders of Inkifi. Jim and Paul met way back in the 90s, in a little surf town in North Wales. They immediately clicked because, for all their differences, they shared many passions and interests, the most important one being their love of the great outdoors, surfing and a curiosity for everything around them. Having no desire to take up any nine-to-five job that they weren’t interested in, they decided to travel the world together with other friends as soon as they graduated. And so they did. With little to no money but all the more enthusiastic, they travelled to and explored Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand, the Maghreb and Europe for a couple of years. Jim’s Photography & Design background meant that he was able to really indulge in and develop his visual passion during their travels. He documented their surf trips and adventures in detail, capturing the unique mood, landscape and people they met along the road. To this day, these snapshots and impressions from their travels remain among his all-time favourites. Paul, meanwhile, discovered that even though he had majored in business studies, he was much more at home in and passionate about nature. He decided to pursue a career in which this interest and his environmental beliefs could be honoured and in which he would somehow be able to contribute to the protection of our amazing planet.

Back in England, in 2008, Jim and Paul decided to set up a business together in which Jim’s photography and design background and Paul’s business expertise could be merged and whose strong core would be the values that they both identified with and that had been further strengthened through their travels around their world. Sounds good, doesn’t it? The only problem was that they just had no idea what sort of business that could be…

Tellingly, it was when they wanted to print and share their digital travelling images that they recognized that there was absolutely no company in sight who would print their pictures in a great quality as well as environmentally friendly and at a reasonable price. It looked like they simply had to do it themselves if they didn’t want to compromise on neither quality nor on the environmental impact of their images. That’s how the idea of Inkifi was born. A printing company whose goal was no less than to revolutionise the digital printing world. They envisaged a modernized approach to printing that would both produce images of flawless, supreme quality and be sustainable as well as affordable for you and me. On top of that, they also took into account the growing social media community and wanted to create a business that would facilitate the printing from accounts such as Instagram and Facebook.

Building a business is never easy, and Inkifi was no exception to this rule. It was a long way from the first idea back in 2008 to what is Inkifi is today. But Jim and Paul put all their energy and enthusiasm into this project and worked tirelessly towards their vision, coming up with desirable products that they would like to have themselves, in particular, their amazing flagship and now hugely popular square prints which were inspired by the Instagram format and community. Apart from that, the website needed to be set up, sustainable materials had to be sourced, the strict FCS (Forestry Stewardship Council) standards all needed to be met in order for the Inkifi products to be approved. It certainly helped that they always believed in their brand and the ethos of merging beauty with sustainability. Thanks to their hard work and the unique combination of their talents and knowledge, the project finally came to fruition in 2012, when the Inkifi products were officially approved by FCS and Jim and Paul were finally happy with their quality, too. The beautiful website was launched and was soon followed by an App for both iOS and Android devices, making printing directly from your phone and Instagram account as easy as never before.

Paul and Jim are perfectionists in what they do and they never rest on their laurels but are constantly striving to make their business better and better for you. What they have created already, however, is a strong brand with a unique identity that today has loyal and appreciative customers around the world that love the Inkifi products. The happiness of you as a customer and fellow explorer is the most important thing to them and the greatest reward for their efforts. It means you get their idea and it’s all been worth it: ultimately, that’s why they have made their vision of beautiful yet sustainable photo printing come true. Without compromising, they wanted not only to see but to make a difference in printing: Printing that leaves an imprint on your soul, not the planet.

Yours,

Laura Nemeth,
Inkifi Marketing Executive and inspired friend