Vicky Barker joins b small publishing as art director

Independent publisher b small has hired Vicky Barker, formerly a freelance illustrator and designer, as art director.

Sam Hutchinson, publisher at the company, said: “Vicky, as both illustrator and designer, has been the common denominator linking all of our most successful books over the past couple of years so I was thrilled when she agreed to join me in a full-time role. This is a huge step for a micro publisher like us but can only mean good things for our books, our authors, ours illustrators and our sales.”

Barker starts the role, which is newly created at the company, with immediate effect and will be responsible for the art and design of the whole list.

The company is based in the UK and publishes mainly non-fiction and activity books. It releases between 15 and 20 titles per year and sales are up 50% year-on-year, according to Hutchinson.

“Vicky joining us will help us maintain organic growth levels so we can build on this success without overreaching,” he said.

Barker graduated from Liverpool John Moores University in 2006 and then took a job at Usborne. She went freelance in 2012 and has worked with Egmont, Catnip, and Really Decent Books as well as b small publishing.