Dive into this illuminating guide to making eco-friendly ink at home using scavenged materials—from the founder of the Toronto Ink Company.

The Toronto Ink Company was founded in 2014 by designer and artist Jason Logan as a citizen science experiment to make eco-friendly, urban ink from street-harvested pigments. In Make Ink, Logan delves into the history of inkmaking and the science of distilling pigment from the natural world. Readers will learn how to forage for materials such as soot, rust, cigarette butts, peach pits, and black walnut, then how to mix, test, and transform these ingredients into rich, vibrant inks that are sensitive to both place and environment. Organized by color, and featuring lovely minimalist photography throughout, Make Ink combines science, art, and craft to instill the basics of ink making and demonstrate the beauty and necessity of engaging with one of mankind’s oldest tools of communication.

Featuring a foreword by the self-proclaimed ink enthusiast, Michael Ondaatje—author of the award winning book, The English Patient—in which he describes Logan’s ink as “a blend of alchemy with foraging and some possibly illegal art of cooking.”

Toronto Ink Company founder Jason Logan is an internationally recognized designer, creative director, author, and artist. His illustrations appear regularly in the New York Times and his fine art has been exhibited in New York City, Los Angeles, Toronto, and the Yukon. His work has been recognized by the AIGA, SPD, the Centre for Social Innovation, and the Canada Council for the Arts. Michael Ondaatje is a celebrated poet, novelist, editor, and filmmaker, best known for his 1992 Booker Prize–winning novel The English Patient.