Animalia is an online retail store that sells animal-related art, design, housewares, clothing, books and more. The goals of Animalia are to showcase beautiful animal-themed art and design, to support independent artists and craftspeople working around the world, and to contribute to the welfare of wildlife by increasing awareness around the subject and by donating a portion of our profits to the cause. Animalia was founded in April of 2011 by me, R.S. Posnak (that strange looking person to the left). I plan to eventually open a brick and mortar store that embodies a celebration of wildlife and our relationship to it.

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I am a graphic designer by day, and I run Animalia by night and weekend. I started the store for several overlapping reasons. Obviously, I love animals and I love art. Animalia is my way of celebrating the marriage of those two loves. I've longed to find meaning through my work and contribute positively to society, and I hope to do that through Animalia.

My animal obsession started early. My childhood consisted of one failed campaign after another of trying to convince my mother to allow me to have “exotic” animals as pets. This started when I discovered the wildlife section in the library, and checked out a book about a family in New York that had pet skunks. The book detailed, among other things, the outrageous messes the skunks made and the formidable scratches and bites the owners had sustained. A pet skunk sounded great to me! I wrote a four page essay designed to persuade my mother that a skunk would be a perfectly reasonable pet. I detailed the de-scenting process, wrote a diet plan, and delivered the wonderful news that skunks, were in fact, legal in Georgia, where we lived. Shockingly, my noble campaign failed. I don’t know what my mom’s problem was.

The next book I checked out from the library was an account of a family in Brazil that started a sloth rehabilitation center in their house, which was at the edge of the jungle. Well, I knew we wouldn’t be able to find a sloth in Georgia, so I thought it was reasonable to suggest that we move to Brazil and live a life like this family—completely dedicated to sloth rehab. My mom made a joke about a Betty Ford clinic for sloths and then brushed me off as usual. Sheesh.

Don’t worry animal lovers! I am now an adult, and I don’t think it’s a good idea to have a wild animal as a pet. But I must admit it was my dearest wish as a child to dress a marmoset in a bonnet or feed a lemur with a baby bottle or paint the toenails of a chameleon. My childhood obsession has translated in adulthood to appreciating animals in their natural habitats and hoping that I can do something to contribute to their well-being.

In graduate school I took my animal interest in an academic direction. (If you're really desperate to read something, you might want to check out my MFA thesis on anthropomorphism in design.) Some of my art work is animal-related and can be seen in the store.

I hope you enjoy Animalia! Feel free to contact us with any questions.