Your Next Printing Project.

In the digital age of social media it is easy for your voice to get lost in all the noise. We don’t need to go into details about the concerns we’re all having about social media and generative AI these days but with everything going on there is a collective disillusionment towards social media particularly among artists and creatives. We believe there can and will be a cultural shift away from these potentially harmful platforms and a move towards smaller but ultimately more impactful ways of communicating with others. If you want to make the world a better place you have to start at home and what better way to enrich your community than by being an active part of it. 

How you choose to get involved and help your community is up to you, but whether you're a local artist or a small business, running a practice, or even just wanting to share your experience as an individual, print is an amazing way to communicate with your local community. Print a zine about your experience and leave it at a coffee shop for people to discover. Or print a poster promoting your upcoming event to pin up at the community centre. There’s lots of possibilities with printing and The Morecambe Community Riso Press is excited to help you realise them.

So Why Risography?

RISO was invented in Japan post World War II although it looked very different back then to how it does now. Back then the post war struggle meant that they had to use cheap and locally made ‘soy-based inks’ as opposed to expensively imported emulsion inks. The continued use of soy inks means that today Risography remains a relatively eco-friendly way to print compared to other methods, but it also represents people’s ability to persevere and adapt in times of struggle. When Noboru Hayama invented this new cheaper means of printing he named it RISO (Meaning ‘ideal’ in Japan’) so that the Japanese people would not lose their ideals in tough times. Later in the 80’s Risography was rolled out internationally and quickly became a popular new printing method due to its efficiency and low costs. But with the introduction of modern printers, Risography has since been abandoned by most commercial print users. 

What makes risography special today however is that it has become co-opted and re-popularised among creatives and artists for its unique bright colours and lo-fi aesthetic. What was once a commercial tool is being used now for far more exciting things and the community can once again be at the heart of this unique printing method!

The Possibilities… 

Riso had become popular due to its aesthetic and its ink colours. The ultra vivid colours are unique to this printing method and it gives Riso prints a distinct style, standing out amongst other printed media. You can print anything such as artworks, zines, photographs, publications etc. You can work digitally (see later blog posts for how to set up files for digital printing) or work ‘analogue’ by scanning physical media directly onto Riso’s built in scanner/copier.

This way you can work with collage, drawing and physical mediums and then incorporate Riso machine into your method as an image making tool. Here are some examples of the projects we’ve printed here at The Morecambe Community Riso Press.