Stockport managed print service provider, Midshire ®, is calling all Stockport Creatives – artists, illustrators, and graphic designers – to trial a Risograph as part of its RISO Roadshow competition.
Running from May to October, Midshire will loan a RISO Digital Duplicator (Risograph) to six designers for an entire month, who will compete to keep the device by creating inspiring, imaginative, and artistic projects.
The completed entries will also be featured in a sample pack of RISO designs.
Similar to offset or lithographic printing, the Risograph scans the original document to create a master by burning tiny voids into paper that correspond to scanned image fields. The master is then wrapped around the drum, and paper is fed flat through the machine whilst the drum rotates to relay the image onto the paper.
Midshire’s RISO expert Daniel Bridgeman comments:
In my almost 30 years of selling RISO products I have genuinely never come across such a unique brand. Prints can be layered with different colours to create truly striking pieces, making it perfect for creative artistic projects!”
RISO’s soy-based ink has minimal impact on the environment, and the extremely fast heat free print process (up to 150ppm) makes the Digital Duplicator extremely economical to run, with a total lifespan in excess of 5,000,000 copies.
The Japanese organisation currently offers 21 standard colour inks, including a metallic gold ink ideal for printing truly unique pieces.
Midshire customers continue to use the Risograph to produce a whole manner of vivid works. Kingston University students create final year designs on the device, whilst Glaswegian graphic artist Gabriella Marcella uses her Duplicator as the centrepiece for her entire business, RISOTTO Studio.
Midshire’s Marketing Manager, Adrienne Topping adds:
This competition will be the perfect way for budding artists to establish themselves in the art and design world, and the Risograph is the ultimate innovative outlet to really showcase what they’re capable of!”
Stockport Creatives – do you think you have what it takes to win? To find out more, give Midshire a call on 03300 414 574, or email Midshire
Mastering the Art of Printing with Risotto
The team from Midshire attended a RISO print making workshop held by its Glasgow-based customer RISOTTO Studio.
Running until Sunday 13th May, the workshop has seen the company take over Gallery 1 at The Lighthouse, a Glaswegian hub for art and design, architecture, and creativity.
Since its founding in 2012, RISOTTO has used a RISO Digital Duplicator to create truly unique pieces of art and design, including: calendars, apparel, stationery, posters, and weekly planners, to name a few.
RISOTTO Studio Director Gabriella Marcella says:
As soon as I saw the kind of work that can be produced on the Risograph I was hooked on the process. My whole business is built around it, it’s ability to layer inks to create vivid patterns with spot colours is so distinctive, and cannot be replicated on any digital print process.”
Winning the Deutsche Bank Award in Creative Practice in 2012, RISOTTO offers print services on over 80 different types of recycled stock, from 65gsm newsprint to 350gsm card, and 80gsm classic white to fluorescent pink papers.
She continues:
For me, I was keen to create a business that provided me with a creative outlet, work with a range of clients and peers, whilst building an environmentally conscious and community-focused business along the way. The Risograph uses a toxin-free soy-based ink that dries naturally without needing heat like normal printers, so its impact on the environment is very low, and we always recycle any bits of waste.”
Midshire supplies RISOTTO with the 21 standard colour inks currently offered by RISO, including its unique metallic gold ink, all of which can be layered to form almost any colour. Midshire’s Daniel also sources new and second-hand drums for the studio, and provides service and support for the machines they use.
Daniel says:
I have worked closely with Gabriella and RISOTTO for over four years now, during my 30-year tenure providing RISO print solutions, I have truly never met anybody so hardworking and invested in the brand. Gabriella’s work is amazing, it’s been featured by world famous brands and the house print is so eye catching, it’s a real testament to what the RISO can do.”
Gabriella’s work has been seen in the collections of Urban Outfitters, Stussy, Dr Martens, Puma, Liberty London, and Bloomberg.
Coinciding with Scotland’s largest contemporary art festival, Glasgow International, the eight-week long workshop will see specialist RISO artists like CORNERS, Wobby.club, and Atelier Bingo exhibit work, hold demonstrations, and share their expertise.
To book tickets for upcoming RISOTTO events, or to find out more about the kind of works offered, take a look at the Risotto Studio’s website