THE RISE OF RISO

There’s one oxymoron we keep coming back to: the fact that designers crave freedom, but, more often than not, love to work within limitations. Whether it’s a tricky brief, tight budget, or a lack of access to tools, time and again we find that strict boundaries bear the sweetest, most creative fruit.

One of the unlikeliest design success stories is that of the Risograph machine, invented in Japan in the 1980s as a quick, cheap, and easy way to make multiple copies, and since adopted by the art and design community for its low cost, speed, and versatility.

Creating Riso images is similar to screen printing in terms of color separation and ink transfer, but with the rough-and-ready results of an office photocopier.