Risomania: The New Spirit of Printing

Risography, named after the Japanese firm Riso, is a digital printing process based on screen printing techniques that was developed in the transition phase from mechanical to digital printing. Although the printer looks like a copying machine, the colors are transferred onto the paper without the use of heat or chemicals, saving energy and making the process ecologically friendly. The Risograph printer is at the forefront of a new creative explosion. More and more artists and designers all over the world are rediscovering this stencil duplicator for themselves, sparking a unique and unexpected renaissance in analogue printing. And Risography is just the most prominent technique in a new wave of cutting-edge contemporary design, one that is also recuperating forgotten technologies such as the Gestetner and the mimeograph. A comprehensive introduction that addresses past, present and future is followed by an essay about the key pioneers in the contemporary risography scene. In the chapter Risoworld notable risography-oriented publishers, printers and design studies from around the world are presented. At the heart of the volume are fabulous, hugely diverse examples of Riso-printing, including postcards, magazines, posters, flyers, and experimental printed products, all of which inspire through vivacity of colour, unique textures and, above all, the perfectly imperfect authenticity of Risography.