Risograph × WPA Silkscreen Posters

Both layer a few opaque inks; borrow WPA's stylised landscapes and plain messages for contemporary riso posters.

From the research on WPA Silkscreen Posters

WPA silkscreen's flat, separated colour translates directly to riso drums; borrow its layered spot-colour scenes.

From the research on Risograph & Indie Print Culture

Mix them and make something Risograph WPA Silkscreen Posters

A sample layout drawn from the recipe: shapes from WPA Silkscreen Posters, their arrangement from WPA Silkscreen Posters, the finish from Risograph. Not a real work, and not an image of either style.

What each style brings

Each part of the design comes from the style with the stronger say in it, and each style gives at least two.

Risograph & Indie Print Culture WPA Silkscreen Posters

Type from Risograph: Hand-lettering
Grotesque & neo-grotesque
Colour from Risograph: Limited spot colours
Fluorescent & neon
Form from WPA Silkscreen Posters: Stylised figuration
Restrained accents
Composition from WPA Silkscreen Posters: Single focal point
Isolated object
Surface from Risograph: Misregistration & overprint
Grain & noise

The type

Open fonts standing in for each style’s own type, which is often hand-drawn or commercial.

Display · Risograph

Together

Inter Tight, standing in for Neo-grotesques set large (e.g. Akzidenz-Grotesk, Helvetica)

Text · WPA Silkscreen Posters

Posters made by the Federal Art Project of the Works Progress Administration to promote health campaigns, education, theatre, travel and the national parks during the Depression. Unemployed artists adapted commercial silkscreen to print runs by hand, which gave the work its flat, opaque layered colour, simplified stylised forms and clear geometric lettering in a public-service voice.

Jost; WPA Silkscreen Posters used Hand-cut stencil lettering in geometric sans-serif capitals and Futura (Paul Renner, 1927) and similar geometric sans-serifs

The colours

The ground and leading colours come from Risograph, with a counter-accent from WPA Silkscreen Posters. The ink reads on the ground at 4.5:1 or more.

Risograph & Indie Print Culture WPA Silkscreen Posters

#f4f1ea ground · 36%
#3255a4 ink · 14%
#ff48b0 accent · 18%
#c8622d accent · 14%
#f15060 accent · 10%
#d9a441 accent · 8%

As CSS

:root {
  --ground: #f4f1ea;
  --ink: #3255a4;
  --accent-1: #ff48b0;
  --accent-2: #c8622d;
  --accent-3: #f15060;
  --accent-4: #d9a441;
  --font-display: "Inter Tight", sans-serif;
  --font-text: "Jost", sans-serif;
}

The two styles

Large pink lettering reading “PLANT CLUB” sits above a blue cat looking upward among potted houseplants and trailing vines. Bright yellow and pink offset shapes and grainy ink textures cover the cream background.

2008–present · Global / networked Risograph & Indie Print Culture A contemporary culture of zines, art books, posters and prints made on Japanese Risograph stencil duplicators, whose soy-based spot inks (fluorescent pink, yellow, blue, teal) are laid down one drum at a time. Designers embrace the machine's limits: translucent overprints, slight misregistration, grainy coverage and coarse halftones give flat illustration and type a warm, handmade vibrancy at low cost.

A stylised hiker with a large backpack stands on an orange rocky overlook above a winding river, evergreen forests and blue mountains. An orange sun sits behind the peaks, and large blue lettering across the top reads “EXPLORE.”

1935–1943 · North America WPA Silkscreen Posters Posters made by the Federal Art Project of the Works Progress Administration to promote health campaigns, education, theatre, travel and the national parks during the Depression. Unemployed artists adapted commercial silkscreen to print runs by hand, which gave the work its flat, opaque layered colour, simplified stylised forms and clear geometric lettering in a public-service voice.

More combinations

With Risograph

All 43 combinations with Risograph

With WPA Silkscreen Posters

All 13 combinations with WPA Silkscreen Posters

Every style combination