# 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.

- Period: 2008–present
- Where: Global / networked
- Origin: Independent print studios, zine publishers and art-book fairs in Europe, North America and East Asia, using Riso Kagaku (Tokyo) stencil duplicators
- Branch: Counterculture
- Also known as: Riso, Riso printing, Riso zine culture
- Page: https://stylogeny.com/styles/risograph-indie/

## How it works

- Separate the artwork into two to four spot colours, one drum per ink, and design for the new hues their overprints create.
- Lean on the fluorescent and bright inks (fluorescent pink, yellow, medium blue, teal) over off-white or coloured uncoated stock.
- Accept, even exaggerate, misregistration, uneven ink coverage and grain as part of the image.
- Build images from flat shapes, coarse halftones and grainy gradients rather than fine detail or full-colour photography.
- Publish small, in short-run zines, posters and art books printed in shared studios and traded at art-book fairs.

## Its design choices

Defining choices make the style, characteristic ones are usual, occasional ones turn up now and then.

### Layout & composition
- [Dynamic asymmetry](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/dynamic-asymmetry/) (characteristic)
- [Collage & layering](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/collage-and-layering/) (occasional)
- [Isolated object](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/isolated-object/) (occasional)

### Space & hierarchy
- [Measured density](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/measured-density/) (characteristic)
- [Repetition & rhythm](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/repetition-and-rhythm/) (occasional)

### Typography
- [Hand-lettering](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/hand-lettering/) (characteristic)
- [Grotesque & neo-grotesque](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/grotesque-and-neo-grotesque/) (characteristic)
- [Eclectic mixing](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/eclectic-mixing/) (occasional)
- [Type as image](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/type-as-image/) (occasional)
- [Monospace](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/monospace/) (occasional)

### Colour
- [Limited spot colours](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/limited-spot-colours/) (defining)
- [Fluorescent & neon](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/fluorescent-and-neon/) (defining)
- [Light ground](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/light-ground/) (characteristic)
- [Flat fields](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/flat-fields/) (characteristic)
- [Gradients](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/gradients/) (occasional)

### Form & shape
- [Stylised figuration](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/stylised-figuration/) (characteristic)
- [Geometric primitives](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/geometric-primitives/) (characteristic)
- [Squiggles & confetti](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/squiggles-and-confetti/) (occasional)

### Surface & texture
- [Misregistration & overprint](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/misregistration-and-overprint/) (defining)
- [Grain & noise](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/grain-and-noise/) (defining)
- [Halftone & Ben-Day dots](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/halftone-and-ben-day-dots/) (characteristic)
- [Paper & letterpress bite](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/paper-and-letterpress-bite/) (characteristic)

### Ornament
- [Restrained accents](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/restrained-accents/) (occasional)

### Imagery
- [Flat vector illustration](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/flat-vector-illustration/) (characteristic)
- [Treated photography](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/treated-photography/) (characteristic)
- [Line illustration](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/line-illustration/) (occasional)
- [Comic & cartoon](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/comic-and-cartoon/) (occasional)

### Medium & production
- [Risograph](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/risograph/) (defining)
- [Photocopy & zine](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/photocopy-and-zine/) (occasional)
- [Screen printing](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/screen-printing/) (occasional)

### Tone & intent
- [Communal & popular](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/communal-and-popular/) (characteristic)
- [Playful & witty](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/playful-and-witty/) (characteristic)
- [Warm & approachable](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/warm-and-approachable/) (characteristic)
- [Rebellious & subversive](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/rebellious-and-subversive/) (occasional)
- [Nostalgic & retro](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/nostalgic-and-retro/) (occasional)

Avoids: Gloss & highlights, Chrome & 3D render, Skeuomorphic material, Iridescent & holographic, 3D render, Straight photography, Luxurious & glamorous, Authoritative & institutional

Palette: #ff48b0, #ffe800, #3255a4, #00838a, #f15060, #f4f1ea

Typefaces: Neo-grotesques set large (e.g. Akzidenz-Grotesk, Helvetica), Monospace and typewriter faces, Hand-drawn display lettering

Known for: Knust (Nijmegen; stencil-duplicator press since 1984); Hato Press (London; founded 2009 by Jackson Lam and Ken Kirton); Risotto Studio and Riso Club (Glasgow; founded 2012 by Gabriella Marcella); Printed Matter's NY Art Book Fair; John Z. Komurki & Luca Bendandi, Risomania: The New Spirit of Printing (Niggli, 2017)

## Where it comes from, and what it’s close to

- Grew out of: [Punk & DIY Zine](https://stylogeny.com/styles/punk-diy.md) (1976–1986)
- Influenced by: [Pop Art Graphics](https://stylogeny.com/styles/pop-art.md) (1955–1975)
- Alike in its design choices: [American Mid-Century Modernism](https://stylogeny.com/styles/american-modernism.md) (1940–1970), 54% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Screenprinted Gig & Alt-Movie Poster](https://stylogeny.com/styles/screenprint-gig-poster.md) (1991–present), 53% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Cuban Revolutionary Poster (OSPAAAL & ICAIC)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/cuban-poster.md) (1960–1990), 48% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [WPA Silkscreen Posters](https://stylogeny.com/styles/wpa-poster.md) (1935–1943), 48% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Australian Poster Collective Screenprints](https://stylogeny.com/styles/australian-poster-collectives.md) (1971–1994), 46% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Kinngait (Cape Dorset) Inuit Printmaking](https://stylogeny.com/styles/kinngait-print.md) (1957–present), 46% alike

## Real works

- [Resisters](https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1490115/): Aqui Thami, ca. 2018, Victoria and Albert Museum, London (E.669-2019)
- [Rosie the Riveter (The Persian Rosie)](https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1735590/): Ghazal Foroutan, 2022, Victoria and Albert Museum, London (CD.29-2023)
- [Risograph print on the output tray of a Riso duplicator](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Risograph_printing.jpg): Unidentified designer; photographed by Quinn Daedal (Flickr: quinn.anya), 2024 (photographed 26 January 2024), Wikimedia Commons (from Flickr)
- [Two-colour risograph print (A3) of six chair studies](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Impress%C3%A3o_em_risografia_em_dua_cores,_2014.jpg): Mario Felipe (designer and photographer); printed by A3press, 2014 (photographed 24 November 2014), Wikimedia Commons (from Flickr)

## Sources

- John Z. Komurki & Luca Bendandi, Risomania: The New Spirit of Printing (Niggli, 2017)
- AIGA Eye on Design, ‘Tracking the rise of Risograph printing with Glasgow's Risotto Studio’

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From Stylogeny (https://stylogeny.com/), an atlas of graphic-design styles by Van Riel Online Services. How it is made: https://stylogeny.com/about/. Cite as: Stylogeny, “Risograph & Indie Print Culture”, https://stylogeny.com/styles/risograph-indie/