Risograph printing is appealing because it twists the voices of color and composition to create an image that is more than the sum of its parts. I.P.H. would love to add your voice to these variables. You are invited to join our learning process because we admire your experimental spirit, your desire to push the realms of reality, and your commitment to a future through the haze of the present. We hope to connect you all through this process, and to experience the joy of seeing our loved one’s work loved by each other. We hope to give you something to look forward to, something to create for, something to believe in. We promise to honor your work and your spirit in this collaboration. We look forward to watching this experiment grow like a garden, spread like smoke, sweat like a fever, and taste bizarrely sweet like a hazy orange sherbet sun.
What is Risograph?
Risograph is an environmentally friendly printer/process. Folks say it exists somewhere between silkscreen, xerox, and offset printing techniques. We will be transferring your digital images by scanning them physically one color at a time on the glass top flat bed, and then sending them back through the Risograph machine for each additional ink color. The color layering process is comparable to silk screening. To keep our Smoke Season budget to a minimum - and our new registration skills within realistic expectations - we will print each image duotone, and each submission will have either one 4.25’’ x 5.5” page or a centerfold spread of 8.5” x 11”. The ink used in Risograph printing is transparent, soy based, and doesn’t come from the Pantone spectrum, so there is no CMYK. Also, because each color is laid down one at a time, mis-registration is part of the game.
Photographs, hand drawing, digital illustration, line work and text all look great in this medium. Because the scanning bed picks up greyscale most effectively, it is best practice to consider your images in two separate layers of grayscale. For further reference, please check out the folks who continue to teach us everything we know about Riso: Paper Press Punch.
FAQ
What do I need to do to participate?
Create one page's worth of content (eg. a photograph, a collage, a drawing, a poem, one page of prose, a quote from your mom, a text convo… The possibilities are endless. Find your most feverish inspiration and run with it.)**
Is there a theme?
Fever dream
What's the deal with colors? How many? Do we get to choose?
We're hoping to do two colors per print, but may end up doing one depending on time and feasibility. And most likely not, but we're open to discussion.
I want to participate, but i don't want to include my name
Totally chill, you can remain anonymous and/or use an pseudonym. If you don't even want us to know, create a burner email or send it in the mail.
Where do I send it when I'm done?
If possible, send a high resolution version of your image to iphseattle@gmail.com. You can also mail or deliver a physical copy to 6101 12th Ave NE, Seattle, WA 98115.
*Please note: your image will morph and transmute through the medium of risograph, and the choices we make throughout the printing process. This is a collaboration between you, us, and the medium, so be aware things may look different than you intended.
When should I send it by?
September 30th
How do I get a copy of the experimental magazine, Smoke Season, when you're done printing it?
If you want a copy of Smoke Season - with your work printed alongside everyone else's - please help split the cost of production by paying what you can at the end: anything between $10 - $30. We’re not making any money off this, just trying to re-coup some of the cost of production. (We’re estimating to spend $150 - $250 on printing.
If you have other questions, feel free to reach out to us directly at iphseattle@gmail.com
**I.P.H. reserves the right as editor to curate this publication when appropriate and will not allow Smoke Season to be a platform for misogyny, racism, or bigotry.
An example of how we riso:
Layer 1: We used thick outlines to help capture the bleed from Layer 2, as the risograph printer isn't super great at consistent registration
Layer 2: we designed this to overlap slightly with the darker lines of Layer 1.
Final Print
For more examples of risograph prints, including text, photos, and other graphics, refer to that handy invite we sent you! Happy making/writing/creating!