Yellow and Blue Colour Charts

I designed this colour swatches page, which combines two colours and demonstrates all the ways they can be layered. This provides a good example of what the colours look like when printed in different orders and different amounts, for all the colours we had available. I ended up printing these for all colour combinations, including all different orders and amounts of prints for 1 to 2 layers of each colour on three different paper types, totaling around 144 different colour charts. Each chart required 1 to 4 layers of printing. This became a very important reference point for all future prints and designs we made during this project.

Test Magazine Made by Bibi van der Linden

This magazine was created to test colors, binding, smudging, and more. The testing aimed to identify potential problems we might encounter while designing the magazine. I discovered that smudging was a significant issue and that having the correct amount of drying time was crucial. I also found out that certain color orders reduced smudging. For example, yellow dries quicker than blue. Blue tends to smudge faster and is more noticeable when it does, but according to the color charts, having yellow first and blue last would compromise the color quality. This test megazine played a big part in planning for the final magazine. 

Drying RISO Prints at the Office

When working with multiple layers and using dark colors like the blue seen here, the drying process can take quite a while with RISO. It needs to be dry enough so that it won't smudge or transfer when printing a bigger batch. The colors can dry very differently than they look when they come fresh out of the printer, especially on black paper, I found out!

Illustration Made by HEIAKLUBBEN

Part of The RISO Magazine project involved bringing to life amazing illustrations like this one, which artists like HEIAKLUBBEN sent in. HEIAKLUBBEN was one of the few artists who submitted a drawing already designed with RISO in mind, having divided all the layers as needed. This ensured that our final print precisely matched their vision. In my opinion, it turned out amazing and rightfully earned the middle spread spot in the magazine!

Other Work in the Magazine (All Credits Can Be Found in the Magazine)

Many pieces were sent in by different artists, only a very few of which had RISO in mind while illustrating or sending us the files. This meant there was a lot of editing, experimenting, and preparing files for printing. It felt like there were endless possibilities, but it was crucial to stay true to what the original artist wanted to portray, and, of course, to get their approval on how their work would look in the RISO magazine. Sometimes, we sent the artist multiple examples of what was possible to ensure they felt included in the process. This led to selecting from a lot of work, but ultimately, we ended up with a beautiful selection for the magazine and a solid plan for its appearance. Choices involved selecting colors, determining how often each color should be printed, deciding the order of printing, choosing the paper for each page, figuring out how long to dry between layers, and the list goes on! RISO has many factors that influence the final look. But in the end, the whole charm is that no one page will look exactly the same, even if you go through the exact same process – something will always shift, making each print unique.

Cover Sketch by Bibi van der Linden

In the early stages of the magazine, we weren't sure about our style or what we wanted the covers to look like. As part of figuring this out, I too made some sketches with suggestions. The cover shown here ended up being my favorite. It includes the name and a magazine number, indicating the start of a series, as we planned at this point to continue with other topics. Essentially being named 'Tone Of…' with our first print being 'Freedom,' and in future cases, possibly 'Tone Of Food,' 'Culture,' and other significant topics that can be wonderfully visualized with art. 'Tone of' is, of course, a play on RISO print, referring to color tones but also having a double meaning of 'tone of voice,' referring to a quality in the voice that expresses the speaker's feelings or thoughts. This name proposition is something I was very proud of, and the team ended up liking it a lot. As of today, the magazine does not go by this name, and we ended up not using a cover. Tor Åge Vorren wanted to shift away from a magazine vibe to more of a collection of art, opting for an eye-catching RISO print as the front page so that no further text is needed to draw you in.

Free-Time Illustration by Bibi van der Linden

Since I enjoyed working with RISO so much, every once in a while, I would even stay a bit after work. Making a drawing, scanning it in, and playing around with the printer settings, colors, and paper textures led to creations like this one.