Speaking from experience, print processes

Detail, A Bigger Splash poster by Sam Ashby, printed by Manymono


With Risographic printing fever in full swing, Grafik interviews Riso pioneer Hugh Frost, founder of Landfill Editions and Manymono. See Grafik issue 189 for a special feature on publishing’s current state of health.
Grafik: How did Manymono get started?
Hugh Frost: I first saw the machines at Extrapool in Holland in 2007 and later bought a cheap one on eBay to print a group of comic projects and some of my own work. I started Landfill Editions to release these prints and books but got carried away with the idea of offering a print service to pay for materials for the machine, so Manymono became a bigger project than initially intended.
G: What kind of projects do you print?
HF: I generally focus on single sheet work like posters, art prints, postcards, record sleeve inserts, but do print some zine and book projects as well.
G: What is the beauty of Riso printing?
HF: The bold colour palette, the bad registration, the chalky feel heavy ink coverage has, building images up step by step and being surprised by unexpected overprinting results. Also, the chipmunk-in-a-running-wheel animation in the control panel.
G: What’s the most challenging thing you’ve printed?
HF: I always find wedding invites the most daunting and worry about ruining a perfectionist couple’s wedding with bad registration.