Design and print your own edition of 20 anti-Christmas RISO cards with North or Nowt at East Street Arts.
Stereotypically, Christmas cards are warm, friendly and wholesome. But in the Victorian era, you were just as likely to find a picture of a dead robin, duelling frogs or Santa punishing the naughty in great detail. Many of the folkloric characters of the winter season are bleak, stark and dangerous, a reminder to be thankful for what you have and, more importantly, to be good…
In this workshop, you will design, print, crop and fold an edition of 20 one or two colour RISO printed A6 cards in ESA’s RISO room, with help and support from North or Nowt throughout. You will learn how to design with analogue colour separations and layers to create multi-coloured RISO prints, and there will be a range of analogue collage and mark-making materials to work with. If there is something specific you want to collage with, feel free to bring it along.
The session covers a brief history of RISO printing and approaches to designing for it, and you will hopefully make some not-so-festive cards for your friends, family and enemies. Brush up on your improvisational singing for Mari Lwyd, and wear some new clothes to deter the Jule Cat, lest thou wish to be eaten…
North or Nowt is the imprint of Leeds-based printer, graphic designer, illustrator and print educator Mike Ainsworth. Mike specialises in screen printed gig posters and merchandise, RISO and letterpress, and has worked with artists including Protomartyr, Sunn O))))) and Shonen Knife. He has ten years of experience as a print educator in higher education and as an industrial printer, works with People Powered Press (Saltaire) and Thin Ice Press (York), and tutors at Leeds Print Workshop and West Yorkshire Print Workshop. Find out more at northornowt.com.
Tickets are £35 plus booking fee.
