Riso 201: DIY Your Zine

(Riso 101 is a prerequisite for Riso 201).

Forget the slick, hyper-precise perfection of digital screens. The real magic of Risograph printing lies in its raw, analog-like unpredictability. Because of the way the machine feeds paper and distributes ink, rest assured that every single book in your run carries its own unique personality. No two copies will ever be exactly alike.

If you have a burning desire to see your words, drawings, or ideas boldly copied and bound into a physical object you can hand to someone, welcome to DIY Your ZINE! This is a two-week, 100% hipster-approved deep dive into indie publishing. Leave your laptops at home—there is no computer instruction here. Instead, we are using tactile layout methods like handwriting, markers, and paper collage clipped from vintage magazines to build our pages.

Over two fast-paced evening sessions, you will design, print, and hand-bind your custom 12-page (3 duplexed sheets) publication in a limited edition of 20 copies.

The Two-Week Breakdown

• Session 1: Mockups & Printing the Covers: Figure out how a publication actually goes together. You will tackle the puzzle of “imposition” (getting pages in the right order), map out safe print margins, and create a physical mockup to map out your project. Then, to spark that itch to create, we will get right on the press to layout and print the front and back covers of your zine.
• The Homework: Between sessions, you will use your new layout template to draft your interior pages at home—using clippings, drawings, or home printers—getting them physically sized and ready to paste up for production.
• Session 2: RISO Printing & Binding (The Assembly): Take over the press. You will print your remaining interior pages, and then dive right into folding and binding your edition using saddle-stitching and traditional pamphlet stitches. We’ll finish with a group swap so everyone goes home with a full set of peer work.

You’ll leave the studio as a certified, independent RISO publisher with a stack of your own finished booklets and a fresh collection of zines from your classmates.

This is an IN-PERSON, 2-session workshop. Space is limited to 8 students to maximize press and studio time.

Level: Riso 101 is a prerequisite for this workshop.
Date & Time: 2 Thursdays, August 6th & 13th, 6-9pm
Max. no of students: 8
Instructor: ABAC Approved Instructor
Cost: $150 tuition + $25 materials fee

Members receive a 10% discount off the cost of the workshop, among other benefits.
Click here to join as a Member, then choose the Member rate below.

Studio Certification: Completion of this class qualifies you to use the RISO studio for your own independent projects during Open Studio hours. Details on Open Studio may be found here.

ABOUT YOUR INSTRUCTOR

This workshop is led by an Austin Book Arts Center approved instructor who has extensive experience in both digital and analog printing, as well as traditional bookbinding. Passionate about tactile art-making, your instructor specializes in guiding students through the beautiful, unpredictable nuances of the RISO duplicator, helping you transform simple paper cutouts into striking, handbill editions. They will be there to guide you through the quirks of the RISO duplicator with a lot of patience, tons of practical knowledge, and plenty of enthusiasm.