So today was our
printing deadline day! We had previously selected the paper, the layout,
confirmed the designs, made any necessary alterations and separated the colours
on to separate layers for the printing. As none of us had used the Risograph,
besides practicing and an induction with Mike, we were pretty green. I also
realized that I had not separated the colours into different files, only on the
same file, which required a bit more shuffling around to get fully right. (My
Illustrator skills are not what they once were, although they are passable, I
could do with developing them more thoroughly.)
We had planned to
work on a 4 colour double-sided print. 8 passes through the Riso. Red, Blue,
Yellow and Green – the colours we used in the experiment. The blue drum was out
of commission, so we had to make an off the cuff alteration to purple. After
our 2nd pass through, we noticed some miss registration and
alignment between the two colours and the third colour. We did not realize that
we could change the feed speed on the Riso, to minimize the movement of the
paper through the feed. After 30mins of millimeter corrections to no avail we
abandoned our registration. In hindsight we should have considered the
properties of the Risograph more thoroughly for the task we were trying to
achieve. Although the process is perfect for batch production, the nature of
the print does not lend itself to a design that requires precision and
accuracy. If we had reduced our colours to two and altered the speed from the
beginning we would have reduced the misalignment issue.
When we started
printing with the purple drum, we realized that it was so dark that we were
loosing some of our info graphics in particular sections. We made a group
decision to remove some of the block colour sections to keep the readability of
the information. Again, if we had had a better knowledge of the Risograph
process, I think we would have taken all the block colour areas out of the
design. Heavy block colour areas tend to smudge more easily as they pass
through the machine. The roller also drags shadows of the colours across the
surface as the paper passes through.
After making the
amendments during the printing of the first side we were able to complete the
reverse side with relative ease. Thankfully. Although we encountered a bit of
paper slippage it did not detract from the final image. We also had not thought
about drying time for the prints. We have been working to a tight schedule
because of other commitments and travel etc. Realizing that we would have to
factor another cutting, folding and making day into the timetable was a bit of
a blow especially as we all work and travel to get into uni. However, we
negotiated another day to finish the publication with relative ease. As a group
we have been sympathetic to each other’s external commitments, whether it’s
work, or travel, or other modules etc. This has meant that we have all been
able to manage and plan the project within our own time frames. This in part
has lead to the successful completion of the project.
After planning
the intricate layout of the publication and the fine details of each data
visualization it was disappointing to have not factored the inherent qualities
of the Risograph printing into the design. More research into the technique
rather than just the visual qualities would have helped. I think we should have
probably thought about having a trial run as well. Although we produced a
number of test sheets, which visually we very interesting, these were more as a
trial for alignment than the actual process. We should have perhaps tried a
range of colour combinations and worked with half tones and transparency values
to minimize the colour choices and maximize the accuracy of the final print. I
am certain that there is an amount of trial and error with all Risograph
printing, but we could have made a design more suitable for the process to make
the outcome more in keeping with the informative nature of the experiment.
Having said that
we were able to produce a lovely print, with an accessible and handmade feel
that made the formal nature of the graphs and information feel more visually engaging
and digestible, which I consider to be a more poignant success overall.
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