Risography

A Risograph is a digital duplicator - think a large photocopier that works like a silkscreen.It is a spot color process - one color at a time. The vibrant rice-based inks can be layered transparently to create new colors, and the imperfection of the machine is a big part of the appeal for artists.The color palette available depends on what the printer has available - each color requires an individual drum, which costs about $1000 new. We currently have only black and fluorescent pink, and are looking to crowdfund more colors.Once you get the initial costs of the machine and drums out of the way, it becomes a very economical (and eco-friendly) way to print on a medium scale.Here's some links to other studios to help you to get a better idea:
> Risotto
> TXTBooks
> Split Arrow Print House
> Secret Riso Club

_{Pictured: some of our Riso zine collection (made by various artists, not made by us) on top of our EZ 221 U.}

Sam & Joe

We're two creative married dorks who have been together for over 15 years now. We have both been making various things for that whole time, both for selling and for the sake of creating.Sam is a trans and autistic artist who used to sell at cons regularly before 2020, and now spends most of their time being a lowpoly chicken vtuber.Joe is a musician, audio engineer, and jack-of-all-trades - really useful with his hands, and he's really into modular synth. Local musicians may know him as the guy who ran Nice Garage.

_{Pictured: Joe on the left, Sam on the right.}

What We Want to Make

After years of making things for myself, we're looking to start making things for the Long Island artist community (and others who want to work with us).We would love to use our Riso to print for you:

As long as it can be printed on letter or legal (uncoated) paper, we can probably print it in our Riso.Both of us are leftist geeks, so we are interested in doing work that involves social justice, community, activism, science, and self-expression.Please let us print your queer anti-capitalist manifesto, your self-insert Sonic the Hedgehog zine, or your mini-comic about the wildest fur con room party you've ever been to.

_{Pictured: stuff Sam has made over the years.}

What We Have

In May 2025, we found an eBay listing with local pickup for an EZ221 Risograph at a really cheap price. We couldn't resist the opportunity.So far we only have the black drum the machine came with and fluorescent pink. Our goal is to get a bare minimum of 2 additional drums - aqua and yellow - but we really want to crush that goal to get a few more colors.

In addition to the Risograph, after 10+ years of convention experience, we've collected a lot of resources, such as:

_{Pictured: the two ink drums we have. We don't have a proper case for them, so Joe 3D printed a thing to hold it up in that toolbox.}

Why We Need Help

While Joe is employed full-time, Sam is unemployed due to the trouble that comes with navigating employment being disabled and transgender.Self-employment is the best option, but due to chronic tendonitis, lack of stamina, and AuDHD, they can't keep up with the pace of full time art. Sam absolutely loves vtubing, but that offers no more than a few hundred dollars a year, max. Same for conventions, which we miss selling at, but are difficult to get into consistently and cost too much to profit from. We believe that offering printing services to others would be a good way to help pay some of our bills.With our upcoming Indiegogo, we're looking to get some of the start-up costs out of the way, like:

If you want to support before the Indiegogo launches, Sam has some supplies listed on his Throne hat you can buy now!While our neighbors in NYC have many Risograph studios to pick from, we're lacking here in Suffolk County. If we can grow this little project of ours, I'm hoping to make it so artists out here on the Island don't have to travel out on the LIRR to get Riso work done.

_{Pictured: the corner we have the Riso in. A bit messy since we're still figuring it out.}