Today I’d like to introduce you to another small studio, this time based in Monterrey, Mexico, called Tori Press. Tori Press is run by illustrator Indra Fonseca, who I actually met through the SVA Riso Printing Course Online! (if you’d like to read about that first, >>click here!)

After chatting mainly through instagram during the course we finally sat down on Skype and had a lengthy conversation, which I’ve translated into English for you ;)

The beginning

I wanted to start with knowing how did she find out about risography? Indra stumbled on the hashtag risoprint on instagram when she was looking for wood block printing images, and it made her curious to what this technique was. As she did research into risograph, it all made sense: she needed a riso printer. You see, Indra is an illustrator but also a writer, and her dream is to have all the tools to be able to print/publish her own work. Indra started with a workshop in Mexico City (1hr 40min flight from her home town) as it was the only way to get some information on riso.

How was the journey into finding a printer?

Getting a 2nd hand machine was way too complicated within the Mexican market, so she decided to make a proper investment and buy a new model.

Her goal was to start a small studio to offer an extra tool of reproduction to the artistic community of her city. But it hasn’t been an easy road; the local market does not know much about risograph, so she’s had to make big efforts in spreading knowledge and educating her (future) clients.

Having a home-based studio is also tricky, Indra tells me many clients want to come to the space and see it. But especially now, due to COVID, this is not possible. But Indra is not someone that backs down from a challenge! She started online courses and is busy setting up an online shop for her products.

She also prides herself in her pre-press skills. She enjoys the technical puzzle of transforming a complex image into a riso-ready file. Something I find amazing, because I always dread complicated files!

Tell me about the SVA summer course, why did you decide to join?

Indra’s face lights up, she tells me that her ‘all stars’ in the riso world included the SVA Riso Lab, but paying for a trip to NY for the original 6 week course would have been too expensive for her. When she saw the online opportunity she decided that was the next best thing and wouldn't let it pass.

“I love having homework and learning in a classical environment” she laughs and I agree as a fellow nerd.

As I said before, during the online course, Indra and I had lengthy chats through Instagram, and I was grateful to have a fellow student to chat to and to push me further. This CMYK separation is one of my favourite works by Indra.

Dream Project

Indra’s dream project is to publish translated works with the collaboration of illustrators. This idea comes from her other job as a freelance Japanese-Spanish translator, and also her love for literature. She noticed that many books from Japan and China were hard to find translated into Spanish, while there were plenty of English translations. This makes it difficult for people who don’t speak English to come across ideas and stories of people from faraway countries such as these.

Tips for anyone starting out?

Even though it feels like there is not much information available, you can find many resources on instagram and google!
Read as many printing guides as you can to understand the process and get in touch with other print studios.
Once you’ve found your own path, share information with others, this is an open community.
Have clear what your objectives are for your studio.
Be aware it costs money! You will always need more tools that you anticipated, such as a paper cutter machine.

Tori Press offers layout, printing & cutting services. In the near future she will also add binding to the list.

The colours she works with are:
Red, Blue, Yellow, Green, and Black

visit toripress