Nothing beats the magic of receiving a handwritten card in the post – a fact that hasn’t gone unnoticed by Gabriella Marcella, founder of Glasgow print studio Risotto. Since 2017, Marcella and her team have been hand-printing, folding and posting artists’ postcards to people around the world. The lucky recipients are all members of the studio's much-loved Riso Club, a monthly analogue subscription that has persisted through Covid, Brexit turbulence, and all the usual pressures of running a small independent studio.
What began as a modest artist exchange has evolved into a community of more than 400 contributors spanning 40 countries, united by colour, process and a commitment to slow, human-centred communication.
Gabriella Marcella
The 100th issue, titled Risottopia, marks the project’s most ambitious edition yet. Instead of focusing on a single city or theme, Marcella has invited three of the most influential figures in modern design – Nathalie Du Pasquier, Peter Shire and Barbara Stauffacher Solomon – to contribute new artworks. These are designers who have profoundly shaped Marcella’s own practice, and whose impact stretches across movements, decades and continents. The result is a vivid visual conversation between Memphis, Los Angeles, the Bay Area and Glasgow: a utopian meeting place conjured through ink, shape and pattern.
Peter Shire
For subscribers, Rottopia arrives as a limited-edition pack of hand-printed postcards, mailed exclusively throughout November. As ever, the process is defiantly analogue. 'Every month we print, fold and ship the work by hand,' says Marcella. 'It’s labour-intensive, but it’s an act of love – a reminder that design can still travel slowly, beautifully, and surprise.'
Barbara Stauffacher Solomon
Alongside the anniversary edition, Risotto is planning a public retrospective for 2026 and will launch a digital Riso Club Atlas, mapping the project’s global reach and the hundreds of artworks produced so far. Together, these initiatives underscore the studio’s dedication to sustaining a print culture that values tactility, imperfection and exchange.
Nathalie Du Pasquier
At a moment when digital images circulate effortlessly, Riso Club’s commitment to ink, postage stamps and physical connection feels almost radical. Its 100th issue is not only a celebration of print, but a reminder that correspondence – something shared, held and kept –will always have the power to move people.
Non-members have until 30th November to secure their pack at risottostudio.com
Founded by artist and designer Gabriella Marcella in 2012, RISOTTO is the UK’s leading risograph print studio, producing work for brands like Puma, Tate and Pinterest, alongside releasing its own hand-made stationery collections and public programmes
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