This workshop, led by Amira Hegazy, approaches the book as a design problem in the fullest sense — one where form and content are inseparable, and where every decision, from margins to binding method, is also an editorial one. This workshop briefly explores the historical development of book form and how physical possibilities of the book have developed with the needs of production and readers.  Whether you are working on a zine, a monograph, an artist book, or a longer publication, the workshop offers both practical grounding and a more expansive framework for thinking about what a book can do.

This is the third workshop in the Design for Print sessions with Amira Hegazy

This workshop series is built for designers and other digital image makers to translate their digital skills to physical making. We will take specific elements of the design process and decode them to print processes. We will highlight historical and theoretical elements that have woven through design practice from days of physical production to our digital workspaces. Expect to leave each workshop feeling more knowledgeable about your day-to-day design workflows and how to realize your designs through hands-on print practices at Spudnik Press. 

• Workshop 1: Thinking Through Color — Understanding Single Color Production with the Risograph (May 10, 12-4pm)
• Workshop 2: Slow Type — Letterforms & Typesetting on the Letterpress (May 17, 12-6pm)
  
• Workshop 3: Designing for the Printed Book (May 31, 12-4pm)
• Workshop 4: Containers — Presenting Your Work Through Box Building (June 7, 12-6pm)Note: Each workshop in this series is enrolled individually. You can register for a single workshop or sign up for the full series.

Amira Hegazy is a Chicago-based designer, printer, bookmaker and educator whose work lives at the intersection of print, publication, and community. This four-part workshop series is designed specifically for graphic designers looking to deepen their print knowledge — from file setup to finished object.

Using Spectrolite, an intuitive software designed for Riso printing, you will create standalone prints, explore layering techniques, and develop a foundation for animation. From there, you will learn how to scan and composite your work in Photoshop, building toward a finished animated GIF and a short Riso animation to take home.

You will leave the course with prints, contact sheets, and a collection of digital material to continue experimenting with long after the final session. With the Risograph, practice and experimentation are at the heart of every unique result.

What to Bring

— USB drive
— Notebook

No experience is needed, simply a creative spirit and a readiness to experiment.

Working directly on t-shirts, you’ll spend real time at the press getting comfortable with the equipment and the workflow. You’ll learn how ink behaves on fabric, how to mix a custom color, and how to get consistent results across multiple prints. Registration — the process of aligning your second color precisely to your first — gets dedicated attention so you leave with a clear understanding of how to nail it every time.

Students will leave with finished printed tees and full authorization to use the screenprinting studio independently, so you can keep coming back and making.

Over the span of 3 sessions, participants will receive personalized guidance towards completing their own ambitious, animated relief projects. This class also includes a voucher for free access to open studio hours, giving students the opportunity to conclude their project independently should they need extra time, even after the course’s completion. 

No experience in either medium is required to enroll.

In addition to gaining authorization to print independently at Spudnik Press, students will have access to Open Studios to work on their projects.

This workshop, led by Amira Hegazy, focuses on the design and construction of custom enclosures to explore how structure, material, and proportion work together to create objects worthy of what it holds. Participants will build their own boxes by hand, developing both the technical vocabulary and the design sensibility to think about containment as an intentional act. We will discuss how engineering containers go hand in hand with print design preparation and consider how the design and fabrication process are inseparable. Essential for designers working with product development, book editions, print portfolios, or any work where the experience of receiving matters as much as the work itself.

This is the fourth workshop in the Design for Print sessions with Amira Hegazy

This workshop series is built for designers and other digital image makers to translate their digital skills to physical making. We will take specific elements of the design process and decode them to print processes. We will highlight historical and theoretical elements that have woven through design practice from days of physical production to our digital workspaces. Expect to leave each workshop feeling more knowledgeable about your day-to-day design workflows and how to realize your designs through hands-on print practices at Spudnik Press. 

• Workshop 1: Thinking Through Color — Understanding Single Color Production with the Risograph (May 10, 12-4pm)
• Workshop 2: Slow Type — Letterforms & Typesetting on the Letterpress (May 17, 12-6pm)
  
• Workshop 3: Designing for the Printed Book (May 31, 12-4pm)
• Workshop 4: Containers — Presenting Your Work Through Box Building (June 7, 12-6pm)

Note: Each workshop in this series is enrolled individually. You can register for a single workshop or sign up for the full series.

Amira Hegazy is a Chicago-based designer, printer, bookmaker and educator whose work lives at the intersection of print, publication, and community. This four-part workshop series is designed specifically for graphic designers looking to deepen their print knowledge — from file setup to finished object.