Member Profile - Rachel Littlewood
Rachel Littlewood is a London based risographer & designer and a recent studio member at Spare Street. She has been working in risograph printing presses for over 5 years and leads creative workshops as part of her practice. Currently she works at London College of Communication in Print Finishing, helping the students bind books and finish their printed projects. Rachel also creates notebooks & zines which she distributes online and at fairs.
Can you give a brief description of what you do:
I currently work as a print finishing technician at UAL, but I have been working within the risograph printing community for the past 6 years as well. I make zines, prints, and notebooks, and also run a group for risograph enthusiasts called Riso Working Group.
© Rachel Littlewood
Between now and when you were studying, have you more or less followed the path that you imagined for yourself, or wandered more dramatically from it?
I didn’t have a particular plan for after I graduated, so for a while I was just winging it! I studied graphic design and made books or printed material for most of my projects, but it took me a while to realise I could also work on the production side of things (printing, book binding, and print finishing).
Inside Rachel’s studio at Spare Street. © Hotel Elephant
Where do you see, or hope, your work might be leading you to in the future?
I hope to develop Riso Working Group further with the help of the group’s members, by putting together more collaborative projects as well as a variety of trips and events. I’m hopefully getting my hands on a risograph printer soon (fingers crossed!) with which I’ll be able to expand the kind of workshops I can teach, and where I can do them!
How does London feature into your work?
I was born & raised in London and also went to university here, so that’s the main reason I’m in London! It is getting increasingly more expensive though which is affecting a lot of young creative in terms of finding somewhere to live, having a studio space, and getting equipment. However it’s nice that we have access to a lot of exhibition spaces, galleries, and museums.
Rachel Littlewood in her studio. © Hotel Elephant
What brought you to taking a studio space at Hotel Elephant?
I decided to get a studio at Hotel Elephant because I find it really hard to work at home; it happens to be near to where I work as well, which makes it convenient! It’s also a good location for others to travel to which means I can have people over to work on projects.
One boring, daily, practical piece of advice or habit that you would share?
I try to keep organised by having a weekly to-do list on paper. I also colour-code all the notes to match any reminders or events in my Google calendar so it’s a cohesive system. But it took me a while to figure out a way that works for me and I realise that a mixture of analogue and digital doesn’t work for everyone. Another boring habit I have got into is saving all my receipts and organising them by month, so it makes getting things ready to do my taxes a lot easier (although I’ve heard this might not be necessary now!). I also have made a detailed spreadsheet to record where all my money goes and comes from; it took a while to set up, but it’s made things much easier in the long run!
Close up of studio wall, Artworks © Rachel Littlewood
One more inspiring idea, or something wish you had realised sooner?
A part of me wishes I hadn’t spent so long trying to be a graphic designer, when that wasn’t really where my heart was at and it wasn’t making me happy. But sometimes you have to make those mistakes to figure out what’s right for you.
You can visit Rachel’s Website HERE
Follow her on Instagram HERE