Geometry in Motion:
In Conversation with Julia Schimautz

You are a risograph printing expert. For our audience who might not know what it is, are you able to explain the riso-printing process?

Riso, originally from Japan, is a stencil printing system. The printer kind of looks like a copier machine, but ink within a spinning drum is forced through a stencil and left to absorb onto paper. It was originally used for low quality office copies, so there is a lot of uncertainty of outcome in using this medium, creating bold and exciting space for reimagination. I love how much room there is for experimentation.

Most your work uses geometric shapes and, particularly recently, animation. It is like poetry — simple yet layered at the same time. How do you keep your work in this space unique and inspiring?

Having fun and lots of experimenting. I like to try new things all the time, and mix the worlds of analog and digital. I feel like I have hundreds of ideas, I want to keep evolving and growing.

Talk to me about the animations. How do you do it? And, what first led you to experimenting with print animations?

I used to work at Dream Press in Cape Town, which is a riso and publishing studio run by Candice Ježek. She’s been my mentor throughout the years and one of the most creative people I know - a genius in bookmaking and riso printing. Whenever we did test prints for clients, I would pop in some small animation frames, and I’ve been hooked since.

Of your designs a few stand out to me, notably the Going Nowhere Slowly and Rotating Halftones — there seems to be a story, or an artistic exploration in your work. What are you trying to say/demonstrate through your art?

Going nowhere slowly was such a fun collaboration with Ines Soutschka, from Cult Wife. Combining our skills in animation and riso, our aim was to create an artwork that is an animation and frame-based without being too obvious. Glancing at it, you see a poster as a whole, and then when looking closer you can see the small frames and walking men.

Rotating Halftone was an exploration of making a still image, taken by Francis Broek, move only through rotating halftones, I love the results and how the small dots look like they are dancing.

I personally love the coin animation; it complements our Rhythm aesthetic. Do you have any personal favourite works?

I really like stereoscope, one of my animations for Lucy Kruger & The Lost Boys. I think it opens doors to mixing analog and digital, and gives an idea of the possibilities in that. This is definitely something I want to explore further and experiment more with.

I hate this questions but … what is your source of inspiration. What is your creative process, from conception to final piece?

Oh I love this question, I’m so inspired by the creative industry. Being on social media and seeing what people create inspires me endlessly and gives me a thrill - some people are just super smart. Online magazines such as It’s Nice That and Eye on Design showcase great design and the thoughts and ideas behind it. I’ve also got a great collection of books, and Japanese graphic magazines from the 50s-2000s.

Without giving too much away, are you working on any big projects now?

Obviously I’m very excited about the project we have worked on together!

I’ve worked on my first record cover which was always a dream project of mine. I’m working on a few projects with musicians that I’m big fans of, so there are lots of exciting things going on!

Were there any artists you idolised while starting out? And did you collect old school comic books?

Mitsuo Katsui and his use of color and gradients have always inspired me. I think his works are some of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen. Also since seeing Rapapawn Studio’s riso animations featured on we transfer, I just instantly fell in love with them and riso. Not necessarily comics but anything that’s pretty; I always loved going to second hand books shops and collecting old design books and anything that has cool images in it.