Meet risograph art press studio from the Philippines, Bad Student.

Tell us a little bit about yourself.

Hello! We are Dyam Gonzales and Pau Tiu, co-founders and owners of Bad Student, a Risograph art press/ studio working at the crossroads of printmaking, publishing, and design. Our studio aims to empower the DIY publishing community in the Philippines through the exploration and production of artists’ books, art prints, catalogues, posters, and other print media. Bad Student also serves as a platform for artists and designers to showcase their works both locally and internationally.

Describe the city you’re living in and what it’s like to live there.

Our studio is located in Cubao, Quezon City, the largest and most populated city in our country. It is home to lots of establishments such as government agencies, universities, television networks, and shopping malls. We usually hang-out at galleries and artist-run spaces for art exhibits and do some biking and nature tripping around our university campus when we’re not at the studio.

Our studio aims to empower the DIY publishing community in the Philippines through the exploration and production of artists’ books, art prints, catalogues, posters, and other print media.

What is the best and worst thing about living in your city?

Best thing is we’re literally at the center of a shopping district so we can pretty much get our supplies anytime. Also, our clients and friends can easily track where our studio is. Worst thing is because there are lots of people living and working here, places tend to get overcrowded and noisy, and mass transportation is hell. It is convenient at times but tends to leave you overwhelmed.

Give us 3 words that describe what it’s like to be a creative in your city.

Thriving

Fast-paced

Crowded?

How did you start your career in art?

We were best friends from college in the same batch studying fine arts and ever since then we were already teaming up in class plates and group works. We liked experimenting with different tools, getting lost in the process, and discovering techniques on whatever new medium that we come across. Straight after college, we made a brand named Polly Patch which focuses on do-it-yourself art merchandise such as pins, patches, stickers, and t-shirts. From there, we wanted to expand the diy approach in art making so we were very excited to learn about Risograph and self-publishing, eventually giving birth to Bad Student.

Bad Student is the first and only Riso art press here in the Philippines. Being a “new” printing medium (the practice of Riso printing is not much explored here), we work closely with our clients and treat each project as a collaboration. Riso has a unique print quality that you could not achieve with other printing methods. It’s very suitable for art prints, zines, books, packaging, and any paper-based projects. With this in mind, we want to extend and promote Risograph printing to other local artists and small businesses for them to have an affordable option for exploration and printing multiple editions without compromising the quality and artistic integrity of their works.

We always try to live by our motto that in order to be good at something, you have to be bad at it first.

Were the people around you supportive of your decision on working as a creative?

We are fortunate to have such supportive parents and friends who were with us from the start. Most of our early print jobs are works by our close friends! They were eager to try and experiment with us. Funny thing is, back when we were starting, we almost broke the riso machine from trying to figure out ways to operate it. We’re also very lucky to have each other to lean on as we were both just teaching ourselves the technical side of printing as well as handling the business side of having a studio. We were making lots of mistakes, and yet still always cheering each other on haha! That’s why we always try to live by our motto that in order to be good at something, you have to be bad at it first. Also, having the privilege to pursue this type of work that is open to mistakes and imperfection is also the reason why we feel the need to share this privilege to others. To take the pressure off and just keep on creating. We believe that mistakes are chances and opportunities for learning.

What are some goals and ambitions you have for your future work?

We advocate to keep print alive, so we want to organize a large-scale art book fair in Manila. We have an immense number of talented artists and individuals who produce such significant, original works in printed matter and it would be great to have an event that celebrates these locally. While we’re still preparing and researching on that dream event, last November, we hosted our first After School Program. It’s a mini art book fair & pop-up event we plan to host yearly. During that event, we had an open call for artists who are interested in having their original works published in Risograph under Bad Student Press. Right now, we’re working with 11 Filipino artists who received the grant and we’ll be starting production very soon! Their works range from comics to graphic novels, photo books, handmade artist books, children’s books, and more! We’re excited to share these new publications with everyone. We’re thrilled to have a diverse set of books and zines that we can bring and showcase to book fairs here and abroad.

We advocate to keep print alive, so we want to organize a large-scale art book fair in Manila.

If you could collaborate with any person in the world who would it be?

Definitely Taylor Swift & Ariana Grande! No joke, 90% of our studio playlist is their entire discography on repeat. If we can print tour posters or any kind of merch, that would be a DREAM. Haha!

How would you describe the women around you?

Full of light, warmth, strength, wisdom, creativity, passion, complexity and humor. <3

We are an amalgamation of each other’s best and worst qualities.

Full of light, warmth, strength, wisdom, creativity, passion, complexity and humor. <3

Were there any local female creatives that you looked up to when you were growing up?

Tinay Villamiel from Artwork Philippines. We’ve been huge fans of the brand ever since we were in high school. Looking back, we think that Artwork somehow introduced us to the world of DIY, screenprinting, and creating merchandise. Funny story, back in college we would sometimes accidentally wear the same Artwork shirt to class and it would look like we planned it haha! The two of us literally have the same sense of style and aesthetic even back then and bonding over the brand came naturally to us.

Are there any challenging aspects of being a female in your industry?

There’s still a lot of doubt in trusting females with huge projects. It’s as if we have to constantly prove ourselves that we deserve the job. Just recently we worked on a construction site for a large scale mural project. The construction workers and contractors were all male and we’re the only female on the site. We could feel that they were doubting us the entire time haha! But at the end of the day you just have to rise to the occasion and prove the doubters wrong.

Let’s look at each other as a community rather than competitors.

Do you have any advice to young women who are aspiring to work in your field?

Women are the best collaborators! Don’t be afraid to share your dreams, ideas, and goals to your fellow women. Let’s look at each other as a community rather than competitors. The more we empower each other, the more opportunities we can provide for everyone.

Photos courtesy of Bad Student.