Rita Fürstenau from Germany makes beautiful prints and illustrations. As Rita’s always busy with work – she also holds illustration workshops and has her own publishing company with two friends – she has created lovely workspaces for herself, one of which is in a Swedish country house. In her blog, she tells us more about her work and life.
Hi, it’s me again. Today I will tell you a bit about my work at Rotopolpress.
Rotopolpress is an independent publisher for graphic storytelling that I run together with Lisa Röper and Michael Meier. Our range of products focuses mainly on comics and illustration books, but also includes art prints, paper games, postcards, hand‐made sketch booklets and textiles.
We founded Rotopolpress in 2007, while we were still studying illustration at the School of Arts and Design Kassel. Initially, it was our goal to create an avenue where we could publish our own works and the works of fellow young illustrators, while being able to make all the creative decisions ourselves.
After our graduation we loved exchanging creative ideas with other artists so much that we decided to carry on. And we loved the fact that we created our own working conditions! So we found some allies and developed our initial Rotopol idea into a fully grown independent publishing house.
Our office is located in Kassel (Germany), in an area where the creative bustle has been increasing in the past few years. Here we work as editors and run the publishing company. At the back, we share a studio, where we work as illustrators. At the front, we also run a retail store and a gallery for contemporary illustration. This is where we set up exhibitions year-round and feature shows by individual artists and collectives as well as Rotopol group shows.
Since we publish unusual formats and small editions, we like to work with local printers. When it comes to materials, we focus on sustainability and use natural, uncoated paper. Art, stationery and textile prints are produced in our own studio, which also includes a screen printing workshop.
We particularly love strong personal styles and offer illustrators, comic artists and designers the opportunity to make unconventional stuff. It’s a challenge to find an individual format and layout for every piece, that’s why the editing and production process is done in close cooperation with the author. For us, it is all about books that you want to read again and again, always discovering something new.
You can find us at fairs and festivals in Germany and all over Europe, where we showcase the Rotopol exhibitions, organize comic readings and drawing workshops. We love doing these, as we’re very fond of travelling.
All in all, Rotopol is a great platform bringing together the creative potential around us and making that visible in various ways.
For more information, take a look at rotopolpress.de
See you next week,
Rita
