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2026 Riso Calendar by Maria Tsilomitrou

posted by People of Print Features February 17, 2026

For the past four years, Athens-based designer and illustrator Maria Tsilomitrou has marked the passing of time with an annual ritual. What began as a simple experiment has gradually evolved into a poetic, tactile project that treats the calendar not just as a functional object, but as a space for reflection and discovery.

The 2026 Riso Calendar, created under her independent practice Studio Chill, continues this evolving tradition. Designed as a double-sided poster, one side presents the months and their numbers, while the reverse reveals a character exploring an intriguing landscape. The narrative mirrors the way we move through the year, month by month, encountering new environments, emotions, and perspectives.

Each month can be torn along perforated lines, allowing viewers to keep a small card as the poster slowly transforms its shape throughout the year. Alternatively, the piece can remain intact and be preserved as a complete artwork long after 2026 has passed. This dual functionality reflects the project’s central idea: time is something we can experience, reshape, and reinterpret.

Over the years, the calendar has shifted from a purely practical format into something more intimate. Each edition becomes a new chapter, told through colour, texture, and considered design decisions. Risography plays a crucial role in this language. Developed in collaboration with Kedapress Riso Studio, the layered inks, subtle misalignments, and tactile surfaces echo the fragile and fleeting nature of time itself. The combination of the Risograph process, carefully chosen materials, and small-scale production techniques such as stamping and perforation gives the calendar its handcrafted and human quality.

The concept for the 2026 edition emerged from a quiet, personal moment. During a period when creativity felt distant, Tsilomitrou found inspiration in something small. Watching her nephew examine plants and insects with a magnifying glass revealed how much wonder exists in overlooked details. That observation shaped the direction of the project: a character who explores their surroundings with curiosity, mirroring how we might approach each new month.

As Tsilomitrou explains, “The project invites viewers to slow down, notice the small details, and see each day not just as a date, but as a moment full of potential for discovery.”

Printed locally and produced with care, the 2026 Riso Calendar embodies Studio Chill’s broader practice. Maria Tsilomitrou’s work is known for its dreamy, colourful visual worlds, blending geometric forms, playful type, and narrative-driven compositions. Here, that sensibility is distilled into a format that lives on the wall yet encourages interaction, transformation, and attention.

In an era where time often feels accelerated and abstract, this calendar offers an alternative rhythm. It invites pause. It asks for observation. It transforms the act of marking days into a slow and considered engagement with the present.