Some workplaces feel like an afterthought. Then there are spaces like Risotto Studio - where the environment itself is a statement of intent.
Glasgow-based designer Gabriella Marcella has redesigned her studio headquarters to match the bold, joyful visual language she's built her brand around. The result is a transformed industrial unit that doubles as both a practical working space and a full expression of her creative identity.
Fourteen years in the making
Marcella founded Risotto Studio after graduating, setting up shop at Glasgow's Glue Factory creative hub where she stayed for 14 years. That kind of long-term commitment to a creative community says a lot - and now, with a self-designed space to call her own, she's taken that loyalty and channelled it into something permanent and personal.
Risotto Studio specialises in risograph printing, a process that's had a serious moment in the design world over the past decade. Risography uses soy-based inks and a drum-based printing method originally designed for office duplication - but in the hands of designers like Marcella, it produces something far more interesting. Think layered colours, slightly imperfect registration, and a tactile quality that feels nothing like a standard digital print.
A space that reflects the work
The studio's redesign, as reported by Dezeen, brings Marcella's signature colour-saturated aesthetic into the physical world. Rather than defaulting to the white walls and minimal fixtures that dominate so many creative studios, this space leans into personality. It's a reminder that where you work shapes how you work - and that there's real value in building an environment that reflects what you actually care about.
For Marcella, that means a headquarters that feels as alive as the stationery and printed goods Risotto Studio is known for.
Why this matters beyond the aesthetics
There's something genuinely inspiring about a designer who treats her own workspace with the same creative investment she brings to client work. It's easy to prioritise the product and let the behind-the-scenes slide. Marcella hasn't done that - and the studio stands as proof that intentional design at every level, including the spaces we inhabit daily, makes a difference.
If you've ever admired Risotto Studio's output without knowing the story behind it, this is a good moment to look a little closer. The work and the space are, it turns out, completely inseparable.
