Jessica Hische

Summary

Jessica Nicole Hische (/hɪʃ/ HISH;[2] born April 4, 1984) is an American lettering artist, illustrator, author, and type designer. She was one of the first of a new generation of letterers and the present-day flourishing of the lettering arts can in part be traced back to her emergence.[3]

Jessica Hische
BornApril 4, 1984[1]
NationalityAmerican
Websitehttp://jessicahische.is/

She published In Progress: See Inside a Lettering Artist's Sketchbook and Process, from Pencil to Vector in September 2015, which gives insight to her creative process and work she has completed as a hand-lettering artist. She has written and illustrated two New York Times best-selling children's books: Tomorrow I'll be Brave[4] (2018) and Tomorrow I'll be Kind [5] (2019). She has spoken at over 100 conferences worldwide.[6]

Background edit

Hische was born in Charleston, South Carolina on April 4, 1984.[1] She was primarily raised in Hazleton, Pennsylvania, graduating from Hazleton Area High School in 2002. She attended Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia, graduating in 2006 with a BFA in Graphic and Interactive Design.[7]

Career edit

 
Jessica Hische as a speaker at the 2018 Collision Conf

After graduating in 2006, Hische worked for Headcase Design in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She moved to Brooklyn in early 2007 taking a position as Senior Designer at Louise Fili's studio, Louise Fili Ltd, where she worked until late 2009. Hische left Louise Fili Ltd to further her freelance career as a letterer, illustrator, and type designer, citing her appreciation for the balance between work and personal life.[8][9][10] During her time in New York, she shared studios with other prominent artists and designers at The Pencil Factory[11] and Studiomates[12] in Brooklyn.

In 2012 Hische moved to the Bay Area and from 2012 to 2020 worked out of Title Case, a by-appointment-only collaborative studio in San Francisco, CA. Hische shared this studio with fellow letterer and designer, Erik Marinovich.[10] In 2020 she relocated her studio to downtown Oakland in a space that operates as both her office and letterpress printing and laser-cutting workshop.

Hische contributes much of her early commercial success to her personal project, "Daily Drop Cap"[13] along with other side projects including the Should I Work for Free flowchart[14] and "Don't Fear the Internet",[15] a tutorial website that teaches basic HTML and CSS to beginning web designers co-created with her husband Russ Maschmeyer.[16]

Hische has been featured in many journals/magazines. She was named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 list,[17][18] was listed in GD USA as a Person to Watch,[19] and has been featured as a Print New Visual Artist.[20] She was honored with the Young Gun award by the Art Directors Club of New York in 2009.[21]

Hische has worked with clients such as Wes Anderson (designing the titles for his film Moonrise Kingdom[22]), Dave Eggers (designing the book covers for his novels A Hologram for the King (2012)[23] and The Circle (2013).[24]), Penguin Books, The New York Times, Tiffany & Co., OXFAM America, McSweeney’s, American Express, Target, Victoria’s Secret, Chronicle Books, Nike, Samsung, Adobe, Apple, Barack Obama, Facebook, HarperCollins, Hershey's, Honda, Kellogg's, Macy's, UNICEF, NPR and Wired Magazine.[9][25] She designed the packaging for comedian John Hodgman's comedy special John Hodgman: Ragnarok[26] and designed the packaging for the Grammy-nominated vinyl release of Wyatt Cenac's comedy album Brooklyn.[27][28]

Hische has designed or contributed to the design of several postage stamps. Together with Fili, Hische designed the "Love Ribbons" stamp for the US Postal Service, which ended up selling over 250 million stamps.[29] She collaborated with Fili for two other stamp designs: Sealed with Love (2013),[30] and Skywriting (2015).[31] In 2015 she created her first solo stamp for the US Postal Service, a love stamp titled Forever Hearts.[32]

Hische teaches workshops about lettering and creative business practices online and in-person at her studio.[33] Several of these classes are available on the website Skillshare.[34]

Personal edit

Hische married Russ Maschmeyer in 2012.[35] Their wedding invitation website, a parallax-scrolling timeline of their relationship designed by the couple and contributed to by Hische's former studio mates at The Pencil Factory, was featured by Gawker in an article titled "The World's Most Hipster Wedding Announcement May Justify Outlawing Love".[36] Due to an outpouring of support by Hische's fans, the site issued a retraction[37] the following day.

Hische and Maschmeyer have three children, Ramona Maschmeyer (b. 2015), Charlie Maschmeyer (b. 2017), and George Maschmeyer (b. 2019). They live in Oakland, California.

Influences edit

In an interview with the design journal designboom, Hische remembered loving drawing as a young girl. She loved doing drawings and bubble letters of her friend's names. She was really into the fact that graphic design usually had a starting point, and it was a challenge to make something amazing given some guidelines. Her childhood influenced the work she would do in the future.[38]

Hische counts designers Matthew Carter, Marian Bantjes, Chris Ware, Doyald Young, Ed Benguiat, and Alex Trochut among her heroes in type and lettering.[39]

Works edit

  • Amelia Lost. Schwartz & Wade/Random, 2011. Illustrated by Hische.[40]
  • Tomorrow I'll Be Brave. Penguin Workshop, 2018.[41][42]
  • Tomorrow I'll Be Kind. Penguin Workshop, 2019.[43][44][45]
  • Who Will U Be? Penguin Workshop, 2023.[46][47][48]

Typefaces edit

Though Hische predominantly works in lettering, she has produced a number of commercial and proprietary typefaces.

Sources edit

  • Breuer, Gerda, Meer, Julia (ed): Women in Graphic Design, p. 475, Jovis, Berlin 2012 (ISBN 978-3-86859-153-8)
  • Hische, Jessica and Fili, Louise (preface): In Progress: See Inside a Lettering Artist's Sketchbook and Process, from Pencil to Vector. Chronicle Books, 2015 (ISBN 978-1452136226)[55]

References edit

  1. ^ a b c Luc Devroye. "Jessica Hische". Luc Devroye. Retrieved 2014-01-10.
  2. ^ "Lettering Artistry with Jessica Hische". YouTube. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
  3. ^ "ILT: The Month in Women in Type". news.ilovetypography.com. Retrieved 2021-04-05.
  4. ^ "Tomorrow I'll Be Brave by Jessica Hische: 9781524787011 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books". PenguinRandomhouse.com. Retrieved 2021-04-05.
  5. ^ "Tomorrow I'll Be Kind by Jessica Hische: 9781524787042 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books". PenguinRandomhouse.com. Retrieved 2021-04-05.
  6. ^ "Jessica Hische - About". jessicahische.is. Retrieved 2019-03-16.
  7. ^ Jessica Hische. "Jessica Hische - Press Page". Jessica Hische - Awesome. Retrieved 2014-01-10.
  8. ^ "Jessica Hische". FREELANCE WISDOM. 8 August 2016. Retrieved 2019-03-16.
  9. ^ a b Hische, Jessica. "Jessica Hische - Press Page". Jessica Hische - Awesome. Retrieved 21 March 2014.
  10. ^ a b Hische, Jessica. "Jessica Hische - About". Jessica Hische - Awesome. Retrieved 21 March 2014.
  11. ^ PrintMag (2013-01-15). "The Pencil Factory: An Oral History". PRINT. Retrieved 2021-04-05.
  12. ^ Hochman, David (2011-05-04). "Office Party? Let's Tweet It". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-04-05.
  13. ^ Jessica Hische. "Daily Drop Cap".
  14. ^ "Jessica Hische - the lettering type". The New Zealand Herald. 24 February 2012. Retrieved 29 November 2014.
  15. ^ Jessica Hische; Russ Maschmeyer. "Don't Fear the Internet".
  16. ^ "Russ Maschmeyer".
  17. ^ Susan Adams (19 December 2011). "Jessica Hische, Illustrator, Graphic Designer, 27 - In Photos: 30 Under 30: Art & Design - Forbes". Forbes. Archived from the original on January 8, 2012. Retrieved 2014-01-10.
  18. ^ Susan Adams (17 December 2012). "Jessica Hische, Graphic Designer, 28 - In Photos: 30 Under 30: Art & Style - Forbes". Forbes. Retrieved 2014-01-10.
  19. ^ "Jessica Hische". GDUSA. Archived from the original on 2014-01-11. Retrieved 2014-01-10.
  20. ^ Jane Lerner (20 June 2009). "Jessica Hische". Print. Retrieved 2014-01-10.
  21. ^ "Jessica Hische YG7". Archived from the original on 2015-04-03. Retrieved 2015-04-02.
  22. ^ Landekic, Lola (September 17, 2013). Lola Landekic Will Perkins (ed.). "Moonrise Kingdom". www.artofthetitle.com. Retrieved 2021-04-05.
  23. ^ "Jessica Hische - A Hologram for the King". Jessica Hische - Awesome. Archived from the original on 2012-07-14. Retrieved 2014-01-10.
  24. ^ "Jessica Hische - The Circle". Jessica Hische - Awesome. Archived from the original on 2014-01-10. Retrieved 2014-01-10.
  25. ^ Hische, Jessica. "Jessica Hische - About". Jessica Hische - Awesome. Retrieved 20 March 2014.
  26. ^ John Hodgman (1 December 2013). "John Hodgman, When the world did not end in 2012, I was left..." Tumblr. Retrieved 2014-01-17.
  27. ^ "Stand Up Comedy". Wyatt Cenac. Retrieved 2021-04-05.
  28. ^ "Wyatt Cenac Brooklyn Album Art".[permanent dead link]
  29. ^ Jessica Hische. "Love Stamp". Archived from the original on 2012-10-17. Retrieved 2016-03-04.
  30. ^ "Sealed With Love Stamp Issued". about.usps.com. Retrieved 2021-04-05.
  31. ^ "Stamp Announcement 17-02: Love Skywriting Stamp". about.usps.com. Retrieved 2021-04-05.
  32. ^ "Love: Forever Hearts stamps". about.usps.com. Retrieved 2021-04-05.
  33. ^ "Jessica Hische - Teaching". jessicahische.is. Retrieved 2021-04-05.
  34. ^ "Logotype Masterclass with Jessica Hische | Jessica Hische". Skillshare. Retrieved 2019-03-16.
  35. ^ "Jessica Hische and Russ Maschmeyer San Francisco wedding - 100 Layer Cake". www.100layercake.com. 28 January 2013. Retrieved 2021-04-05.
  36. ^ Magary, Drew. "The World's Most Hipster Wedding Announcement May Justify Outlawing Love". Gawker. Retrieved 2021-04-05.
  37. ^ Daulerio, A. J. "Jessica Hische, Designer of 'World's Most Hipster Wedding Announcement,' is a Delightful Human". Gawker. Retrieved 2021-04-05.
  38. ^ designboom, andy butler I. (2014-03-31). "interview with letterer jessica hische". designboom | architecture & design magazine. Retrieved 2023-12-17.
  39. ^ Zachary Petit (23 November 2014). "Jessica Hische on Jessica Hische". Print. Retrieved 29 November 2014.
  40. ^ Amelia Lost. Kirkus Reviews.
  41. ^ "Children's Bookwatch". Midwest Book Review. January 2020. Retrieved 2023-05-01.
  42. ^ Tomorrow I'll Be Brave. Kirkus Reviews.
  43. ^ "Tomorrow I'll Be Kind by Jessica Hische". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 2023-05-01.
  44. ^ "Children's Bookwatch". Midwest Book Review. May 2020. Retrieved 2023-05-01.
  45. ^ Tomorrow I'll Be Kind. Kirkus Reviews.
  46. ^ "Who Will U Be? by Jessica Hische". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 2023-05-01.
  47. ^ "Who Will U Be?". School Library Journal. Retrieved 2023-05-01.
  48. ^ Who Will U Be?. Kirkus Reviews.
  49. ^ "Buttermilk™ - Desktop font « MyFonts". MyFonts. 14 July 2009. Retrieved 29 November 2014.
  50. ^ "Snowflake - Desktop font « MyFonts". MyFonts. 29 October 2010. Retrieved 29 November 2014.
  51. ^ "Jessica Hische — Brioche Font". Jessica Hische. Archived from the original on 5 December 2014. Retrieved 29 November 2014.
  52. ^ "New Font Release: New layered typeface Minot by Jessica Hische". Typecache. 7 January 2013. Retrieved 29 November 2014.
  53. ^ Hische, Jessica. "Jessica Hische - Silencio Sans". Jessica Hische. Retrieved 29 November 2014.
  54. ^ "New Font Release: Tilda' Jessica Hische's typeface for Moonrise Kingdom". Typecache. 21 November 2014. Retrieved 29 November 2014.
  55. ^ "In Progress". Chronicle Books. Retrieved 2018-03-30.

External links edit

  • Official site
  • Jessica Hische on Goodreads
  • Should I Work For Free
  • Daily Drop Caps