Jessica Hische

Jessica Nicole Hische (born April 4, 1984) is an American letterer, illustrator, and type designer. She is best known for her personal projects, 'Daily Drop Cap' and the Should I Work for Free flowchart.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 spoken at over 100 conferences worldwide, but splits her time between San Francisco, CA and Brooklyn, NY.

Hische was born in Charleston, South Carolina on April 4, 1984. In 2006, Hische graduated from the Tyler School of Art with a degree in Graphic and Interactive Design.

After graduating in 2006, Hische worked for Headcase Design in Philadelphia, PA. She then took a position as Senior Designer at Louise Fili's studio, Louise Fili Ltd, where she worked for two and a half years. In 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.

Hische has been featured in several journals/magazines. She has been mentioned in the Forbes 30 Under 30 list, the GDUSA Person to Watch, and Print's New Visual Artist.

Together with Fili, Hische designed the eye-catching "Love" stamp for the US Postal Service, which ended up selling over 250 million stamps.

She has designed the book covers for Dave Eggers's novels A Hologram for the King (2012) and The Circle (2013).

Hische designed the packaging for comedian John Hodgman's comedy special John Hodgman: Ragnarok.

She has also designed the most recent logo revision for email marketing service provider MailChimp under the art direction of Ron Lewis.

Hische has worked with clients such as Wes Anderson, Dave Eggers, 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, Harper Collins, Hershey's, Honda, Kellogg's, Macy's, UNICEF, NPR and Wired Magazine. She was honoured with the Young Gun award of the Art Directors Club of New York.

Joining forces with her web designer husband, Russ Maschmeyer, they created a side project called "Don't Fear the Internet", a tutorial website that teaches basic HTML and CSS to beginning web designers. She has informative classes available on the website Skillshare.

Hische currently works out of Title Case, a by-appointment-only collaborative studio in San Francisco, CA. Hische operates this studio with fellow letterer and designer, Erik Marinovich. She has also shared studios with Studiomates and The Pencil Factory.

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

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

• Buttermilk™ (2009)
• Snowflake (2010)
• Brioche
• Minot (2013)
• Silencio Sans (2014)
• Tilda (2014) - the typeface Hische developed for the 2012 Wes Anderson film Moonrise Kingdom.

• 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)