Studio vs Home:

Jessica Hische is a typographer and illustrator working in Brooklyn, New York. After graduating from Tyler School of Art with a degree in Graphic Design, she worked for Headcase Design in Philadelphia before taking a position as Senior Designer at Louise Fili Ltd. While working for Louise, she continued developing her freelance career, working for clients such as Tiffany & Co., Chronicle Books, and The New York Times. In September of 2009, after two and a half years of little sleep and a lot of hand-lettering, she left Louise Fili to pursue her freelance career further. Jessica has been featured in most major design and illustration publications including Communication Arts, Print Magazine, How Magazine, The Graphis Design Annual, American Illustration and the Society of Illustrators. She was featured as one of Step Magazine’s 25 Emerging Artists, Communication Arts “Fresh”, Print Magazine’s New Visual Artists 2009 (commonly referred to as Print’s 20 under 30), and The Art Directors Club Young Guns.

My boyfriend describes my quick handwriting as “schizophrenic” since it’s always jumping around between all caps and cursive.

FYD: Did that “Type” tatt hurt?  Who did the work?

JH: It did, but not nearly as much as you’d think! Daniel Albrigo at New York Adorned (the Brooklyn branch) was the tattoo artist and the lettering is by me of course. He had a light touch, it hurt far less than the tattoo on my back.

Send presents to people whose work you admire, they like that.

FYD: Were you a printer or cursive gal in elementary school?  Erik Spiekermann sent me a sample of his cursive, you feel like showing one too?

JH: I think I’ve always been more of a printer than a cursive writer (surprising but true!) Now my handwriting is mostly all uppercase printing and very tiny. When I write quickly it’s a bit of a hybrid between printed and cursive. My boyfriend describes my quick handwriting as “schizophrenic” since it’s always jumping around between all caps and cursive. (click to enlarge)

FYD: Back in the day, you created a bit of a Cinderella story for yourself. You sent a promo to 250 ADS and received one response from Louise Fili.  What is the moral of this story?

JH: I think the moral of the story is “Don’t be afraid to go for something seemingly out of your reach because it just might work out” or “Send presents to people whose work you admire, they like that.”

FYD: Are you seeing more studio buildings where artists with similar ideas and goals work in the same space?  Maybe it’s more of a New York thang. Dang, I wish it were universal. 

JH: Yes! I know more and more people who are working freelance or setting up their own shops and generally shared workspaces are the way to go in New York. I think in New York it’s a bit different. Because space is so expensive, you aren’t perceived as being “cheap” for sharing a space rather than having your own. It’s a great opportunity for possible collaborations (generally people in similar disciplines tend to share together) and it’s great at keeping you motivated. My studio feels not dissimilar to the dormitories I lived in college. You’d wander the halls when you were procrastinating, see everyone was working, and it would make you want to go back and work. In my building, a large group of us are good friends so aside from being excited to work on fun projects, I always look forward to coming to the studio just to hang out as well.

FYD: I know you like food (I L O V E food). Take the two of us out to eat in New York. What will we order and what will we drink?

JH: This is a toughie because I also LOOOOOVVEEE food (and cocktails!). My new favorite restaurant though is probably Rye in Williamsburg Brooklyn. I’ve had a few stellar nights there, the inside is really cozy and prohibition-era-esque, they have delicious cocktails (my favorite is The Tapered Nail) and their food is awesome. Get the pickle plate to start and either the meatball sandwich or the duck. And definitely get the chocolate cake.

♥  portfolio » jessicahische.com
♥  project » dailydropcap.com
♥  twitter » jessicahische

(Don’t miss JH’s Freelance Flowchart a la Should I Work For Free)