On Big Swings & the Value of Printed Things: Book Club Recap With Jessica Hische

Did you miss our conversation with Jessica Hische? Register here to watch the recording of this fun episode of the PRINT Book Club.

Each and every letter is awesome. Some are dreamy. Others are electric. They can be jeweled, neon, or old-fashioned. They can be every color you imagine, even rainbow.

In a PRINT Book Club first, we had a read-along with our author. Jessica Hische, a self-proclaimed “fancy letter expert,” shared her newest book for children, My First Book of Fancy Letters, from cover to playful cover.

The book is perfect as an alphabet book for children learning letters for the first time with stick-figure qualities kids can latch onto. It’s also a book that one can appreciate at any age. There’s even a sweet how-to for readers, for when they find fancy letters they love out in the world.

My First Book of Fancy Letters is Hische’s fourth book (her third children’s book). When asked why children’s books, Hische admitted she didn’t understand how exciting it would be to make books for her own kids, but what she found when she started, was the excitement of “making books for my younger self.”

We were treated to a time-lapse of Hische drawing the book’s endpapers. (Here’s a screenshot).

The famously generous and vulnerable polymath offered up insights into everything from the importance of self-promo to her recent diagnosis of ADHD to the ins and outs of retail shop ownership, technology,* and why she has a window from her store into her print shop. If all of this makes you want to take a breath, Hische also has something to teach us all about intention and balance.

On the technology front, the PRINT audience was first to hear of Hische’s newest initiative: a business management platform for creatives, called Studioworks. Designed to replace Quickbooks because, who uses more than a tenth of its capabilities? Tune in as she talks about her impetus for the new app.

Register here to watch the recording, grab your notebook and favorite pen, and get ready for a bounty of creative inspo and career wisdom.

Buy a copy of My First Book of Fancy Letters.

Mark your calendars for our first Book Club of 2025. On Thursday, January 16, Jon Key will join us to discuss his new book, Black, Queer, & Untold: A New Archive of Designers, Artists, and Trailblazers.

The post On Big Swings & the Value of Printed Things: Book Club Recap With Jessica Hische appeared first on PRINT Magazine.

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