Industry News

Jessica Hische Quote Article: HOW Design TODAY March 2023

Passionate. Wise. Hilarious. Kind.

And of course—incredibly talented.

When you hear the inimitable Jessica Hische speak at an event, you pick up on all these traits, and so much more. Which is why—drumroll!—we’re absolutely thrilled to announce that you’ll have the opportunity to do exactly that when Hische takes the stage at HOW Design Live 2023, set for June 5–7 in Nashville!

As we anxiously await Hische’s keynote, we’ve been going back through some of our favorite interviews with her, and they’re a goldmine of inspiration and insight.

Here are 15 bon mots from them. Give them a read, and then grab a notebook and get ready to jot down all-new ones when she takes the stage in June!

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“Whenever something that used to bring you joy no longer brings you joy, it’s time to try something new. It’s not that that thing will never give you joy again, it’s just that you need some time away. Your relationship with your work is like your relationship with any really close friend. No matter how tight you are with someone, you don’t want to have a slumber party for three months with them.”
(Source: Ways We Work)

“My top advice is to try to not follow trends too closely (if you can). [Portfolio sites] can be great for getting your name out there and seeing what others are up to, but if you spend too much time looking at your contemporaries’ work you run the risk of making work similar to the herd. Spend time falling in love with things that aren’t design, and let those things influence your work.”
(Source: The Everygirl)

“I’m not a ‘snap-to-grid’ person. I use a computer as you would a hand tool, rather than taking advantage of the fact that it can be perfect. I don’t make things on a computer because I want them to be perfect; I make things on a computer because that’s just a medium that works for me in terms of creation.”
(Source: PRINT Magazine, Spring 2017)

“As far as my ‘brand’—it’s really just me. I try to be as true to myself online as much as I can so that if you meet me in person, you are hearing the same voice you’ve read online for years. It’s a lot of work to be anything other than yourself.”
(Source: jessicahische.is)

“Living unapologetically is something that’s really important to do as an adult. You don’t have to apologize because you want to live your life a certain way.”
(Source: Design Matters)

“I think people that have the most success in any career are those that can remain a bit humble—or at least empathetic—no matter what their career status. If you love people—love interacting with them, working with them—you’ll have success in your career. To have success as an independent designer or creative type, you have to be driven, you have to at least try to be organized, and you have to be pleasant to work with. Art directors will come back to you over and over again if you make the experience of working together a pleasant one.”
(Source: Rookie)

“Try to not let menial tasks take over your life. It’s very easy to spend an entire day on the phone with customer services, organizing things, poking around in email, etc. I try to do all of my weekly emailing on one day (‘Admin Mondays’) and only reply back to urgent emails at other times during the week.”
(Source: Creative Lady Collective)

“Hire people to do the things that you’re bad at.”
(Source: Creative Lady Collective)

“If I can’t get excited about a project or dread working on it, I know that I haven’t pushed myself to try something new or challenged myself enough. That’s not to say that every single project I take on is about pushing myself to new levels (I don’t think my brain/body could handle that at this exact stage of my life), but I try not to repeat myself.”
(Source: Eye on Design)

“When a tool becomes trendy (any tool, analog or digital), everyone who uses it makes similar-looking work. Diversifying your tools is one of the best ways to make work that is different from everyone else. If you can create your own tools (analog or digital) or at least not rely too heavily on fancy shortcut automation and have the history/letterform construction knowledge to make solid work, you’ll be in the best place.”
(Source: Eye on Design)

“Failure shouldn’t define you. It should help reconfigure you and help you move forward. But I think so many of us fail at something, and we feel like it’ll be our legacy that we failed at that one thing. Even tiny kids.”
(Source: Design Matters)

“What I found was that I need to be creating: that the act of making work and spending an inordinate amount of time slowly crafting something is very therapeutic for me. And it helps me manage a lot of the stress and anxiety that I can tend to feel. Art is my meditation.”
(Source: Creative Cloud)

“I love the world of design and commercial art. I’m not one of those people that’s going to swear off clients forever, because I like the purpose that a client-driven work style brings. There’s enjoyment in having someone at the other side of it be happy.”
(Source: Ways We Work)

“Have a plan, but be willing to deviate from it if awesome opportunities arise. While it’s important to think about your future and what you want to be doing in five years, don’t let that plan be so concrete that you ignore opportunities around you.”
(Source: jessicahische.is)

“Mostly, I want to see where the wind takes me. It feels like it’s been picking up speed lately and, if I can just convince myself to put my sails up, even if it takes me to uncharted territory, everything will work out.”
(Source: Creative Cloud)

Get More of Jessica Hische

For more from Jessica Hische, follow her on social: Instagram, Twitter or Pinterest.

Don’t Miss HOW Design Live 2023, June 5-7, 2023, Gaylord Opryland Resort.
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