Hi-Res

Aimee Liriano is a designer and illustrator based in Philadelphia, originally from the Dominican Republic. Specializing in brand design and marketing campaigns, Aimée is dedicated to infusing vibrancy and creativity into every project. Aimee has worked as a freelance designer and illustrator with clients like the Philadelphia Latino Festival and PhillyCAM. She is currently a full-time graphic designer at Center City District. Aimee joins the show for a conversation about finishing her degree during the pandemic, pursuing personal creative projects while working full-time and how she never wants to stop learning.  

Hannah Westerman is a multi-disciplinary designer, illustrator and creative director shaping the future of visuals in the music industry and beyond. She is also the owner of the boutique design studio, Avenue West. She has created the branding for music festivals, including the Xponential Music Festival and the Philly Music Fest as well as the packaging design for A Philly Special Christmas, a holiday album by Philadelphia Eagles alums Jason Kelce, Jordan Mailata and Lane Johnson. Hannah joins us for the first episode of the new season to discuss her unique way of brainstorming for a project, how she builds trust with her clients and what her favorite karaoke song is.  

Katie Johnson and Ilana Griffo are the creative duo behind Goodtype, an inclusive space for lettering artists, calligraphers, & type designers championing good type & good business. After running their own successful art businesses, the two artists met via DM and joined forces virtually from their homes in New York and Texas. They share a drive to help other artists pursue their passions and take the fear out of business. They're both lettering artists as well as published authors, and they believe everyone deserves to love their job. Katie and Ilana join the season finale of the lettering series to discuss their first year as podcasters, find your creative voice, promoting your work that feels authentic to your identity and their biggest "pinch me" moments.  

Jess Goldsmith is an illustrator and lettering artist born and bred in NYC. Her work is colorful, and fun and invokes the sense of humor and playfulness that she's known for. She has created work for Adobe, Hulu, Microsoft, Pinterest, Amazon, and more. She is also the owner, curator, and author of Women of Type, a community that exists to amplify the work of women and nonbinary creatives in the lettering and type industry. Women of Type serves as a hub for members to share their work, find artists to connect with, and provide paid opportunities for those starting out in the industry. The Women of Type Book is available worldwide and showcases the work of over 130 artists from 20+ countries, spanning 5 continents as a creative collaboration to celebrate letters, colors, and the power of the written word. Jess joins the show to discuss how she "accidentally" created this community, the responsiblity of curating the channel and the importance of practicing an artistic discipline you don't get paid for.   

Ian Barnard is a hand lettering artist and calligrapher with a passion for inspiring, entertaining and helping people to get better at their lettering skills through videos on his Instagram and Youtube channels. He also creates and sells digital lettering brushes for the iPad and creates custom lettering and typefaces for clients. Ian talks about how he got his start with hand lettering, the role his digital products play in his career and keeping your passion when your hobby becomes your profession. Plus, listen for a special announcement at the end of the episode!

Huyen Dinh is a Viet lettering artist, illustrator, and author of How to be a Rule-Breaking Letterer. Known on the internet for her pink pastel palette and wiggly lettering with quirky messages, she enjoys making the world colorful with brands like Facebook, Canon, LG, Cotton Natural, and more. She's also interested in helping other artists by sharing freelance and digital art tips on her social media. She also wants to inspire other female Asian artists to embrace their heritage and stand against social expectations. Huyen joins the show for a conversation about self-care, pole-dancing, embracing imperfection and why some people think she "looks like her art."    

Thom Niessink is a Dutch graphic designer focused on lettering, type design and illustration. Throughout his career he developed a true passion for typography and custom lettering. Inspired by vintage magazines, signs and postcards from the 50's and 60's, his way of working is almost completely digital, using the iPad as a digital sketchbook. Combining retro and contemporary letterforms with subtle paper textures and color pallets he creates appealing compositions with a consistent typographic rhythm. Thom joins the show for a conversation about adjusting to freelance lifestyle, finding inspiration for a typeface from a sign for his great grandfather's vegetable and fruit shop and what television shows he's currently binging while he works.   

Alanna Flowers is the lettering artist and designer behind AGF Design Studio. She creates engaging work for brands like Adobe, American Greetings and The Los Angeles Times. When she's not creating for clients she's busy helping fellow creatives who are interested in learning about lettering, digital art, and freelance through her YouTube channel and Instagram. Alanna joins the show for a conversation about the publication of her first book "Love Letters: An Alphabet of Affirmations," as well as using her lettering to open up larger conversations on topics and causes that matter to her. Plus, Alanna and Ryan bond over being "yearbook nerds."

Dan Lee is a hand lettering artist and graphic designer who's always chasing ways to tell better stories and to work with creative people who are passionate about excellence. Raised right here in Philadelphia, Dan actually got a dual Bachelors & Masters Degree in Chemical Engineering from Drexel University, but his love for drawing could not be contained and instead he forged a career in design that has taken him from Philly to Wyoming. Dan joins the show to discuss creating compositions, why it's important to share your processes and — as we coin it in this episode — "The Lee Equation."

Jessica Hische has had an extraordinary career as a lettering artist, designer, illustrator, author and as of last fall, store owner. She's collaborated with established brands to reinvigorate their logos. She's worked with the likes of Wes Anderson and Dave Eggers. She's written several books including In Progress —  which gave a glimpse inside her sketchbook and provided her detailed process from lettering sketches to final product — as well as her children's books "Tomorrow I Will Be Brave" and "Tomorrow I Will Be Kind." Her newest book, "My First Book of Fancy Letters" is coming out this fall from Penguin Random House. Jessica joins the podcast for the first episode of the Lettering Series to talk about her new book, her process for refreshing logos and being present in her local community.  

The new season of Hi-Res starts this Tuesday March 5th, and for this season we're going to be doing things a little differently: six episodes over the next twelve weeks dedicated entirely to the art of hand lettering. We're going to be talking with hand lettering artists from around the world. Folks like Jessica Hische, Dan Lee and Alanna Flowers, just to name a few. Plus, long-time friend of the show Jay Roeder will be joining Ryan as co-host throughout the season. Follow Hi-Res on your podcasting platform of choice or visit HiResPod.com to listen. This season is brought to you by Typism.  

A new season of Hi-Res dedicated to Philly creatives is right around the corner, but in the meantime, here's an episode from the archives with Marisa Velazquez-Rivas!  Plus, you can always catch up on last season and find the full archive of episodes at hirespod.com.

James Viola comes back on the show to talk about fatherhood, meditation and minature painting.

Joe Boruchow is a Philadelphia based muralist and paper cutout artist whose site-specific work is designed to fit into architectural niches and public spaces. He started working in paper cutout in 2003 and has been consistently exploring ways to transcend the traditional medium, translating his designs into large scale murals, graphic novels, fine art prints and metal wall hangings. Inspired by his surroundings, current events and architecture, his black and white installations have become iconic in the Philadelphia region. His work explores themes of race, sexuality, politics, history and art, all through the subtractive art of paper cutout. He currently has a new show "Monster Storm," which is showing at Space 1026 now through January 26th, and in this bonus episode of the podcast Ryan talks with Joe about the new show, working within constraint and not being as "weird" as people think he should be.

Artist and illustrator Loveis Wise is inspired by playfulness and reimagining futures. Born and raised in Washington DC and currently based in Los Angeles, Loveis' work is centered around liberation and queer/gender-expansive communities. Their constant world-making of playful dreamscapes has allowed them to create a distinctly recognizable style and palette, offering the ability for narrative storytelling through digital and traditional art making. Loveis joins the show for the final episode of the season to talk about bringing meditation into their work, making connections with other people and creating a new podcast. Plus, Martha Rich joins the show to discuss her new show, "It's Wild Here."

Jake Dombroski is an artist and designer living in Philadelphia. He is currently an Art Director at Agency M. Nowadays when he's not spending time with his wife and daughter, he can be found in the studio making art, including his collage work for his show this past spring, Legacy, an exploration in what we leave behind. The show explored the cycle of life and the traces we leave behind as human beings. He's currently organizing and curating events with Collage Philadelphia, who will be having a show at Paradigm starting November 4th. Jake joins the show to discuss early career lessons, finding time to focus on his art and his entrepreneurial approach to Collage Philadelphia. Plus, Brian Box Brown joins the show to discuss his Kickstarter campaign to create a Legalization Nation Hardcover Book, collecting the first three years of his comic. 

Annica Lydenberg and Samantha Schutz created You Are Not Alone, a public art project that inspires artists to create work in their communities, sparking hope, connection, and conversations about mental health. The goals of the project is to reduce stigma and shame around discussing mental health challenges by fostering connection through story-sharing as well as to inspire artists from around the world to join the project as they create work in their communities. The project was born out of Annica's experience with creating murals and reader responses to Samantha's memoir "I Don't Want To Be Crazy." They join the podcast for a conversation about the power of messaging on walls, how the project has been embraced by the artistic community across the world and how the message became even more important post-pandemic. Plus, fellow YANA muralist and friend of the show Rodney Ibarra returns to catch up with Ryan at the top of the show.

Corey Brickley is an illustrator working primarily in publishing based in Philadelphia, PA. They graduated from the University of the Arts in 2015 where they have also taught illustration courses. Corey has been published in American Scientist, the Atlantic, the New York Times, the New Yorker, Playboy Magazine and more. They've produced book covers for Folio Society, HarperCollins, Penguin, Hodderscape, Disney Publishing, Algonquin Young Readers and Macmillan. They were also the lead animator for the hit Netflix documentary "Wild, Wild Country". They've won awards from 3x3 magazine, American Illustration, Communication Arts and Society of Illustrators. Corey joins the show for a conversation about A.I., spanning genres with their work and their go-to horror movies for the season. Plus, Eric Kenney joins the show to talk about the opening of his show "See-Thru" on October 6th at Space 1026.

Dan Hughes was a prolific illustrator and screen printing artist who was a staple of the Philadelphia music and arts scenes. His work included screen-printed posters, t-shirts, album art and much more. He worked with Philly bands like Japanese Breakfast and Mannequin Pussy as well as other national touring acts passing through town, playing venues like the Fillmore, the TLA and more. He was a founding member of the Kensington warehouse artist collective and music venue The Ox. He died last year unexpectedly at 36 years old. Recorded during the opening of the show "Dan Hughes – Gig Posters" at the Fairmount House on September 8th, Ryan sits down with family and friends of Dan's as they share their memories of his life and work.

Steve Weinik is a Philadelphia-based photographer, researcher, and writer. He is the staff photographer for Mural Arts Philadelphia, documenting the murals around the city. His work, both on and off screen on the documentary Resurrect Dead, helped earn the movie a trip to the Sundance film festival, where it won the directing award in the United States Documentary category. His photos have been published  in the New York Times, The Washington Post, National Geographic and many more. Steve joins the show for a conversation about birding, his relationship with the city and photographing the beautiful things in the world. Plus, Frank Baseman joins the show as co-host to talk about his show at Huddle this October.