Hi-Res

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.

Calan is back on the show to talk about her CLIO award-winning short film "Black Women Are Resting" as well as her new book "Edwin Eats an Edible" and more.

James Everhart joins the show to talk about the new Cosmic Guilt album, "Palace of Depression" as well as his design work with Human Robot Brewery.

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.

On this week's Retouch, Ryan chats with Christine Sheller about her recent move to LA as well as her recent work exploring how AI and UX intersect.

On this episode Ryan catches up with Allan Peters about his new book, Logos that Last.

On the inaugural episode of The Retouch Ryan talks with Mario, Steve and Josh about the upcoming PhilaMrkt, December 16th from 11am–5pm at Kismet, Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia.

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.

Jen Borror is an illustrator and designer and the principal of Hoot Design Studio, out of York Pennsylvania. She specializes in pen and ink artwork, brewery branding and beverage packaging design, especially craft beer labels which has become her raison d’etre since the pandemic. She was recently awarded the Gold Crushie for best hard seltzer label design at the Craft Beer Marketing Awards and she went on to collaborate with the awards show for the Make Peace Not War beer label, a customizable beer label design that any craft brewery can adopt for use with their own beverages while raising funds for Ukraine relief efforts. Jen joins the show for a conversation about breaking out of the thinking that "art is a hobby," how success shouldn’t be based on how much you accomplish or check off the list and how important interacting with people on social media is to her. Plus, Kevin Kernan from GD Loft joins the show as our first co-host for the season to chat about GD Loft's 20th anniversary as a studio.

By day Douglas Ethan is an Aerial Sensor Operator Manager, but by night he has become known for his work combining his calligraphy with found canvases. His work was featured recently in a show with Germantown Art and Sound and he had his own solo show this past spring at Brotherly Love gallery in Philadelphia called The Best is Nyet to Come. Ryan and Doug discuss horror movies, creating unfamiliarity with his lettering and introducing digital tools into his process.

Matthew Zaremba is a multidisciplinary artist best known for his illustrated musings on the human condition. His creative work spans a myriad of mediums from print works to paintings to public murals. His illustrated messages are intimate, sometimes heartbreakingly poignant, glimpses into his life. Matthew joins the show for the season finale to discuss processing how people interpret his work, AI art and toxic positivity.

Lucy Price is an independent graphic designer and art director living and working in Philadelphia. For the past 15 years, she’s focused on branding for mission-based organizations. She love playing with typography, color, composition, and layers, and she is at her happiest when she can do good work for good people. Lucy joins the show for a conversation about learning to collaborate in different ways, what she learned about her own style of working and her and Ryan share their love for “Don’t Tell Mom The Babysitter’s Dead.”

Kah Yangni is an illustrator who makes heartfelt art about justice, queerness, and joy. Kah’s artistic mission is to heal themself and others by making art that focuses on radical optimism, and the chance we have to make the world a better place. Kah uses text, vibrating color, screenprinting, drawing, Photoshop, and collage to bring these messages to life. Kah joins the show to discuss starting their career during the pandemic, painting the first mural celebrating transgender people in Philadelphia and how they process online criticism. Also, Kah tells Ryan about Slavic Soul Party (the band, not the genre).