Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | Career - How to see like a designer: The hidden power of typography and logos | Jessica Hische (Lettering Artist, Author)

How to see like a designer: The hidden power of typography and logos | Jessica Hische (Lettering Artist, Author)

10/20/24 • 81 min

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Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | Career

Jessica Hische is a lettering artist and New York Times bestselling author based in Oakland, California. She specializes in typographical work for logos, film, books, and other commercial applications. Her clients include Wes Anderson, The United States Postal Service, Target, Hallmark, and Penguin Books, and her work has been featured in design and illustration annuals both in the U.S. and internationally. She’s been named a Print Magazine New Visual Artist (20 under 30), one of Forbes 30 under 30 in Art and Design, an ADC Young Gun, a “Person to Watch” by GD USA, and an Adweek “Creative 100.” In our conversation, we discuss:

• My new logo and brand!

• Jessica’s process for refreshing my logo/brand

• Why most startups shouldn’t worry about their logo/brand

• The psychology behind different typography choices

• Balancing creativity with business needs in logo design

• Jessica’s unique approach to pricing logo work

• How AI is (and isn’t) impacting the design world

• Jessica’s other creative pursuits, including children’s books and art supply stores

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Brought to you by:

• The Enterprise Ready Conference — For B2B leaders building enterprise SaaS

• OneSchema — Import CSV data 10x faster

• Merge — A single API to add hundreds of integrations into your app

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Find the transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/seeing-like-a-designer-jessica-hische

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Where to find Jessica Hische:

• Threads: https://www.threads.net/@jessicahische

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jessicahische

• Website: https://jessicahische.is

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Where to find Lenny:

• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com

• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/

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In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) Jessica’s background

(01:32) The logo refresh process

(09:45) When to refresh your logo

(11:45) High-level overview

(18:04) Approaching Lenny’s brand refresh

(24:25) How to see like a designer

(37:53) Lenny’s new logo: where we landed

(44:07) Brand’s role in company success

(50:04) Jessica’s flexible pricing strategies and collaborative design process

(57:14) Balancing multiple creative projects

(01:01:48) Using AI in creative work

(01:05:50) Upcoming projects and final thoughts

(01:08:24) Lightning round

—

Referenced:

• Jeni’s: https://jenis.com

• James Edmondson on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamestedmondson/

• Figma Config: https://config.figma.com/

• Helvetica: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helvetica

• MyFonts: https://www.myfonts.com/

• Geometric sans serif fonts: https://www.myfonts.com/pages/tags/geometric%20sans%20serif-fonts

• The Rise of Fractional Executives: https://www.reforge.com/blog/leveraging-fractional-executives

• JH&F: https://jessicahische.shop/pages/my-oakland-store

• Drawling: https://drawling.shop/

• Jessica Hische’s books on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/s...

• My new logo and brand!

• Jessica’s process for refreshing my logo/brand

• Why most startups shouldn’t worry about their logo/brand

• The psychology behind different typography choices

• Balancing creativity with business needs in logo design

• Jessica’s unique approach to pricing logo work

• How AI is (and isn’t) impacting the design world

• Jessica’s other creative pursuits, including children’s books and art supply stores

—

Brought to you by:

• The Enterprise Ready Conference — For B2B leaders building enterprise SaaS

• OneSchema — Import CSV data 10x faster

• Merge — A single API to add hundreds of integrations into your app

—

Find the transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/seeing-like-a-designer-jessica-hische

—

Where to find Jessica Hische:

• Threads: https://www.threads.net/@jessicahische

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jessicahische

• Website: https://jessicahische.is

—

Where to find Lenny:

• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com

• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/

—

In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) Jessica’s background

(01:32) The logo refresh process

(09:45) When to refresh your logo

(11:45) High-level overview

(18:04) Approaching Lenny’s brand refresh

(24:25) How to see like a designer

(37:53) Lenny’s new logo: where we landed

(44:07) Brand’s role in company success

(50:04) Jessica’s flexible pricing strategies and collaborative design process

(57:14) Balancing multiple creative projects

(01:01:48) Using AI in creative work

(01:05:50) Upcoming projects and final thoughts

(01:08:24) Lightning round

—

Referenced:

• Jeni’s: https://jenis.com

• James Edmondson on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamestedmondson/

• Figma Config: https://config.figma.com/

• Helvetica: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helvetica

• MyFonts: https://www.myfonts.com/

• Geometric sans serif fonts: https://www.myfonts.com/pages/tags/geometric%20sans%20serif-fonts

• The Rise of Fractional Executives: https://www.reforge.com/blog/leveraging-fractional-executives

• JH&F: https://jessicahische.shop/pages/my-oakland-store

• Drawling: https://drawling.shop/

• Jessica Hische’s books on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/s...

Previous Episode

undefined - Becoming more strategic, navigating difficult colleagues, harnessing founder mode, and more | Anneka Gupta (Chief Product Officer at Rubrik)

Becoming more strategic, navigating difficult colleagues, harnessing founder mode, and more | Anneka Gupta (Chief Product Officer at Rubrik)

Anneka Gupta is the Chief Product Officer at Rubrik, a leading B2B cybersecurity company. She previously spent 11 years at LiveRamp, where she was the President and Head of Product and Platforms leading product development and go-to-market operations and strategy. Anneka also sits on the board of directors for Tinuiti and teaches product management at Stanford University. In our conversation, we discuss:

• Navigating “founder mode” dynamics in organizations

• Navigating difficult personalities and aligning teams

• The PM skill of summarization

• Giving and receiving hard feedback effectively

• The value of a positive mindset

• Tips for breaking into product management

• Much more

—

Brought to you by:

• The Enterprise Ready Conference — For B2B leaders building enterprise SaaS

• Command AI — AI-powered user assistance for modern products and impatient users

• Eppo — Run reliable, impactful experiments

—

Find the transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/becoming-more-strategic-anneka-gupta

—

Where to find Anneka Gupta:

• X: https://x.com/annekagupta

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annekagupta

—

Where to find Lenny:

• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com

• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/

—

In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) Introduction to Anneka Gupta

(01:43) Key mindsets for success

(05:30) Managing energy for optimal performance

(09:05) Founder mode

(18:26) Becoming more strategic

(27:54) The importance of decision-making

(37:18) Navigating difficult personalities

(41:38) Techniques for giving and receiving feedback

(51:01) Transitioning into product management

(54:56) Advice for aspiring product managers

(59:39) Leveraging AI tools in product management

(01:01:27) The power of a positive mindset

(01:04:30) Lightning round

—

Referenced:

• Founder Mode: https://paulgraham.com/foundermode.html

• Building a long and meaningful career | Nikhyl Singhal (Meta, Google): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/building-a-long-and-meaningful-career

• The Skip community: https://www.linkedin.com/company/skip-community/

• Rubrik: https://www.rubrik.com/

• 5 essential questions to craft a winning strategy | Roger Martin (author, advisor, speaker): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-ultimate-guide-to-strategy-roger-martin

• Playing to Win: How Strategy Really Works: https://www.amazon.com/Playing-Win-Strategy-Really-Works/dp/142218739X

• Thinking like a gardener not a builder, organizing teams like slime mold, the adjacent possible, and other unconventional product advice | Alex Komoroske: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/unconventional-product-advice-alex-komoroske

• Acquired podcast interviews Zuckerberg in San Francisco: https://transistor.fm/acquired-live/

• Hema Mohan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hemamohan/

• Radical Candor: Be a Kick-Ass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity: <...

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undefined - Meta’s Head of Product (and 29th employee) on working with Mark Zuckerberg, early growth tactics, why PMs are like conductors, and more | Naomi Gleit

Meta’s Head of Product (and 29th employee) on working with Mark Zuckerberg, early growth tactics, why PMs are like conductors, and more | Naomi Gleit

Naomi Gleit is head of product at Meta, joined as employee #29, and is the longest-serving executive at Meta other than Mark Zuckerberg. She’s been at the center of some of the company’s most foundational products, including Facebook’s early growth team. In our conversation, we discuss:

• How she originally landed at Facebook

• The evolution of Facebook’s growth team and key metrics

• Lessons from working with Mark Zuckerberg

• Insights from Facebook’s activation metric and retention strategies

• Leadership lessons and “Naomiisms” for effective product management

• Tactics for creating extreme clarity in team communication

• Advice for running effective meetings

• More

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• Pendo—The only all-in-one product experience platform for any type of application

• Vanta—Automate compliance. Simplify security