NIHAO

A comic about memory, microagressions, and anger

Hourly Comic Day 2022

Selected comics from Hourly Comic Day 2022
Get it on Ko-fi (pay what you want)

Single Page Comics

Ocean in My Kitchen
Square (Lyrics from Mitski's "Square)

Chrysalis (excerpt)

Writer: Phillip Maira
Read the full comic in Crackle Vol. 3Phillip's Twitter // Phillip's Website

An Open Letter to Someone Who Hurt Me

Writer: Lucía IannoneLucía's Twitter // Lucía's Website

Lettering Experience

› Touch-up Artist and Letterer for Super Smartphone by Kentaro Hidano and Hiroki Tomisawa - Shonen Jump/Viz Media - Sci-fi/Mystery
› Touch-up Artist and Letterer for RuriDragon (Ch. 3+) by Masaoki Shindo - Shonen Jump/Viz Media - Supernatural Slice-of-Life
› Lettering Assistant for Everything is Fine, by Mike Birchall - Webtoon Original - Horror
› Letterer for The Secret of the Ravens by Joanna Cacao - Middle Grade, Clarion/HarperCollins, 2023 - Fantasy
› Creator (writer, illustrator, letterer) of Foxlight - Middle Grade, Feiwel and Friends/Macmillan, 2024 - Fantasy+ Additional Unannounced Books

Language Experience

› Mandarin Chinese (Traditional) to English translation for independant comic artist Julai (various comics)
› Critical Language Scholarship - 2018 - Finalist/Recipient - Xi'an, China
› Knowledge of Traditional and Simplified Chinese

› Fulbright Research Award - 2020 - Semifinalist - Japan
› CET Academic Programs - 2018 - Osaka, Japan

SUPER SMARTPHONE (weekly online simulpub)
by Kentaro Hidano and Hiroki Tomisawa

Touch-up Art and Lettering by Kyla Aiko
Translation by David Evelyn

Touch-up Art Highlights
› "Googugu" logo creation & replacement, Eye pattern recreation, Smartphone screen glare recreation, Hand-drawn SFX (in speech balloons), Handwritten journal entry, page layout

LOUIS' QUANDARY
by Julai

Lettering and Commissioned Mandarin Chinese to English Translation by Kyla Aiko

NIHAO

THE ORGAN HARVESTER

Story, Art, & Letters by JulaiMandarin Chinese to English Commissioned Translation by Kyla Aiko

DESIGN

Please contact me for additional interior samples.

SUPER SMARTPHONE (weekly online simulpub)
by Kentaro Hidano and Hiroki Tomisawa

Touch-up Art and Lettering by Kyla Aiko, Translation by David Evelyn

For Super Smartphone, all text on screens is flattened into the provided art files, so part of my job is erasing the original Japanese text on the phone screens, retouching/replacing the screens with matching screentone, and laying out English text where the Japanese once was. Since this series releases simultaneously with the Japanese print edition on a weekly basis, all touch-up art and lettering is completed on an accelerated schedule.Touch-up Art Highlights
› "Googugu" logo creation & replacement, Eye pattern recreation, Smartphone screen moire recreation, Hand-drawn SFX (in speech balloons), Handwritten journal entry, page layout

NIHAO

A comic about memory, microagressions, and anger

1871 LA Chinatown Massacre Commemoration Event Design

Scripps College and Chinese American Museum of Los Angeles

Hourly Comic Day 2022

Selected comics from Hourly Comic Day 2022

Femme Divine Tarot

Branding for Femme Divine Tarot

Beyond the Horizon Literary Magazine

Logo Iterations for a middle school literary magazine

LOUIS' QUANDARY
Art and Story by Julai

Lettering and Commissioned Mandarin Chinese to English Translation by Kyla Aiko

Critical Language Scholarship Alumni Society

Branding for CLSAS (Globe Icon is a CLSAS Asset)

Select Comics

Ocean in My Kitchen
Square (Lyrics from Mitski's "Square)

Color Design

Select Design

Frequently Asked Questions

I am staunchly anti-NFT and anti-crypto. Do not contact me about making NFTs.

What programs do you use to letter?
It depends on the project, but for traditionally published comics/graphic novels I typically usually use Adobe InDesign to lay out text and Clip Studio Paint or Adobe Illustrator to draw speech balloons and sound effects.Adobe software is the industry-standard in traditional book publishing.If you're looking for non-subscription model alternatives, Affinity Publisher is similar to Adobe InDesign and Affinity Designer is similar to Adobe Illustrator (and both go on sale frequently).

Are you available for an interview?
Please feel free to email me at hello [@] aikosmith [.] com to coordinate an interview :)

What digital brushes do you use?
In Procreate I usually use brushes from these packs.
› Matt's Sketching Set
› Trisketched Ink BrushesI also usually use Procreate Pencil and Derwent (both are included with Procreate).In Clip Studio Paint, I usually use these brushes:
› Content ID: 1850295 文字ペン (second pen) from 主線と文字ペン pack by 塩分ウホウホ
› Content ID: 1730414 6pencil-soft by Rollermets

Resources (all links open in new tabs)

All About Literary Agents (comic creator specific)
› Danielle Chuatico and JesnCin's "Comic Creator's Guide to Literary Agents" (downloadable pdf, pay what you want)
› Wendy Xu's "Why You Should Get an Agent and How to Present Yourself to One: A Primer for Comic Artists"
› Victoria Ying's "Finding an Agent as a Graphic Novelist"

How to Put Together a Graphic Novel Pitch
› Go Komikimok!!'s "Comics Creator's Guide to Graphic Novel Pitch Packet" (Part 1)
› Go Komikimok!!'s FAQ About Pitch Packets (Part 2)
› Go Komikimok!!'s How to Submit Your Pitch to Publishers, Editors, and Agents (Part 3)
› Ethan M. Aldridge's GN Pitch Packet Twitter Thread
› Literary Agent Maria Vicente's "Creating a Graphic Novel Pitch Package"
› Victoria Ying's "Scripting a Graphic Novel"
› Victoria Ying's "What's in a Graphic Novel Proposal?"

Complete graphic novel pitch packets usually have these components (there's no standard order):
› Sample Cover Page
› About the Book (back cover copy, page count, b&w/color, genre, demographic, comp titles)
› About the Author (include relevant publishing credits)
› 5 to 20 Completed Sample Pages
› Sample Script
› Character Descriptions and Drawings
› Full Outline/Synopsis
› Extras (concept sketches, thumbnails)

Lettering Tips
› Sara Linsley's Manga Lettering Wiki
› Sara Linsley's Manga Lettering Scripts for Adobe InDesign
› Nate Piekos's "Lettering Tips"
› Nate Piekos's "Comic Book Grammar and Tradition"
› Phil Christie's "The Basics of Manga Punctuation"
› Phil Christie's "Manga Balloon Basics"