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

The samples on this page are for portfolio purposes only. Please do not distribute.

Lettering Experience

› Touch-up Artist and Letterer for Super Smartphone by Kentaro Hidano and Hiroki Tomisawa - Shonen Jump/Viz Media - Sci-fi/Mystery
› 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

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 moire 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

by Kyla Aiko

THE ORGAN HARVESTER

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

DESIGN

Experience:
› Letterer, Super Smartphone by Hiroki Tomisawa & Kentaro Hidano, Translated by David Evelyn, Shonen Jump Simulpub/Viz Media
› Letterer, Everything is Fine by Mike Birchall, Webtoon Original
› Letterer, The Secret of the Ravens by Joanna Cacao, Clarion/HarperCollins middle grade graphic novel
› Website Designer, Star Tales Magazine
› Society of Professional Journalists Intern, HAWAII Magazine
› Co-head/Designer, Scripps College Asian American Studen Union
› Editorial Intern, Character Media
› Senior Editor/Cartoonist, Imua 'Iolani Newspaper
› Co-Editor-in-Chief/Designer, Mane O Ke Ola Literary MagazinePrograms:
Adobe Creative Cloud, Microsoft Office Suite, Microsoft Teams, Google Suite, Figma

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 moire recreation, Hand-drawn SFX (in speech balloons), Handwritten journal entry, page layout

NIHAO

A comic about memory, microagressions, and anger

Beyond the Horizon Literary Magazine

Logo Iterations for a middle school literary magazine

MISC DESIGN

Hourly Comic Day 2022

Selected comics from Hourly Comic Day 2022

LOUIS' QUANDARY
Art and Story by Julai

Lettering and Commissioned Mandarin Chinese to English Translation by Kyla Aiko

Femme Divine Tarot

Branding for Femme Divine Tarot

Critical Language Scholarship Alumni Society

Branding for CLSAS (Globe Icon is a CLSAS Asset)

Comics

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

Frequently Asked Questions

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

What do you use to letter?
It depends on the project, but I usually use InDesign to lay out text and Clip Studio Paint or Illustrator to drawn speech balloons and sound effects. If you're looking for non-subscription model alternatives, Affinity Publisher is similar to InDesign and Affinity Designer is similar to Illustrator (and both go on sale frequently).

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"