Remember Hawaiʻi Daze // A Hawaiʻi City Pop Zine

Remember Hawaiʻi Daze is a collection of nostalgic, summery city pop and neo-retro-inspired illustrations made by five artists from Hawai‘i.
Cover illustration by Xochitl Cornejo // Lauhala woven mat illustration by Xochitl Cornejo and Brady Evans

Utot Komiks: School Edition Interior Design

Designed to evoke a sense of nostalgia for high school days // Accent colors mimic the colors of yellow highlighters and blue ballpoint pens
Cover illustration by Rodrigo Reyes Rico // Utot Logo by Richard Mercado

Minicomic Covers

1871 LA Chinatown Massacre Commemoration Event Design

Scripps College and Chinese American Museum of Los Angeles

Sad Sardines Product Line

Black Cat Pins

Dyed soft enamel pins with glow-in-the-dark eyes, approx. 1.25 inches wide

Precious Penguin Pins

Die-struck pins in copper finish, approx. 1.25 inches tall. Also available in brass.

Fall/Winter 2024 Catalog

Optimized for Instagram.

Small Press Expo 2023 Catalog

Optimized for Instagram. Yellow gingham and flower shapes mirror the tablecloth and logo garland used at the event

NIHAO

Final: Handmade 5.5" x 5.5" square zine with rounded corners, saddle stitch binding, updated interiors, and red and black cover.
Printed, assembled, and bound by the artist. The final book interiors are printed on uncoated paper rather than glossy paper to maintain the DIY spirit of this project.

Hourly Comic Day 2022

Handmade half-letter zine with rounded corners and handsewn binding

Aikosmith.com

Hand-lettered personal branding for portfolio, webshop, and physical merchandise
Goals: Fun design based on Chinese name seal stamps. Legible at small sizes and on screens

Femme Divine Tarot

Hand-lettered branding for Femme Divine Tarot

Book Covers

Critical Language Scholarship Alumni Society

Branding Update for CLSAS

Single Page Comics

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

Lettering Credits

Viz Media
› Phantom Busters by Neoshoco- Shonen Jump/Viz Media - Supernatural Action
› Dandadan (Ch. 62+) by Yukinobu Tatsu - Shonen Jump/Viz Media - Supernatural Action
› Kaiju No. 8: B-Side by Naoya Matsumoto, Kentaro Hidano, and Keiji Ando - Shonen Jump/Viz Media - Sci-fi/Action
› Gokurakugai by Yuto Sano - Shonen Jump/VIZ Media - Supernatural Action
› Animal Crossing: New Horizons (Vol. 4+) by KOKONASU☆RUMBA - VIZ Media/VIZ Media - Comedy/Slice-of-Life
› Komi Can't Communicate (Vol. 25 to 27, Simulpub chapters 382+) by Tomohito Oda - Shonen Sunday/VIZ Media - Comedy/Romance/Slice-of-Life
› Tsumiki Ogami's Not-So-Ordinary Life (Ch. 52+) by Miyu Morishita - Shonen Sunday/VIZ Media - Comedy/Romance/Slice-of-Life
› Love's in Sight! by Uoyama - VIZ Media/VIZ Media - Comedy/Romance/Slice-of-Life
› Super Smartphone by Kentaro Hidano and Hiroki Tomisawa - Shonen Jump/Viz Media - Sci-fi/Mystery
› RuriDragon (Ch. 3+) by Masaoki Shindo - Shonen Jump/Viz Media - Supernatural Slice-of-Life

Scholastic
› Coming Out Perfect by Richard Mercado - Young Adult, Graphix/Scholastic, 2026 - Contemporary
› SFX Letterer for Unico: Hunted (Volume 2) by Osamu Tezuka, Gurihiru, and Samuel Sattin - Middle Grade, Graphix/Scholastic, 2024 - Fantasy
› SFX Letterer for Unico: Lost (Volume 3) by Osamu Tezuka, Gurihiru, and Samuel Sattin - Middle Grade, Graphix/Scholastic, 2026 - Fantasy

HarperCollins
› The Worst Ronin by Faith Schaffer and Maggie Tokuda Hall - Young Adult, Clarion Books/HarperCollins, 2024 - Fantasy
› The Secret of the Ravens by Joanna Cacao - Middle Grade, Clarion Books/HarperCollins, 2023 - Fantasy

Square Enix
› Love in the Palm of His Hand by Rinteku - Square Enix - Slice-of-Life
› Just Like Mona Lisa by Tsumuji Yoshimura - Square Enix - Slice-of-Life
› Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You by Jinushi - Square Enix - Slice-of-Life

› Akari by Marco Kohinata - Manga International Network Team (MINT) - Slice-of-Life
› Everything is Fine, by Mike Birchall - Webtoon Original - Horror
› Jungle Juice by HYEONG EUN and JUDER - Ize Press/Yen Press, 2023 - Action/Fantasy
› Somewhere in the Gray by Michelle Jing Chan - FSG/Macmillan, 2026 - Contemporary

SFX and Retouch

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 has been 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

Color Page Highlights
› "Googugu" logo creation & replacement, Asset and text recreation and matching

LOUIS' QUANDARY
by Julai

Lettering and Commissioned Mandarin Chinese to English Translation by Kyla Aiko

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hello (@) aikosmith (.) com

Kyla Aiko is an award-nominated cartoonist and editor who's always looking for good soup noodle recommendations (the spicier the better).She's currently working on Foxlight, her debut middle grade graphic novel about a lost fox spirit and the noodle maker who helps him find his way home.

Clients include Macmillan, HAWAII Magazine, Character Media, HarperCollins, Penguin Random House, and Square Enix Manga & Books

Main Portfolio: aikosmith.com

› 2024 Eisner Award Announcement for The Out Side anthology
› 2024 Aurora Award Nomination Announcement for The Secret of the Ravens Graphic Novel
› Underblong Best of the Net 2021 Nomination for "underblong 1" and "underblong 2"