Lettering artist Jessica Hische faces backlash over Meta's Muse AI logo

A Bay Area lettering artist is facing criticism from fellow designers after revealing she helped create the visual identity for Meta's new artificial intelligence agent.

Jessica Hische, a Berkeley resident whose work has appeared for clients including the New York Times, Target, Tiffany & Co., the U.S. Postal Service and Wes Anderson, worked with Meta on the icon and logotype for Muse, the Silicon Valley tech giant's new personal AI assistant.

Meta unveiled Muse on Sept. 8, describing it as an agent that can send emails, book travel and work toward longer-term goals.

Hische announced her involvement the following day in a newsletter and on Threads, where she wrote that she expected the project to draw a strong reaction.

"People are mad because it's AI and Meta. I knew this," Hische wrote.

"Disgusted," fellow illustrator Fathima Kathrada commented. "It's not about money, it's about ethics. Don't pretend to be unaware of the massive massive harm these technologies are causing that is only going to escalate exponentially with people like you adopting the 'it's everywhere so we have to just accept it' BS."

Autumn Williams, a marketing executive, wrote, "This is just massively disappointing, especially for someone who has achieved so much success and recognition without compromising in this way. So bummed."

But other designers and followers defended her, arguing that accepting commercial work from an AI company should not disqualify a creative professional from working in the industry.

Hische, whose studio is based in downtown Oakland, responded with a series of Threads posts explaining why she took the assignment, writing that she has known members of the Meta team for years and that her freelance client work has been "slow and spotty" over the past year. She said she has also been investing money in her software company, Studioworks, and her Oakland retail businesses.

Hische particularly pushed back on the idea that taking the job meant she had embraced every use of AI.

"My feelings about AI are complex," she wrote, adding that she strongly dislikes generative AI for creating images and other creative work but uses AI tools herself for tasks such as filing insurance claims, managing expenses and organizing her inbox.

"I have literally been touching grass more because of AI," she wrote, referring to what she sees as Muse's potential to handle mundane tasks rather than creative work.

But the debate extended beyond Hische's decision to take the gig. The logo itself also became a subject of scrutiny.

The Philadelphia Inquirer noted that Muse's stylized "M" bears a resemblance to the logo used by Mural Arts Philadelphia.

Hische told the publication that Meta came to her with an initial sketch of an M based on a pen stroke or scribble and that she refined it by changing the stroke angles, end treatments and vertical rhythm. She said she produced more than 30 variations.

"There's definitely a resemblance," Hische told the Inquirer, while distinguishing the final design from the more rigid Mural Arts mark.

Meta did not respond to the Inquirer's questions about the resemblance.

Meanwhile, Mural Arts Philadelphia said it had no concerns about copyright infringement and did not plan legal action.

The episode comes at a particularly tense moment for designers and other creative workers, as AI companies increasingly market tools that can perform tasks once handled by people.

Dieline, a design-industry publication, described the Hische controversy as an example of the ethical decisions facing freelance creatives who must balance their values against the realities of making a living.

Hische has continued promoting her design work and other projects online, including her forthcoming children's book, "Tomorrow I'll Be Happy."

This article originally published at She designed Meta's new AI logo. Now this Bay Area artist is facing backlash.