2008 Articles about Jeff Fisher LogoMotives

40 Playful Logos, Kreative Garden (December 2008)

Creative Advent 2008: Jeff Fisher, Positive Space, by Anthony Zinni (December 2008)

20 amazing or original Logotypes & Logos!, by Mickaël Bertrand Alexandre (December 2008)

Open Thread: What's Your Email Signature?, FreelanceFolder, by Jacob Cass (December 2008)

100 Brands of Interest, by David Pache (December 2008)

The Ultimate List of The Best Logo Design Resources, Just Creative, by Jacob Cass (December 2008)

Jeff Fisher Interview Transcript, CreativePublic.com, by Doug Farrick (November 2008)

What makes a logo designer a professional logo designer?, I'm Just Creative, by Graham Smith (November 2008)

How designers charge their clients, by David Airey (November 2008)

42 Information Packed Twitter Backgrounds, by Mike Smith (November 2008)

40+ Creative Logos Submitted By The Designers Themselves, The Design Cubicle, by Brian Hoff (November 2008)

10 Principles of the Logo Design Masters, VECTORTUTS, by Chris Spooner (October 2008)

My Freelance Life: Why I Started On The Road To Self- Employment, CMD+Shift Design Blog, Liz Andrade (October 2008)

Making Time to Market, ADBASE Insight, by Linda Whitehead (October 2008)

25 Must Read Interviews From 2008, You The Designer (October 2008)

Designer's Favorite Fonts In Use, Design O'Blog, by Niki Brown (October 2008)

Graphic Design 101, Nails Magazine, by Ami Neiberger-Miller (October 2008)

Designer Spotlight: Jeff Fisher LogoMotives, DesignHide, by Dustin Turin (July 2008)

Ingredients of a Successful Capabilities Presentation, Dynamic Graphics, by Daniel Schutzsmith (June/July 2008)

Here's my card: The networking aid gets a makeover, Associated Press, by Jackie Farwell (June 2008)

Logo design guidelines abet a strong brand, Buzzworthy Branding, by Martin Jelsema (May 2008)

Logo Design Tips & A Not-So-Ordinary Interview with Logo Designer Jeff Fisher, Just Creative, by Jacob Cass (May 2008)

Home Business by Design, Savvy Marketing Secrets, by Marcia Ming (January 2008)

What Can Celebrated Graphic Designer Jeff Fisher Teach Us About Small Business Marketing?, Ezine Articles, by Marcia Ming (January 2008)

Art School vs. The Real World, Create Magazine, by Dave Willmer, The Creative Group (January/February 2008)

A New Brand for the New Year, TCG eZine, by The Creative Group (January 2008)

The design firm name conundrum

What's in a name? A great deal when you are a graphic designer attempting to brand yourself for business purposes. Designers are often commenting to me about the difficulty in determining how to label themselves for business purposes. Others in the profession regularly post questions about the issue on online design forums.

Although I've been very happy to use the business name Jeff Fisher LogoMotives for the past ten years, I had the same struggle when first starting out in the design profession - and the challenges continued for a number of years.

When first moving to Portland in 1980, I created a simple red "jf" icon, making use of the font Tiffany, to be used on my resume and stationery items as I searched for my first design job. In the poor economy of the time there were no jobs to be had and I soon found myself taking on independent design projects from a variety of clients.

That's when I started playing with the possibility of creating a name for my design and art efforts. I came up with the term "art-werks, ink." as an umbrella name for what included my graphic design efforts, and the ink line drawings and silkscreen prints I was selling at galleries throughout the state of Oregon. The graphic was a simple image of a bottle of India ink with the top portion of the symbol creating the "A" letterform. The ink bottle seemed especially appropriate as I was often spilling bottles of the black substance all over the furnishings and carpet of my home. I had a rubber stamp made of the ink bottle icon in a circle and would often use the stamped identity imagery on business correspondence. The type was a somewhat phonetic treatment of the business name in Avant Garde.

Following the career interuption of my first "real" job as art director of a group of medical publications, I again needed to establish an image for myself for the contract work I was then doing above and beyond a then current ad agency art director position. I revisited the image I used on my resume about four years earlier. "Jeff Fisher Graphic Design" was the name being used at the time.

A move to Seattle in 1985 resulted in a lot of changes. My partner, at the time, was selling menu design and production services. As restaurant identity and menu design work began coming my way I toyed with the idea of marketing myself as "MenuGraphix." It seemed to be a little too limiting as far as attracting new clientele outside of the restaurant industry. I then introduced myself as "Ad Ventures, Ink."

Once again a pesky traditional employment situation, this time as creative director of a clothing company, got in the way of seriously making use of the new business moniker.

It was about this time that I first tossed out the name "Logo Motive" as a possible business identification. It was met with nothing but negative feedback from family, friends and clients. The name, and the created logo image, was used in one print ad and shelved. I was nearly a decade into my career as a professional designer and all felt I should be using my own name to capitalize on my design reputation.

In the late 80's I moved back to Portland and, while maintaining my Seattle clientele, I needed to reintroduce myself to the Portland market. Initially I used the previous identity with the red "jf." However, it felt dated and I soon was using a very simple treatment of "Jeff Fisher" in Kabel. About four years later I resurrected the idea of using "Logo Motive" again. In Portland the concept was met with the same enthusiasm I experienced in Seattle - and I filed the revised images away.

A couple years later I hit a design career "speed bump." I was feeling bored with my profession and probably experiencing a bit of "burnout" after working in design for nearly 20 years. In re-evaluating my professional options I determined I really wanted to focus on identity design.

The old "Logo Motive" concept came out for another look. By fine-tuning the locomotive image, maintaining the use of the font Kabel, adding "Jeff Fisher" to the graphic, and putting an "s" to what was now the single word "LogoMotive," the business identity for "Jeff Fisher LogoMotives" was born. The best thing about the business name and logo is that my target client audience is told who I am and what I do.

Had I listened to my "gut instincts" about a possible business name - instead of the feedback from others around me - I might have established a stronger, and more permanent, business image much earlier. Instead, I was my own worst, wishy-washy client. Still, the end result was worth the effort and is still chugging along the tracks after a decade of use. I don't think I'll be changing it any time soon.

© 2008 Jeff Fisher LogoMotives

Jeff Fisher LogoMotives identity included
in "100 Brands of Interest" collection

In his recent dacheboard blog post, David Pache - a respected identity designer in his own right - showcases "100 Brands of Interest." The logo for Jeff Fisher LogoMotives is included in the impressive collection of 100 identifying marks for logo designers, brand identity consultants and graphic studios from around the world.

© 2008 Jeff Fisher LogoMotives