Toot! Toot!*: Toots Caboose touted in Just Out

"Toots Caboose," the clowning alter-ego of designer and author Jeff Fisher, is featured in the latest issue of the the LGBT community newsmagazine Just Out. The article "Crazy Train, Toots Style: Local Design Savant Turned Clown Has the Last Laugh," in the publication's annual Portland Pride issue, explains Fisher's recent participation in clown school to become a member of the Amtrak Cascades Character Clown Corps for the Portland Rose Festival. Writer Ryan J. Prado interviewed the clown about his "toot-elage" by professional clown Angel Ocasio, clowning around at Union Station for Amtrak's National Train Day, and upcoming appearances in the Fred Meyer Junior Rose Parade and the Key Bank Grand Floral Parade.

When not wearing clown make-up Fisher, author of Identity Crisis!: 50 redesigns that transformed stale identities into successful brands, is the the Engineer of Creative Identity for the Portland-based firm Jeff Fisher Logomotives. He has received over 600 regional, national and international graphic design awards for his logo and corporate identity efforts and his work is featured in more than over 100 books on the design of logos, the business of graphic design, and small business marketing. His first HOW Books offering, The Savvy Designer’s Guide to Success, appeared on bookstore shelves in late 2004, and has been re-released in PDF format on CD. Fisher is currently writing a book about typography in identity design.

Fisher was recently named one of design industry publication Graphic Design USA’s “People to Watch in 2009.” In 2008, Jeff Fisher LogoMotives was recognized as one of the top 100 U.S. home-based businesses by the web presence StartupNation

More information about Jeff Fisher, and his design and writing efforts, may be found on the Jeff Fisher LogoMotives blogfolio.

(* If I don’t "toot!" my own horn, no one else will.)

© 2009 Jeff Fisher LogoMotives

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Toot! Toot!*: Healthcare Communicators of Oregon to host author/designer Jeff Fisher at conference

Author/designer Jeff Fisher, the Engineer of Creative Identity for the Portland-based firm Jeff Fisher LogoMotives, will be a guest speaker at the Spring Conference of the Healthcare Communicators of Oregon. The event will be held at the Sacred Heart Medical Center at RiverBend in Springfield, OR on Friday, June 5.

Fisher's presentation, “No-cost, or Low-cost, Marketing Through Social Networking,” will assist attendees in wading through the large number of available online promotion options, tackling the cultivation of successful social networking relationships, and making use of tips and tricks to get the word out to friends, followers, contacts, media and others. A 30-year design veteran, Fisher makes regular use of social networking and social media to promote his design efforts, books, articles, speaking engagements and more.

Formed in 1985, Healthcare Communicators of Oregon (HCO) is a state-wide organization committed to helping health care communicators in Oregon and Southwest Washington fine tune their professional skills. HCO represents a cross-section of health care, advertising, marketing, public relations, and government affairs professionals.

More information about the Spring Conference is available on the Healthcare Communicators of Oregon website.

Designer Jeff Fisher has received over 600 regional, national and international graphic design awards for his logo and corporate identity efforts and his work is featured in more than over 100 books on the design of logos, the business of graphic design, and small business marketing. Earlier this year, Fisher was named one of design industry publication Graphic Design USA’s “People to Watch in 2009.” In 2008, Jeff Fisher LogoMotives was recognized as one of the top 100 U.S. home-based businesses by the web presence StartupNation.

(* If I don’t "toot!" my own horn, no one else will.)

© 2009 Jeff Fisher LogoMotives

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Identity Re-Design: RiverWest Acupuncture

Logo redesign projects don't always require a total revamping of the image in question. At times I am hired to tweak, or slightly alter or update, a business or organization identity. Such was the case with the logo representing RiverWest Acupuncture.

I had always liked the identity and branding or the company owned by my friend and acupuncturist Lisa Francolini, L.Ac. Still, elements of the original RiverWest logo (below top) always bothered me. I liked the circular icon within the design and the interaction between the script and sans serif typefaces. However, I was really bothered by the letter-spaced script treatment of "River." The uppercase "R" within the word also created another visual problem for me. The flourish-like descending element of the letterform seemed to draw the eye to the left, while the reader would be trying to read the name from left to right. Closer inspection revealed that the "River" and "West" text treatments were not exactly on the same horizontal plane, and the word "Acupuncture" was slightly off-center. In addition, I felt the size relationship between "River" and "West" was a bit off.

With the business owner being a close friend, I didn't want to volunteer my observations about the design without being asked. Once, in a social situation, she asked for my opinion about the RiverWest Acupuncture logo - and I relayed my concerns. I was then hired to tweak the logo and begin the process of redesigning many elements of the company's brand (which is still ongoing).

In my alteration of the RiverWest identity (above bottom), the design and size of the circular icon remained constant. I selected Snell Roundhand to address my issues with the "River" type. The uppercase "R" has a visual "stop" where a flourish previously sent the eye off to the left. Proper spacing of the typeface eliminated the other visual pauses between letters within the word. I also made the "West" element more visually proportional to "River" and bumped up the size of "Acupuncture" when centering it under the rest of the logo.

When I showed the revised identity image to my friend and client she said, "Oh, it still looks just like RiverWest Acupuncture and it is so much easier to read."

(Note: My book, Identity Crisis!: 50 Redesigns That Transformed Stale Identities Into Successful Brands, contains case studies from 35 designers and firms located around the world. Learn more about the book on the Identity Crisis! blog.)

© 2009 Jeff Fisher LogoMotives.

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Toot! Toot!*: Designer/Author Jeff Fisherfeatured on The Reflex Blue Show podcast

Jeff Fisher, the Engineer of Creative Identity for the Portland-based firm Jeff Fisher Logomotives, is the featured guest on the latest episode of the The Reflex Blue Show. Hosted by Nate Voss and Donovan Beery of 36Point, the design industry interview is available for download at the show site or from the iTunes Music Store.

Fisher, author of Identity Crisis!: 50 redesigns that transformed stale identities into successful brands, discussed his upcoming public appearances at the 2009 How Design Conference in Austin, TX this June 24-27, his thoughts on recent major brand redesigns, and making use of Twitter as a marketing tool. In addition to referring to his book Identity Crisis!, the design writer also talked about his first book, The Savvy Designer's Guide to Success (now available as a PDF on CD from HOWBookstore.com) and his upcoming volume, Logo•Type - a book about typography in identity design. The new book will be available when released by HOW Books in early 2010.

Designer Jeff Fisher has received over 600 regional, national and international graphic design awards for his logo and corporate identity efforts and his work is featured in more than over 100 books on the design of logos, the business of graphic design, and small business marketing. Earlier this year, Fisher was named one of design industry publication Graphic Design USA’s “People to Watch in 2009.” In 2008, Jeff Fisher LogoMotives was recognized as one of the top 100 U.S. home-based businesses by the web presence StartupNation

The designer was also asked about recently attending clown school. With his newly-created clown persona of Toots Caboose, he is currently a member of the Amtrak Cascades Character Clown Corps, for the 2009 Portland Rose Festival.

More information about Jeff Fisher, and his design and writing efforts, may be found on the Jeff Fisher LogoMotives blogfolio.

(* If I don’t "toot!" my own horn, no one else will.)

© 2009 Jeff Fisher LogoMotives

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Toot! Toot!*: Blogging efforts of designer/author Jeff Fisher featured in TCG eZine article

The multiple blogging efforts of Jeff Fisher, the Engineer of Creative Identity for the Portland-based firm Jeff Fisher LogoMotives, are featured in the TCG eZine article "Make it Big by Blogging: an Interview with Jeff Fisher and Sheri L Koetting." The Web publication is an online resource of The Creative Group, a firm that focuses on placing freelance professionals in the creative, advertising, marketing, web and public relations fields

In the article, designer/author Fisher and the design firm MSLK's Sheri Koetting, are interviewed about blogs being a great low-cost or no-cost way to promote oneself as a business or potential employee.

The blog presence bLog-oMotives is used to make readers aware of the author's design efforts, announce speaking engagements, share design inspirations and more. Fisher makes use of the "Identity Crisis!" blog to promote his book Identity Crisis!: 50 redesigns that transformed stale identities into successful brands. A third blog, Jeff Fisher LogoMotives serves as a blogfolio for the design professional.

Fisher, also the author of The Savvy Designer's Guide to Success: Ideas and tactics for a killer career (recently re-released as a PDF on CD by HOWBookstore.com), has been blogging as a business marketing tool since 2005.

Designer Jeff Fisher has received over 600 regional, national and international graphic design awards for his logo and corporate identity efforts and his work is featured in more than over 100 books on the design of logos, the business of graphic design, and small business marketing. Fisher is currently writing a book about typography in identity design.

Fisher was recently named one of design industry publication Graphic Design USA’s “People to Watch in 2009.” In 2008, Jeff Fisher LogoMotives was recognized as one of the top 100 U.S. home-based businesses by the web presence StartupNation

More information about Jeff Fisher, and his design and writing efforts, may be found on the Jeff Fisher LogoMotives blogfolio.

(* If I don’t "toot!" my own horn, no one else will.)

© 2009 Jeff Fisher LogoMotives

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