A same-sex wedding graphic, created by designer Jeff Fisher to celebrate his 2004 marriage to long-time partner Ed Cunningham, is featured in the recently released book Celebration Graphics Sourcebook: Festive Designs from All Cultures. Fisher is the Engineer of Creative Identity for the Portland-based firm Jeff Fisher LogoMotives. The new design volume, by John Stones, is distributed in the U.S. by Rockport Publishers.
Celebration Graphics Sourcebook presents innovative case studies from across all media, budgets, and cultures. Celebrations are arranged month by month, interspersed with weddings, birthdays, Name Days, and other life-marking events.
In the spring of 2004, Multnomah County (OR) historically began issuing same-sex marriage licenses. Fisher and Cunningham were married before family and friends on the stage of a Portland community theater; an event featured in the local newspaper Willamette Week. Oregon's on-going political battle over same-sex marriage resulted in an amendment to the Oregon Constitution later that year, and the marriages being declared invalid by the courts.
The graphic representation of the couple, with designer Fisher in a Hawaiian shirt and law firm administrator Cunningham shown in a business suit, was used for the ceremony invitation, thank you cards, and an announcement of a summer wedding reception held in the gardens of Joy Creek Nursery. The design also appears in The Big Book of Logos 5 and is part of the Multnomah County Wedding Album Project (2004-2005), now in the Oregon Historical Society collection.
Fisher, a 30+ year design industry veteran, is the author of The Savvy Designer's Guide to Success: Ideas and tactics for a killer career and Identity Crisis!: 50 redesigns that transformed stale identities into successful brands. He is currently writing the book LogoType, about typography in identity design, with a scheduled release of late 2010.
The designer has received over 600 design awards and his work has been published in more than 130 books on identity design, self-promotion and the marketing of small businesses. In recent years, Fisher has judged numerous competitions, including American Advertising & Design 25, the Logopond Awards, The Create Awards, and the Summit Creative Awards.
In January, 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.
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
