Jeff Fisher LogoMotives

Toot! Toot!*: Jeff Fisher LogoMotives designs included in Font Aid V "Made For Japan" effort

2011-11-13T22:56:00.000-08:00

The Society of Typographic Aficionados (SOTA) has announced the release of “Made For Japan”, a font created exclusively for Font Aid V to raise funds for relief efforts following the devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan. Nearly 300 contributors from 45 countries submitted over 500 glyphs in a single week. Behind the scenes, volunteers Neil Summerour, Silas Dilworth, Delve Withrington, and Grant Hutchinson were up to their elbows in Adobe Illustrator and Fontlab assembling the typeface

The contributions of Jeff Fisher LogoMotives include an image of a traditional origami crane representing peace, long life, good luck and prosperity (above left); a graphic Japanese sun dawning on a new day (above center): and a single gingko leaf, symbolizing health and happiness, growing out of pain and suffering. (above right).

The font is currently being sold for $20US through Veer and MyFonts. It will also be available through Ascender Fonts, Fonts.com, and Linotype in the very near future.

With the help of Sogo Japan, all proceeds from sales of this typeface will be delivered directly to organizations in Japan, such as Second Hand and AMDA International (Association of Medical Doctors of Asia). Sogo Japan strives to help circumvent regular international charity channels and the inefficiencies associated with them.

Proceeds from previous Font Aid efforts have gone to UNICEF to help war and disaster refugees, benefit the victims of the September 11 tragedies in the US, raised funds to expedite relief efforts in countries affected by the Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunamis, and been used by Doctors Without Borders to help with earthquake relief efforts in Haiti. Jeff Fisher LogoMotives contributed an original ampersand design for the 2010 “Coming Together” effort. In the 2005 Font Aid III initiative, a combined program of SOTA and Building Letters, designer Jeff Fisher submitted an icon that became part of the the collaborative Fleurons of Hope typeface.

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.)

Theatre Logos

2011-11-10T14:08:00.000-08:00

(Clockwise from upper left)

Driving Miss Daisy
Client: triangle productions!
Location: Portland, OR USA

An identity for a production of the play by Alfred Uhry. The logo design appears in The Big Book of Logos 3.

Three Viewings
Client: triangle productions!
Location: Portland, OR USA

Logo for a stage presentation of three monologues set in the same funeral parlor over a period of a couple months. The identity is featured in the Japanese books New Logo and Trademark and New Logo and Trademark Collection.

A Christmas Twist
Client: triangle productions!
Location: Portland, OR USA

A somewhat traditional holiday logo design for a play taking an irreverent look at the seasonal festivities.

Waiting For Vern
Client: triangle productions!
Location: Portland, OR USA

A clock seemed like a natural centerpiece for this production about an actor in a two-man play waiting for the other actor to arrive. The logo is published in the Japanese books New Logo and Trademark and New Logo and Trademark Collection.

Toot! Toot!*: Jeff Fisher LogoMotives design for Portland law firm published in 'Relogo" book

2011-11-04T12:04:00.000-07:00

The identity design work of Jeff Fisher, the Engineer of Creative Identity for the firm Jeff Fisher LogoMotives, is represented in the recently released book Relogo: Re-designing the Brand. The volume, from Chinese book company Sandu Publishing, features logo re-design examples from around the world.

Earlier this year, an editor from Sandu contacted the designer requesting the submission of any recent Jeff Fisher LogoMotives rebranding efforts for possible inclusion in the book. Fisher had just completed the implementation of his new identity for Portland law firm Samuels Yoelin Kantor LLP (above, lower right). The new logo is an update of the logo he originally created for business in early 1997 (above, upper right).

Over the years, the graphic representation of two heavy law books, forming an S letterform, has become a very recognizable icon for the business. The original identity was honored with a Bronze in the Summit Creative Awards. It has also appeared in the 1997 PRINT Regional Design Annual and the books International Logos & Trademarks IV, New Logo & Trademark Design (Japan), The Big Book of Logos, Global Corporate Identity and The Best of Letterhead and Logo Design.

Fisher, a 33-year design industry veteran, is the author of Identity Crisis!: 50 redesigns that transformed stale identities into successful brands and The Savvy Designer's Guide to Success: Ideas and tactics for a killer career. Other book projects are currently in the works. The designer has received over 600 design awards and his work has been published in more than 160 books on identity design, self-promotion and the marketing of small businesses.

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.)

UCDA "Designer" features "Logo Rip-off" article

2011-10-19T22:52:00.000-07:00

The Fall 2011 issue of the University and College Designers Association (UCDA) publication Designer features the article "Logo Rip-off," about designer Jeff Fisher's recent experience with the site LogoGarden.com appropriating and selling his original logo designs. Editor Kirsten Ruby contacted Fisher, after reading his blog entry "LogoGarden.com harvests pros' logos - including Jeff Fisher designs - and sells images on site," asking to share the copyright infringement situation with magazine readers.

The University and College Designers Association (UCDA) inspires designers working in academia in North America and around the world by delivering relevant programming and benefits in a personal and thoughtful way. The organization provides for the professional and personal growth of its members, and advocates for designer and educators roles within their institution. UCDA works to elevate the importance of design overall.

Designer is the quarterly journal of the UCDA. It is a benefit of membership in the organization. A Designer subscription-only membership is $50 per year.

Gallery of Jeff Fisher LogoMotives logo designs being ripped-off, used without authorization and providing much more than creative 'inspiration'

2011-10-10T06:52:00.000-07:00

After numerous logo designs by Jeff Fisher LogoMotives were 'appropriated,' and offered for sale, by the site LogoGarden.com, I began to make use of Google reverse image search to research possible misuse of other identities created for business, organization and event clients. The following have been my findings:

11.11 - It's ironic that UGI Printing & Packaging in China/UK butchers the Jeff Fisher LogoMotives identity and uses it in a online client lesson on trademarks. Removal request/DMCA sent to site on 11.14.11. Received email that image will be removed from all three URLs found. Images removed as of 11.18.11.

11.11 - India firm Dreamsdesign ["Creativity in Abundance"] seems to abundantly rip-off the logo work of other designers, such as my original Stumptown Clowns identity. DMCA/removal request sent on 11.12.11. Received email on 11.13.11 from site owner saying he was unaware the logo was my design and it has been removed. Proclaimed ignorance as an excuse never works for me. How does someone not know ripped-off logo designs are in their own online portfolio?

11.11 - Chinese site C-Impress.com using C.A.T. logo, as an icon, without authorization. DMCA/Email requesting removal sent to site contact on 11.12.11

09.11 - To me, it's unbelievable how blatant the copyright infringement is in this example representing a business in Scotland selling a variety of products for cats. I filed a DCMA with Facebook about the usage of the image as a FB Page profile pic and it was removed as an infringing image on 09.15.11. Received an email, in answer to my initial communication of 09.14.11, from Alicatz on 09.17.11 stating that an email had been sent to their web designer D & L Web Design [http://dandlwebdesign.co.uk] for a response. I was contacted by the web firm and was told they were "conned" by an independent designer in regards to the creation of the logo design. I was asked for patience in allowing the company to have a new identity created.

09.11 - A rip-off of my original C.A.T. logo design appears in a Groupon China promotion for a soft drink

09.11 - My original C.A.T. logo design takes a trip to Ecuador as the ripped-off identity for a moped supplier. II emailed the owner of the company and requested immediate removal of the images. As of 09.19.11 the logo was replaced with a new image.

09.11 - My well-traveled original C.A.T. logo design ripped-off and used to promote online sales of a women's clothing line.

09.11 - An example of my Cat Adoption Logo being offered for sale on a Chinese website. Email requesting removal sent to site contact on 09.13.11.

09.11 - The C.A.T. logo design continues its world tour, showing up in the portfolio of a web page company in Uruguay. Emailed removal request on 09.19.11. Image removed after filing DMCA on 10.11.11. I was told the posting "was a internal mistake."

09.11 - The theatre promotion site BroadwayWorld.com seems to think it's perfectly fine to use someone's original logo design without permission. I have emailed a request for removal of the image.

09.11 - It's never wise to nab a non-profit's logo, remove the law firm sponsor's ID, abuse the image and use it as one's own. I filed a DMCA Notice of Copyright Infringement with both Blogger and Facebook. The images were removed within 24 hours.

Idaho TV station KMVT 'appropriated' logo design I created for Portland Children's Relief Nursery Iron Chef event. I emailed the station asking for removal of the images from the site. I quickly got a response from the General Manager of the station, saying that my logo design for the Iron Chef event was presented to them by a Boise 'TV Idea bank.' He said the images would be removed by the company IT guy. The logo was removed from the site on 09.26.11

09.11 - My original 'Girls' Night Out' logo design was found being offered as a design for sale on the site of a Florida T-shirt printing company. I emailed requesting removal...

First response: "Did not know it belonged to anyone."

Second response: "All logos that have a copyright have the little "c" on them. This does not. How do I know it is yours and you didn't see it on my website and claim it for yourself?"

Soon afterwards it was removed from the site.

09.11 - Somehow my DataDork logo design traveled to Russia and is being sold on a T-shirt offered by a 'graphic designer.' Emailed removal request on 09.19.11.

09.11 - This site for outsourcing work to the Philippines doesn't seem to care that someone 'outsourced' my DataDork logo design for use as their avatar. I emailed the site, requesting removal, with no response. A DMCA was sent on 11.14.11 and the image was removed within an hour.

09.11 - I was somewhat stunned to see my "The Food Chain" logo being displayed on the blog of the Carrera de Publicidad Instituto Profesional de Chile [Advertising Career Professional Institute of Chile]. The '3 Big Fish' rip-off was used to identify a 2009 advertising workshop. I received a very nice email from the school's Director of Communications - who was mortified by the unauthorized use of my image. He stated that he was contacting the designer they hired for an explanation.

11.11 - The identity icon for Italian window/door manufacturer Pizzagalli Infissi appears to be MUCH more than inspired by my logo for DesignEire in Ireland.

09.11 - I emailed this web design firm in Ireland asking that my DesignEire icon be removed from their home page. I quickly received a response stating that the icon was just a "placeholder left on homepage mistakenly by their designer when the site went live." It was removed that day.

09.11 - My original Pizza Luna logo was removed very quickly from an archived restaurant logo design portfolio of design firm w/ Korean web presence. I sent them an email informing them I'd found the image in their online portfolio and it was removed within minutes.

10.11 - My Parenting Alliance logo icon somehow ended up in the online portfolio of a design student in Brasil. I posted a comment on the blog where the logo is displayed on 10.02.11. The image was removed by 10.03.11.

09.11 - It seems my street clothing Walk Your Talk logo design is attending a church school in Korea. An email requesting removal has been sent.

09.11 - Somehow my original 'Walk Your Talk" icon strolled onto the logo design portfolio page of a Hungarian design firm. I emailed the company and within a couple hours the image was removed.

09.11 - My 'Walk Your Talk' logo design seems to be strolling through Romania, representing a nonprofit foundation. Email notification has been sent. No response to email. DMCA filed with Facebook on 10.07.11 and the profile pic was removed.

09.11 - The theatre department of a Presbyterian school in Georgia, 'appropriated' my For The Birds logo, decapitated it and used it as the identity for a show. I emailed the director of the department and in a very short time received an apology and assurance that the images would soon be removed. He also mentioned he would be having a talk with the artists for the department.

10.11 - My design for the company Pajama Parties being used as a Facebook Page profile pic. DMCA submitted to Facebook on 10.02.11. The image was removed by Facebook on 10.03.11.

11.11 - This theatrical Facebook page ripped off my Driving Miss Daisy logo design from the site of licensing firm Theatre Logos Agency - with the copyright watermark in place. DMCA filed with Facebook on 11.15.11. The image was removed by Facebook on 11.16.11.

11.11 - A Yahoo Maktoob page nabbing my Driving Miss Daisy logo design from the site of licensing firm Theatre Logos Agency with the copyright watermark in place, to use as illustration for a review of the movie. DMCA filed with Yahoo Maktoob on 11.17.11.

09.11 - Somehow my 2001 logo design for a 'Driving Miss Daisy' production hit the road and ended up in promoting a theatre presentation in Stamford, CT. The logo is licensed by Theater Logos Agency - but this company did not have permission for use. An email requesting removal was sent. I received a response saying the image was simply a "placeholder" on the site and it was removed.

11.11 - MobiAsset.com - registered in Cairo, Egypt - used my Indies logo without authorization for their restaurant application marketing. The promo includes a faux testimonial from a restaurant that hasn't existed for years. DMCA notification sent on 11.06.11. The images were removed in about an hour and the existing "testimonial" was changed to be from "George Mitchell, Noodle Station Restaurant."

11.11 - Loco Kitchen restaurant - in Asahikawa, Japan - may have been established in 2011, but the business is using the palm tree from my 1993 Indies logo.

10.11 - Elements of Hawaii restaurant ID created in 2002 appear to be much more than 'inspired' by my 1993 Indies logo. My attorney has been informed of about this situation.

10.11 - The palm tree from my Indies Restaurant and Bar logo has become the ID for a coconut company in Mexico. A removal request email has been sent. Site down and undergoing redesign with new logo as of 11.14.11.

10.11 - Looks like a sloppy tracing tool was used to send my Indies Restaurant logo palm tree to a First Baptist Church camp in Huntsville, AL. I sent a removal request email to the pastor on 10.02.11 and the image was removed by that evening. The image reappeared on the site on 10.03.11 and a DMCA was filed with the site's webhost. The image was removed on 10.04.11.

10.11 - Facebook removed this Page pic for infringement after I found my Indies palm tree at a beach bar in Rimini, Italy.

10.11 - My Indies Restaurant logo palm tree takes a trip to Brasil and ends up as a wall decal for sale by Globo Signs. An email removal request has been sent with no response. The matter will be turned over to my attorney.

LogoDesignXperts.com, self-proclaimed as "The World's Most Trusted Design Service," 'designed' a church using the major element from a logo I created for the City of Portland's Neighborhood Service Center program. My initial email to them has gone unanswered. DMCA Notice of Copyright Infringement filed with web host Brinkster.com on 09.15.11. Image removed from site on 09.20.11.

09.11 - My logo design for City of Portland's Neighborhood Service Center abused and used as a Facebook Page profile pic. DMCA Notice of Copyright Infringement filed with FB on 09.19.11 and image was removed.

09.11 - Use as a corporate cause identity in Italy doesn't justify rip-off of logo designed for City of Portland Neighborhood Service Center. DMCA sent to corporation. I received an email on 09.20.11 from Gottsche, the Milan advertising agency representing Aspiag Despar, requesting some historical background on my design. The image was then removed from the Despar website.

10.11 - A hatchet job on my City of Portland's Neighborhood Service Center logo as it represents a nonprofit in Surabaya, Indonesia. A removal request email has been sent.

I find some irony in the unauthorized use of my What's For Dinner logo image on The Hacker's Paradise site - but not as a reference to golf. I attempted to post a message on the site, asking for removal of the image, but it was not posted. I emailed the site administrator, but have not had a response. A DMCA was filed with the site's host.

09.11 - The What's For Dinner? logo was found being used as the profile pic on 12 Facebook Pages. The copyright infringements were reported to Facebook and the images were taken down within a day.

09.11 - My What's For Dinner? logo design was used as illustrations on 10 blogs without permission. Most were removed by blog writers after receiving removal requests. Blogger had to remove three after DMCAs were filed.

10.11 - Flea Market Style magazine used my What's for Dinner? logo design as an illustration on their blog. A request for removal was emailed on 10.07.11. Image was removed 10.07.11.

10.11 - A SearchEngines.ru member conducts a "contest" for a theatre logo and gets a rip of my Family Values logo design as an entry.

11.11 - This Canadian 'designer' nabbed my Chameleon design concept for her Kameleon business and couldn't be bothered to change the typeface for her Facebook profile image. She also used the graphic on her AgentSolo page. Not smart. DMCAs sent to both on 11.22.11. Image removed from Facebook on 11.23.11.

09.11 - My original design for friend and hairstylist Micki King was found on a Zazzle vendors page, adorning bags she has for sale. Initial email to Zazzle was ignored. Then I tweeted this example and had a response in 6 minutes. Zazzle had the product removed in about an hour.

09.11 - It's totally bizarre that an ad agency in China is using my original Jeff Maul logo design to promote their services on multiple websites.

09.11 - UK's ‘Explore the Wild’ bought graphic used in website banner and background 'in good faith' from LogoGarden.com - it's my Sunriver Preparatory School logo design. The site owner was incredibly nice in this situation. When the images were removed he sent me an email saying:

"It sounds like quite a problem with artwork being copied, and I will be much more vigilant in future when purchasing such things – some of the offers looked too good to be true, and I can see why now."

My original Balloons on Broadway logo was 'appropriated' by a balloon company in Spain. Only the text was changed within the identity. Google Image Search found the altered image as a profile photo on Facebook. I filed a DMCA Notice of Copyright Infringement filed with FB on 09.11.11 and the logo was removed the next day.

My 'What The Butler Saw' logo was originally created for the triangle productions! theatre company in Portland. Like many of my design for plays it was then licensed with the Theatre Logos Agency [http://www.theatrelogos.com/]. This German site obviously nabbed the logo from the TLA site - the © watermark and copyright info are still in place!

10.11 - A SearchEngines.ru member conducts a "contest" for a theatre logo and gets a rip of my "What The Butler Saw" logo design as an entry.

09.11 - My original TraveLady logo design was recently used, abused and offered for sale by LogoGarden.com. Now it seems she's taken an unauthorized trip overseas. A removal request has been emailed to this site.

I also have a few previous examples in my archives:

02.11 - There are numerous companies around the world, providing a number of different services, with variations on the name 'LogoMotives." Although different in design, the horizontal image was more than inspired by my own identity - which I've used since 1997. I emailed the business in question and the logo was quickly removed, only to be replaced by the second image. At that point I consulted a lawyer and emailed the business in question that I was doing so. That second image soon disappeared as well.

05.08 - After several other designers found their original work being submitted to a logo 'contest' site by other so-called 'designers,' I took a look. The elogocontest.com site was were I found this image; poorly executed, but certainly more than inspired by my own logo design for the Seacoast AIDS Walk. I reported it to the site and it was immediately removed.

Additional online searches at the time, found two examples of my Seacoast logo design being displayed in online designer portfolios in China. Emails to the ISPs of the sites resulted in one image being removed and one portfolio being taken down.

05.08 - A design industry peer sent me this image in May 2008, noticing a strong resemblance to my Jeff Maul logo. A rip-off? Probably a bit too strong. Inspired by my logo design? Perhaps.

01.08 - One of the odder logo 'appropriation' stories in my career:

Friend and client, Ron Pitt informed me that his dear friend Ashley, whom he had known since birth as he was a longtime friend of her mother, had assisted him over the years with events and was an "expert balloon inflater." This past year, Ashley and her husband, Travis, had the opportunity to travel through East Africa with her parents. Being community-minded, they spent much of their time in small villages getting to know people, creating relationships and making new friends along the way.

The photos Ashley shared showcased one of the families they befriended. Ashley was the first to notice that one of the boys was wearing shorts with my logo design for Ron's business, Balloons on Broadway.

Unfortunately no one is able to adequately explain how the Balloons on Broadway logo ended up embroidered on the leg of a boy's shorts on a continent far away. As Ron noted, "We've never embroidered shorts, nor done much marketing in East Africa (*wink*). In fact we only had one screen run of 12 t-shirts with that logo and they all ended up on the back of our staff. That's it."

"The only way I can rationalize it is that the logo appeared in a publication of some sort in the UK (perhaps one of those listed above) and since Kenya's part of the Commonwealth, the publication ended up there and was spotted by someone who thought it would be a good knock-off," he added. "The boy's mother said she bought the shorts at the local market and couldn't quite understand what all the fuss was about - the kid just needed some shorts."

The search for other examples continues...

Related articles

• UCDA "Designer" features "Logo Rip-off" article

• Google's reverse image search: Indies Restaurant

• Google's reverse image search: A designer's best friend in finding and fighting unauthorized usage

• LogoGarden.com harvests pros' logos - including Jeff Fisher designs - and sells images on site

Non-Profit Logos

2011-10-01T06:48:00.000-07:00

(Clockwise from upper left)

Young Native Writers Essay Contest
Client: Holland+Knight Charitable Foundation, Inc.
Location: Tampa, FL USA

A nationwide essay contest, sponsored by the Holland+Knight Charitable Foundation, is represented by this logo featuring an eagle feather as a writing instrument. The input of tribal leaders was sought in the process of creating the image. The logo appears in The Big Book of Logos 5 and 100's Visual Logos and Letterheads.

Learn more about the process of creating this logo on bLog-oMotives.

St. Johns Window Project
Client: St. Johns Window Project
Location: Portland, OR USA

This pro bono design represents an annual art event in Portland during which art installations are featured in retail storefronts. The effort received a 2003 American Graphic Design Award from Graphic Design: usa magazine. It appears in The Big Book of Logos 5 and 100's Visual Logos and Letterheads.

Native Youth Internship Program
Client: Holland+Knight Charitable Foundation, Inc.
Location: Tampa, FL USA

Another identity created for the Holland+Knight Charitable Foundation. This logo identifies the Native Youth Internship Program initiated by my partner, one of the business managers for the law firm. The logo received a 2007 American Graphic Design Award. It is featured in the book 100's Visual Logos and Letterheads.

Holocaust Remembrance Project
Client: Holland+Knight Charitable Foundation, Inc.
Location: Tampa, FL USA

Learn more about this logo project on bLog-oMotives.

Google's reverse image search: Indies Restaurant

2011-09-30T07:48:00.000-07:00

In the summer of 2011 I became aware of the fact that the website LogoGarden.com had "appropriated" many graphic images from logos I had designed over the years. The images were being offered for sale on the site - without my authorization. One of the impacted identities was that created in 1993 for Indies, a New York City restaurant and bar (below).

My original palm tree image, within the Indies identity, was designed in a very specific manner. The client had an existing die for the production of a square paper folder with an arched cut on the front panel. This die would be used to produce a folder to contain the restaurant and bar menus (below). The palm tree had to be a specific size and shape to fit within the panel created by the arched die-cut. For the menu folder and business cards the tree would be blind-embossed. It would be printed on all other applications.

The Indies logo has experienced a great deal of exposure over the years. It has been used in many blog entries about logo design and displayed in numerous online galleries and portfolios. The identity also appears in the books Restaurant Graphics 2 (Rockport Publishers, USA 1996), Design Library: Retail & Restaurant (Rockport Publishers, USA 1998), New Logo & Trademark Design (P.I.E. Books, Japan 1998), Graphic Idea Resource: Paper - Building Great Designs With Paper (Rockport Publishers, USA, 1998), The Big Book of Logos (Hearst Books International, USA, 1999), New Business Card Graphics 2 (Japan), Logo Design for Small Business 2 (Signcraft, USA 2004), and all international editions of 1000 Restaurant Bar & Cafe Graphics (Rockport Publishers, USA 2007). It's not surprising that industry professionals, and some so-called "designers," are quite familiar with the design.

In the LogoGarden situation, a DMCA Notice of Copyright Infringement was filed with the site's webhost and the palm tree was soon removed from the archive on images offered for sale. With the removal of the Indies graphic, and almost 20 others, I began to wonder about possible other use and abuse of my logo designs.

Having recently read and heard a great deal about the Google reverse image search tool, I decided to put it into action. I uploaded the Indies logo design and 23 legitimate findings of the logo appeared in the results (above). The listings displayed the identity on my blog, in international online logo galleries and elsewhere. A similar search using the reverse image tool TinEye found only three results; my blog, my Logopond gallery, and a blogger's post about tree and plant imagery in logo designs.

With my curiosity piqued, I wondered what would happen if I uploaded a color JPEG file of only the palm tree graphic from the Indies logo, eliminating all text from the design. Up popped 26 web page findings, including the surprises of the palm being used "as is," or with some adaptation, for a church camp in Alabama, a restaurant and bar in Hawaii, a coconut company in Mexico and a beach bar in Italy (below). A similar TinEye search yielded only two images - a Logopond gallery image and a blog post.

In playing around with the Google Image Search feature, I've found that uploading different file types sometimes brings about a variety in the results. A black and white JPEG file of the palm brought about 26 found images, including the logo designs from Hawaii, Mexico and Italy. Making use of a color TIFF file resulted in the finding of 25 images; the Mexico and Hawaii images among those shown. Searching with a black and white TIFF image created a display of 27 images, including one not previously shown in any results - the palm tree being sold as a large wall decal by a firm in Brasil (below).

As a result of my findings of the Indies logo, one image was removed after an email to the site was unsuccessful and a DMCA claim was filed with the organization's webhost. Facebook removed one image, being used as a profile image, due to copyright infringement. Removal request emails have been sent to the others. I suspect at least one of the cases will need to be handled by my attorney.

The Google reverse image search feature does seem to a have a few idiosyncrasies when searching in different manners and with a variety of file types. Still, it is a very valuable tool for any creative professional in policing the use of one's original images.

Google's reverse image search: A designer's best friend in finding and fighting unauthorized usage

2011-09-24T14:10:00.000-07:00

After the recent LogoGarden.com issue of "appropriating" logo design elements of professionals from around world and offering the images for sale, I was curious what other designs of mine I might find out there on the Internet. In the past I have made use of TinEye Reverse Image Search, with limited results. On Twitter, Google+, Facebook and elsewhere, I started reading bits of information about the Google reverse image search engine - and I thought I'd give it a try.

I was amazed at the results. Where TinEye might have found up to ten online displays of one of my logo designs; Google's search would find 100 to 350 examples of one of the identities being displayed on blogs, in design galleries and elsewhere. In a relatively short period of time, I found over 50 examples of rip-offs or unauthorized usage of a number of my designs. The logos appeared on sites throughout the U.S. and in China, Scotland, Ecuador, Uruguay, Russia, Chile, Ireland, Korea, Brasil, Hungary, Romania, Mexico, Italy, Indonesia, Spain and elsewhere. Several logos were being used as Facebook page or profile photos; one being used in such a manner by about a dozen Facebook members.

The Google Image Search feature offers several options for initiating a search. Dragging and dropping a graphic, uploading a number of file types, and copying and pasting an image URL are variations on searching. It is also possible to download extensions for Chrome or Firefox allowing the user to right-click on a web image to search Google.

I've noticed that searching with different digital file types results in a slight variation in findings. Eliminating any text from a logo design provides additional examples of plagiarism or unauthorized use of images. Some results of the image search are simply odd. Uploading one of my logo designs displays no examples of that particular graphic, although many exist online. Instead, hundreds of examples of a homeland security logo are presented as a similar image.

Still, the Google reverse image search tool offers any creative professional a great opportunity to police the legitimate and unauthorized use of graphic imagery.

Additional article:
• Google's reverse image search: Indies Restaurant

© 2011 Jeff Fisher LogoMotives

LogoGarden.com harvests pros' logos - including Jeff Fisher designs - and sells images on site

2011-08-17T21:57:00.000-07:00

[Update: Updates|additional articles posted at the end of this entry.]

It was one of my typical 'no client' Fridays. I fixed myself a second double latte and sat down in front of my MacBook Pro to check emails and visit a few social networking sites. A long-time member of the business site StartupNation, and a 2008 recipient of their Home-Based 100 honors, I wasn't surprised at all to see a weekly update email from the web resource.

The headline of a newly-posted article, "5 Rules for Great Logo Design," caught my eye and I clicked on the link. Written by John Williams, a member of the StartupNation Small Business Experts panel, the article provided some good basic information for designers and potential clients, and after adding a comment to the piece, I shared the link on the Jeff Fisher LogoMotives Facebook page. I had no idea of the future meaning of my article comment when I posted my additional rule:

Hire a professional: The best result of a logo design project will be produced by a professional designer with a real understanding of the identity design and branding process - and proven track record for creating great logos. Yes, I’m a professional identity designer and have a vested interest in that statement. However, over the past three decades about a 1/4 of my clientele has come to me with an existing logo, originally designed by [insert a neighbor, husband, wife, themselves, any relative, etc.] who had a computer, that they wish to have redesigned to project a more professional image.

A short while later I received an unrelated Twitter message from illustrative designer Leighton Hubbell, one of my longtime "imaginary" online friends. It read:

Hey, Jeff. You should take a look at Logogarden.com. It appears they have a couple of your logos available for purchase on their site.

His next message informed me that he'd already found a "dozen or so" of his own logo images being sold on the site.

In going to the LogoGarden site, I was immediately stunned to see the image from the TraveLady Media identity, which I had designed years go for a friend, exhibited in the top row of examples as the logo for a business named Pack-a-bag Travel Management (above). I began to find more and more of my designs as I went through icon archives on the site. Work by identity peers, acquaintances and friends - including Von Glitschka, Maggie Macnab, Christopher Simmons of MINE, Prejean Creative and many others, were everywhere. I even saw immediately recognizable logos such as the World Wildlife Fund, Moonstruck Chocolate, and Time Warner Cable being offered for sale to, what I would assume would be, unsuspecting customers of the site.

It didn't take me long to find a good two dozen of images from my own logo portfolio for sale. Some were simply copied exactly; others altered very slightly from my originals. I found many more cases in which logos for sale were much more than simply "inspired" by my own work. I literally felt sick to my stomach after finding the following, the most explicit examples of my stolen designs:

TraveLady Media: Just one example of my original logo design, the icon being sold on LogoGarden.com and the logo being featured on their homepage making use of my icon design, with a testimonial from a supposedly satisfied customer. The identity was designed for Pacific Northwest television and media personality Cheryl Hansen.

Robinwood Center: My original logo was designed in 1981 for the Robinwood Shopping Center in West Linn, OR; not any question that LogoGarden.com is selling a blatant ripoff of my design.

Caring Community of North Portland: Another example of my original logo design, the icon being sold on LogoGarden.com and the logo being featured on their website making use of my icon design, with a testimonial from a supposedly satisfied customer. I created the image for a North Portland community non-profit organization.

North Portland Business Association: The center of my original North Portland Business Association logo - for my own neighborhood business group! - was ripped-off and is offered for sale on LogoGarden. Silly LogoGarden.com refers to the Great Blue Heron in the logo as a 'pelican.' I do enjoy pointing out the added stupidity.

DataDork: Oh, yes they did! The LogoGarden hacks even kidnapped my DataDork guy! The image represents a self-proclaimed "computer geek" in Fontana, CA.

What's For Dinner?: Another example of LogoGarden taking my original design, altering the graphic image a bit, and then offering the ripped off image for sale on their site.

American Telecom: In this case, LogoGarden pulled the graphic out of my AmericanTelecom logo design and slightly altered it by rotating the stars - and are offering the result for sale on their site.

Ed Cunningham: My original logo design, the altered icon being sold on LogoGarden.com and the crappy logo being featured on their website using a distorted version of my icon design, with a testimonial from a supposedly satisfied customer. This is the personal logo of my partner, Ed Cunningham.

Tsunami Benefit Icon: My icon for Font Aid III: Fleurons of Hope, a designer/type designer effort to raise funds for those in countries affected by the 2005 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunamis, was also swiped by LogoGarden.

Valley Catholic High School: It's bad enough that a site like LogoGarden rips off my original Valley Catholic High School logo design - but then they go and do a sh*tty job of it, too!

Indies Restaurant & Bar: This seems to be a standard modus operandi for LogoGarden - plucking a significant design element from a logo created by a professional designer and offering it for sale on their website. In this case the palm tree from my Indies logo was nabbed.

Sunriver Preparatory School: The logo for a school, located outside of Bend, OR, was made up of a river element forming the letterform "S," a representation of the wolf mascot of the facility, and a graphic treatment of Bachelor Butte and the Three Sisters Mountains. LogoGarden.com simply eliminated much of the fine detail. (Yes, before you comment, my type treatment was based on Papyrus at the request of the client - I removed some of the "bumps" in the letterforms.)

Diversity Network: This education organization wanted generic, somewhat abstract human forms within their identity. LogoGarden.com altered them slightly before offering the image to their customers.

Benton County Historical Museum: The identifying feature of this museum building in Philomath, OR is the cupola. This is another case of a graphic element from one of my original logo designs being 'appropriated' by LogoGarden, slightly altered [poorly] and offered for sale.

Seacoast AIDS Walk: This LogoGarden rip-off especially ticked me off as the work of AIDS Response Seacoast and their AIDS Walk are near and dear to my heart. The organization is located in Portsmouth, NH. This isn't the first time this logo has been ripped off by someone!

Rob Buckmaster Fund: A very personal project for me; designing an identity honoring local actor Rob Buckmaster, an acquaintance from my work with the triangle productions! theatre company. Rob died of AIDS and a scholarship fund was established in his name. The fact that LogoGarden stole and butchered my original design is especially annoying.

Project Stepping Stones: A program on the St. Charles Medical Center Foundation In Bend OR, Project Stepping Stones Project provides prenatal education and family health support programs for uninsured, low-income women to promote baby and child health. When I created the logo, I purposely dropped graphic "stones" in the shape of an "S" letterform into the imagery. LogoGarden.com left them in place when copying the image for their own purposes.

• Queen Anne Royals: The Queen Anne Royals were the employee bowling team for Key Bank's Queen Anne Branch in Seattle, WA. My late friend Brad Hall was a member of the team. This is another example of LogoGarden.com taking a graphic from one of my designs, altering the image and offering it for sale. The center point and 'reflective' image element line up perfectly when overlaid. It's just one of many similar cases I found on the site involving my own work - and the designs of others.

After finding so many examples of hijacked logo design work on LogoGarden.com, I started poking around a bit more on the site. With Google searches, none of the testimonial business names on the home page resulted in the finding of real businesses. I also discovered that the Founder and President of LogoGarden.com was John Williams - the same John Williams who wrote the StartupNation article I read earlier in the morning. All a bit too "small world" for me in a period of just a few hours.

I immediately returned to the StartUpNation blogs and posted:

Very interesting that I should respond to this post on the same day that numerous designers are finding their own original designs for sale on Mr. Williams' site LogoGarden.com. I was alerted to the fact early this afternoon and have so far found about 20 examples of my own design work - from logos representing my clients - on the LogoGarden.com site. Numerous other designers are finding their work offered for sale on the site as well.

I also returned to Twitter, informing StartupNation - through a tweet - about what was happening in regards to Mr. Williams and LogoGarden.com. To their credit, I quickly received a response thanking me for bringing the matter to their attention and informing me that they would investigate immediately. In a very short period of time Mr. Williams' articles were removed from the StartupNation site and there was no longer any reference to him as an "expert" on the web presence.

The Moonstruck Chocolate Company headquarters is very near my home studio. In addition, I was very familiar with their logo as it was designed by the Portland firm Sandstrom Partners. I've know Steve Sandstrom since we both worked on the University of Oregon college newspaper, The Oregon Daily Emerald, over 30 years ago. By way of Twitter and Facebook, I made Moonstruck Chocolate and Sandstrom Partners aware of finding the chocolatier's logo for sale on LogoGarden.com. I later received a Facebook message from a representative of Moonstruck, letting me know they had contacted their lawyer about the matter. Attorneys for others are also at work on the situation.

Many designers, and small business people, have asked for suggestions of how they can help in this situation that impacts so many in the design profession. My response is; "Make some noise!"

Review the home page and visit the logo image archive (using the 'Try It Free" button) on LogoGarden.com and review what is posted. If you recognize logos, alert the designer or client whose logo image is for sale. Post comments or reviews on the LogoGarden Facebook Page or YouTube presence. Research articles by LogoGarden founder John Williams on business web sites and comment. Ask design organizations, industry publications and business website/magazines to sound off about the LogoGarden issue. Make other designers aware of what is going on through Twitter, Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, blogging or whatever means possible. Read and share this piece, and the articles listed below. The power of a combined graphic design community can make a difference.

Thank you for the support received by all of the designers impacted in this situation.

Update - 08.17.11: I filed a Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) complaint with LogoGarden.com's web Rackspace Hosting, using their online copyright infringement form. That evening, LogoGarden.com began to remove my images from their website.

Update - 08.18.11: I received the following email from Rackspace:

"I'm writing on behalf of Rackspace in regards to a Copyright Infringement notice for LogoGarden.com. Our client has notified us that the material in question has been removed and that they are in compliance. Please review the site in question to make a determination of compliance. If there are any outstanding issues with this matter please let me know so that I can take the necessary action to resolve this matter.
Please contact us within the next 14 days. If we do not hear from you by August 31, 2011 we will consider this matter resolved. Thank you."

Update - 08.19.11:

• Ed Cunningham: I discovered a second image on the LogoGarden.com website today that makes use of an adaptation of my partner's personal logo. It then disappeared from the site without my reporting it to Rackspace.

Update - 08.20.11: Posted on the LogoGarden Facebook Page today:

"DESIGNERS, PLEASE READ: LogoGarden.com has recently been found to have some symbols in its 10,000-symbol library that are not original. We work very hard to try to ensure originality. If you discover any offending symbols please email john@logogarden.com and attach 1) your original logo (jpg) with date of creation, 2) a screenshot of the symbol in our database and 3) any sample logos from the LogoGarden home page. We will immediately remove any offending symbols.

I didn't realize that any of my logo images, stolen and offered for sale by LogoGarden, were 'offending." However, I do find the fact they ripped-off so many design professionals and clients very offensive.

Update - 08.22.11:

The TraveLady logo icon has finally been removed from the homepage of the UK version of LogoGarden.com. However, the icon itself is still being sold as a logo design elements on the sites.

Update - 08.23.11: The Graphic Artists Guild would like those who have found their logo designs on the LogoGarden.com site to send screenshots of infringed work to advocacy@gag.org - as they are investigating and tracking this issue.
Update - 08.25.11:

After again reporting to Rackspace Hosting that my TraveLady Media logo icon was still being sold on all LogoGarden.com sites, it was FINALLY removed. It only took nearly two weeks to get the particular image off the sites.

Related Articles:

• The perils of do-it-yourself logo makers; The Logo Factor Design Blog - by Steve Douglas of The Logo Factory [08.15.11]

• Thoughts on the Logo Garden controversy; by Dani Nordin [08.15.11]

• Logo Garden Sells Logos it doesn’t Own; In Brief: August Miscellany - Brand New [08.15.11]

• DIY, Crowd Sourcing or Piracy – You be the Judge; Drawing Conclusions - Prejean Creative [08.15.11]

• Grand Theft Logo; Northwest Indiana Creative - by Judith Mayer of Keyword Design [08.16.11]

• WWF panda for just $69; by David Airey of Logo Design Love [08.16.11]

• LogoGarden Should Be Plowed Under; Drawing Conclusions - Prejean Creative [08.16.11]

• More Logo Thievery; by Scott Lewis of Iconify.it [08.16.11]

• How low can they go?; by Cathy Fishel, LogoLounge.com [08.17.11]

• What is the liability of using stolen property for your business?; You get the idea, by Roland Murillo of Murillo Design [08.17.11]

• Charlatan, Huckster, Moron, Thief!; Love Thy Logo, by Bill Gardner, RockPaperInk [08.18.11]

• How to get your logos removed from LogoGarden.com; Drawing Conclusions, by Brent Pelloquin of Prejean Creative [08.18.11]

• Logo Garden’s bitter harvest; The Logo Factor Design Blog - by Steve Douglas of The Logo Factory [08.18.11]

• AIGA ACTION ALERT: Check LogoGarden for identity work stolen from you; from Richard Grefé, AIGA Executive Director, AIGA [08.19.11]

• LogoGarden Responds Regarding Stolen Logos; by Scott Lewis of Iconify.it [08.19.11]

• The Rape of the Bear Logo; by Sean Adams, Burning Settlers Cabin [08.19.11]

• Dubious Mother F****r Stealing Other People's Logo Work and Reselling It; The Denver Egotist [08.19.11]

• Official response from LogoGarden.com; Drawing Conclusions, by Brent Pelloquin of Prejean Creative [08.19.11]

• Logo Design Trend: Blatant Fraud; ohTwentyone [08.19.11]

• AIGA Launches Action Alert for Design Theft by ‘Logo Garden’ Site; by Steve Delahoyde of UnBeige [08.22.11]

• Graphic Artists Guild: Advocacy Alerts: LogoGarden.com may be infringing your work.; Graphic Artists Guild [08.22.11]

• Leggo My Logo; by Jaci Russo of The Russo Group [08.23.11]

• LogoGarden: Copyright and Do-It-Yourself Logos; by Jonathan Bailey of Plagiarism Today (PT) [08.25.11]

• LogoGate 2011; by Von Glitschka, Drawsigner [08.26.11]

• Letter from a Thief: LogoGarden’s Response to Selling Your Logos; by Tad Dobbs, Creative Squall [08.29.11]

• Pathological Hijacking A-Z; Love Thy Logo, by Bill Gardner, RockPaperInk [10.06.11]

Logodotes: Stumptown Clowns

2011-07-20T06:58:00.000-07:00

[Over the 30+ years I've worked professionally as a designer, interesting side stories have come up about my identity designs. This is one of an ongoing series of "Logodotes" - anecdotes about my logo designs.]

I often tend to be my own worst client. When designing for myself, I usually go into a very picky and hyper-critical mode. It did take me 10 years to create the Jeff Fisher LogoMotives identity.

With the image for Stumptown Clowns the process was surprisingly much different. Following attendance at Clown School, and a great experience as part of the Amtrak Cascades Character Clown Corps for the Portland Rose Festival, my clown pal Pippa suggested that those interested in clowning around a bit more participate in the 2009 Portland Pride Parade. As the event was not an official Rose Festival event we would need to march under a new clown troupe moniker. Pippa came up with the name "Stumptown Clowns."

In my odd logo designer mind, as soon as I was made aware of the name, I literally saw the words visually as a potential clown face. The "U" letterform in the word "Stumptown" could become a winking eye, with the "O" in the term creating another eye that was wide open. It only made sense that the "O" in "Clown" would become a big red clown nose.

There was no sketching or doodling of the concept. The design was so clearly defined in my mind that I went directly to the computer. The font Blue Plate Special, by Nick Curtis of Nick's Fonts, was the first and only choice for the logo. It seemed to convey the celebratory, circus-like quality I desired. The weight of the font, and the curves of some letterforms, complimented the graphic elements which were created first.

In a one-shot process the Stumptown Clowns logo was complete (top image). However, there was something that bugged me about the end result. It was an optical illusion, but the identity seemed to be tilting. I doubled-checked the horizontal allignment of the design. The lightness of the "winking eye" and the heaviness of the "open eye" element were causing the logo to look as if it had rotated clock-wise a bit.

Rotating the design a quarter of a degree, counter clock-wise, seemed to correct the visual issue for me (directly above).

Stumptown Clown pals Lou, Pippa, Trip and Toots Caboose preparing for the 2009 Pride Parade though downtown Portland

With our official Stumptown Clowns logo on an identifying sign for the parade (Thanks to Kathy at Signs Northwest!) the new clown troupe was ready for its parade debut.

This project did remind me of a previous identity design client with an incredible attention to detail - OK, the guy was anal retentive (Hmmm...am I more anal?). The logo project was finalized. Disks were prepared with all the necessary digital files for the client. The invoice had been sent off for payment. The the client called to request that I rotate the design - which did not have balance issues with its circular design - five degrees clockwise. It was one of the oddest, and most specific, requests I'd received in regards to a job. No explanation - just "please rotate the design five degrees."

I revisited the logo and rotated the image two and a half degrees. The client was perfectly happy.

The Stumptown Clowns logo was recognized with a 2010 American Graphic Design and Advertising Award, and Silver honors in the 2010 Summit Creative Awards. It appears in the books Logolicious, iheartlogos Vol. 1, Logo Nest 01 (Australia) and Logo Design Vol. 3 (Germany).

Kindle editions of design-related books feature logos and other work of Jeff Fisher LogoMotives

2011-07-15T15:37:00.000-07:00

The design work and career experiences of Jeff Fisher, the Engineer of Creative Identity for Jeff Fisher LogoMotives, are now shared in over 150 books on logo design, branding, small business marketing and other topics. A number of those books have now been released as Kindle Editions. The following are currently available for purchased downloads:

Breaking Into Freelance Illustration: A Guide for Artists, Designers and Illustrators, by Holly DeWolf (Kindle Edition, HOW Books, USA, 2011)

I Heart Logos, Season One (Kindle Edition, iheartlogos.com, USA, 2011)

Designing for the Greater Good: The Best in Cause-Related Marketing and Nonprofit Design, by Peleg Top and Jonathan Cleveland (Kindle Edition, HarperCollins, USA, 2011)

Best of Business Card Design 6, by Blackcoffee Design (Kindle Edition, Rockport Publishers, USA, 2011)

Letterhead and Logo Design 11, by Design Army (Kindle Edition, Rockport Publishers, USA, 2011)

The Designer's Guide to Business and Careers: How to Succeed on the Job or on Your Own, by Peg Faimon (Kindle Edition, HOW Books, USA 2011)

Type Rules: The Designer's Guide to Professional Typography, Third Edition, by Ilene Strizver (Kindle edition, Wiley, USA, 2010)

The Graphic Designer’s Guide to Better Business Writing, by Barbara Janoff and Ruth Cash-Smith (Kindle Edition, Allworth Press, USA, 2010)

1000 Retail Graphics, by JGA (Kindle Edition, Rockport Publishers, USA, 2010)

Drawn By Success inteviews designer Jeff Fisher

2011-07-08T09:34:00.000-07:00

What is being billed as the "lost interview" with Jeff Fisher, the Engineer of Creative Identity for the design firm Jeff Fisher LogoMotives, has been posted on the website Drawn By Success. In the interview, Secrets of Success with Jeff Fisher LogoMotives, the designer and author discusses charging higher fees, branding, using social media as a marketing tool and much more. The posted discussion was nearly considered "lost" due to audio production issues, but was recently successfully recovered.

According the site founder, illustrator and cartoonist Carlos Castellanos, Drawn By Success was created to serve as a valuable resource of proven marketing and positioning strategies to help freelance artists prosper at the creative work they love, while also serving as a source of encouragement and accountability to those artists bold enough to do the work necessary to attract better clients and charge higher fees and prosper as creative professionals.

Jeff Fisher LogoMotives identity designs included in Iconify.it 'Firsts|Favorites Logo Showcase No. 1'

2011-06-22T13:16:00.000-07:00

Logo designs by Jeff Fisher, the Engineer of Creative Identity for the Portland-based firm Jeff Fisher LogoMotives, have been included in the Iconify.it blog entry "Firsts & Favorites Logo Showcase No. 1." Designer Scott Lewis invited a number of industry peers to submit their first professional logo design and the personal favorite creation from their own identity portfolio.

Fisher's first professional logo effort was executed, as a student in 1978, for the Chinese Student Association at the University of Oregon (above left). The dragon-inspired image was created using the design tools of the time; India ink, ruling pens, Speedball pens, and art brushes on illustration board.

Produced 31 years later, directly at a computer, the designer's current favorite identity is that for the Stumptown Clowns troupe (above right). As his alter-ego Toots Caboose, Jeff Fisher is a member of the entertainment organization.

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

Toot! Toot!*: Jeff Fisher LogoMotives design shown in LogoLounge 'Shapes and Symbols' book

2011-06-17T20:45:00.000-07:00

The logo design work of Jeff Fisher, the Engineer of Creative Identity for the firm Jeff Fisher LogoMotives, is represented in the recently released book LogoLounge Master Library, Volume 3: 3,000 Shapes and Symbols Logos. The volume, written by Catharine Fishel and Bill Gardner, and produced by the web presence LogoLounge and Rockport Publishers, features logo design examples from around the world.

The logo for the Oregon winery Nicolas Rolin is displayed in the book. The icon within the design is based upon the Hospices de Beaune (or Hôtel-Dieu) toits bourguignons (Burgundian polychrome roofs) made of tiles glazed in terracotta, green, yellow and black and arranged in eye-catching geometric patterns. Located in Beaune, France; the hospital was built for the poor and needy in 1443 by Nicolas Rolin and his wife, Guigone de Salins. At the time Rolin was Chancellor to the Duke of Burgundy.

Fisher, a 33-year design industry veteran, is the author of Identity Crisis!: 50 redesigns that transformed stale identities into successful brands and The Savvy Designer's Guide to Success: Ideas and tactics for a killer career. Several other book projects are currently in the works. The designer has received over 600 design awards and his work has been published in more than 140 books on identity design, self-promotion and the marketing of small businesses.

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.)

Non-Profit Logos

2011-06-10T20:40:00.000-07:00

(Clockwise from upper left)

Tilikum
Client: George Fox University
Location: Newberg, OR USA

The Tilikum identity is a re-design of an existing image representing the retreat center for George Fox University. The logo appears in The Big Book of Logos 5 and 100's Visual Logos and Letterheads.

Read more about the Tilikum identity redesign effort on bLog-oMotives.

Our House of Portland
Client: Our House of Portland
Location: Portland, OR USA

Our House of Portland, a residential care facility for people with AIDS, had been represented with the same dated identity for years. In re-designing the image, some reference to the old logo needed to be retained. The new icon was determined by the roofline of the new structure. The type used in the logo was predetermined by its use on all structural signage. The design appears in The Big Book of Logos 5 and 100's Visual Logos and Letterheads. It was also honored with a 2007 American Graphic Design Award.

Fleuron of Hope icon
Client: Font AID III
Location: Prague, Czech Republic

This icon was my contribution to the Fluerons of Hope font which was a project of Font Aid III. The font is available at MyFonts.com. As a result it also appears in the publication Building Letters Three: Tsunami Edition. The logo is also featured in the Big Book of Logos 5.

Eugene University Music Association
Client: Eugene University Music Association
Location: Eugene, OR USA

One of my earliest professional logo design projects - designed pre-computer, in about 1979 while I was a student, for the Eugene University Music Association. The image was created on illustration board with a rapidiograph pen.

Toot! Toot!*: Designer|clown Jeff Fisher included in book 'RIPE: Rich, Rewarding Work After 50'

2011-06-02T07:50:00.000-07:00

Designer Jeff Fisher, the Engineer of Creative Identity for the Portland-based firm Jeff Fisher LogoMotives and Portland Rose Festival Character Clown Corps member Toots Caboose, is mentioned as a "ripe pioneer" in the recently released book RIPE: Rich, Rewarding Work After 50. The volume, by author, speaker and columnist Julia Moulden, is currently available at most online bookstores.

RIPE delivers the news that something wonderful – and unprecedented – is just beginning for those who have reached 50 years of age. Baby boomers like you are approaching the next phase of their careers with the confidence of mature professionals and the zest of beginners. They are becoming what Julia Moulden calls, “ripe”. Meet the ripe pioneers who told her, “This is the most deeply satisfying work I’ve ever done.”

RIPE introduces a twelve-week course that will help readers discover new passion, purpose, and possibility at midlife - and make a successful transition to the next, best phase of your career.

Jeff Fisher first became aware of Moulden, a columnist for The Huffington Post website, through social media posts regarding her blog entry, Ripe, Rich, Rewarding Work After 50. An email exchange led to Fisher being interviewed by Moulden about his design and writing career, playing outside of work, his experience of dealing with chronic vertigo, and - following improved health - becoming Portland Rose Festival clown Toots Caboose (above).

In the book, Moulden writes: 'Jeff Fisher, a graphic designer who became a character clown in his 50s, repeated to me what his grandfather said to him "Please tell me you'll never say, 'I should have.'" words to live by.'

Fisher, a 33-year design industry veteran, is the author of Identity Crisis!: 50 redesigns that transformed stale identities into successful brands and The Savvy Designer's Guide to Success: Ideas and tactics for a killer career. Several other book projects are currently in the works. The designer has received over 600 design awards and his work has been published in more than 140 books on identity design, self-promotion and the marketing of small businesses.

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.)

Excavated design artifact #23

2011-05-20T07:42:00.000-07:00

I've worked as a professional graphic designer for just over 32 years. In that period of time, I have collected a great many project concepts, doodles and roughs. As I continue to go through three decades of design files, these excavated artifacts are coming to the surface.

In the mid-to-late 1980s, while living in Seattle, I did quite a bit of design work for gay and lesbian businesses, organizations and events. One such group was the Washington Privacy Lobby, founded out of concerns related to personal medical records privacy during the AIDS crisis.

My original doodle for the organization identity was executed in dark blue felt-tipped pen, on the back of a sheet from a pink "While You Were Out" message pad. With a certain alignment the "O" letterform in "WASHINGTON" and the "A" in "PRIVACY" formed a graphic keyhole, symbolizing the keeping of medical information under lock and key (above left). To add what I thought would be strength the logo, a key element would fill the open space created by the placement of the words.

As I began to fine-tune the design, I made use of Letraset pressure-sensitive type (remember, this is pre-personal computer) to produce the primary text in Italia Bold (above right). An outline of the State of Washington became part of the key. The remaining available space in the design allowed for the placement of an address for envelopes, letterhead, business cards, labels and other printed material.

With the Italia type treatment seeming visually too heavy, I opted to change to the oh-so-1980s type of Serif Gothic Outline (above). Again, at the time, this was a Letraset or Chartpak pressure sensitive typeface. The graphic element of the key was eliminated to reinforce the issue of "privacy" within the design. If you want something to remain private you would not provide anyone with the key. The center of the keyhole image was darkened to symbolize blocking someone from peeking at what may be inside - in this case, medical records needing to remain confidential.

Take a look at the complete Jeff Fisher LogoMotives excavated artifacts collection.

Toot! Toot!*: Jeff Fisher LogoMotives designs included in 'Basic Identity' from Index Book

2011-05-10T20:35:00.000-07:00

The design work of Jeff Fisher, the Engineer of Creative Identity for the Portland-based firm Jeff Fisher LogoMotives, is included in the recently released book Basic Identity. The volume, from Spanish publisher Index Book, is currently available online and at bookstores worldwide.

Fisher's identity for Emerge Medical Spa at Bridgeport is featured in the book, along with branding projects from 151 designers and firms, representing 30 nations. The Emerge logo, stationery package and signage are highlighted in Basic Identity (below).

The Emerge Medical Spa logo also appears in The Big Book of Logos 5, 100s Visual Logos & Letterheads (UK) and American Corporate Identity 2008.

Fisher, a 33-year design industry veteran, is the author of Identity Crisis!: 50 redesigns that transformed stale identities into successful brands and The Savvy Designer's Guide to Success: Ideas and tactics for a killer career. Several other book projects are currently in the works. The designer has received over 600 design awards and his work has been published in more than 140 books on identity design, self-promotion and the marketing of small businesses.

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.)

Personal Services Logos

2011-04-27T20:24:00.000-07:00

(Clockwise from upper left)

Jeff Maul
Client: Jeff Maul
Location: Portland, OR USA

The guy who cut my hair wanted a simple graphic representation of his name to promote his work. The design appears in International Logos & Trademarks III, the 1996 PRINT Regional Design Annual, Letterhead and Logo Design 5, New Logo & Trademark Design (Japan), Bullet-Proof Logos, The Best in World Trademarks 1- Corporate Identity (Korea), LogoLounge - Volume 1, The Best of Letterhead and Logo Design, Logo Design for Small Business 2, and New Logo: One (Singapore).

Read about the creation of this logo on bLog-oMotives.

VanderVeer Center
Client: VanderVeer Center
Location: Portland, OR USA

The VanderVeer Center logo is the centerpiece of the rebranding of the medical spa facility and its anti-aging services. Design efforts featuring the logo appear in The Big Book of Layouts, The Big Book of Letterheads, 100s Visual Logos & Letterheads (UK), The Big Book of Logos 5 and Design DNA - Logos: 300+ International Logos Deconstructed. It also appears as a case study in my own book, Identity Crisis!

Read more about the VanderVeer Center identity project on bLog-oMotives

What's For Dinner?
Client: What's For Dinner?
Location: Portland, OR USA

What's For Dinner? is the business of a personal chef and caterer. The logo is featured in the books Logo Design for Small Business 2, New Logo and Trademark Design (Japan), and Logo and Trademark Collection (Japan).

Thomas Fallon • Architect
Client: Thomas Fallon
Location: Portland, OR USA

Type of the period was used for the identity of this architect specializing in Arts & Crafts inspired residential design. It is featured in Logo Design for Small Business 2, American Corporate Identity 2006, 100's Visual Logos and Letterheads and The Big Book of Logos 5.

Toot! Toot!*: Jeff Fisher LogoMotives identities showcased in Taschen's 'Logo Design Vol. 3'

2011-04-01T21:37:00.000-07:00

The new internationally-released book Logo Design Vol. 3 includes six identities from Jeff Fisher, the Engineer of Creative Identity for the Portland-based firm Jeff Fisher LogoMotives. The volume, edited by Julius Wiedemann, was published by the German-based firm Taschen as part of their continuing series on logo design and branding.

The Jeff Fisher LogoMotives designs selected (above) include an identity concept for the Cat Adoption Team, the logo redesign for "The Sentinel" community newspaper and the branding image for the Holocaust Remembrance Project of Tampa, FL. In addition, logos for the short-lived Portland eatery Balaboosta and the Historic Kenton Firehouse Committee are featured in the design inspiration resource. Also represented in the book is the logo for the entertainment troupe Stumptown Clowns, of which designer Fisher is a member in his alter-ego persona of clown Toots Caboose.

The designer has received over 600 design awards and his work has been published in more than 140 books on identity design, self-promotion and the marketing of small businesses. He often travels – nationally and internationally – to present courses, seminars and workshops on design, branding, marketing and social networking. In addition, Fisher is a nationally-recognized speaker, making numerous presentations each year to design organizations, design schools, universities and business groups.

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.)

Jeff Fisher's neighborhood logo design efforts recognized at 'Celebrate North Portland' event

2011-03-25T15:49:00.000-07:00

It's always nice to be recognized for one's work-related efforts, especially pro-bono activities in your own community - although it's never something to be expected. For me, the funny thing is that each time I've informed that I was to be publicly recognized at a neighborhood event, I've known I would miss the celebration due to traveling outside of the country. Such was the case in March 2011, while I was in on the island of St. Croix.

In late 2010, I learned that my volunteer neighborhood design efforts were to be acknowledged at a public dinner to be held on March 19th at the University of Portland. I was to be one of many residents to be honored at the event "Celebrate North Portland: Recognizing over three decades of activism in North Portland," hosted by my long-time friend and client, Mike Verbout.

Verbout, the former principal of James John School, also asked if I would create the logo to identify the dinner.

Schnitzer Steel, community activists Barbara Parmelee and Rich Recker, former Portland Mayor Vera Katz, columnist Steve Duin of The Oregonian and The Merck Family received plaques for their contributions to North Portland. Along with many businesses, organizations and individuals, I was honored to have a narrative describing my community work published in the evening's recognition book:

"Jeff Fisher, author of Identity Crisis!: 50 redesigns that transformed stale identities into successful brands (HOW Books, 2007), is the Engineer of Creative Identity for the North Portland-based firm Jeff Fisher LogoMotives. A 32-year graphic design veteran, he has been honored with over 600 regional, national and international design awards and is featured in over 140 books about logos, the design business, and small business marketing. His first book, The Savvy Designer's Guide to Success was released in 2004. Other book projects are currently in the works. He often travels – nationally and internationally – to present courses, seminars and workshops on design, branding, marketing and social networking.

In addition, Fisher is a nationally-recognized speaker, making numerous presentations each year to design organizations, design schools, universities and business groups. In 2009, Graphic Design USA magazine named Jeff Fisher one of its design industry “People to Watch.” Jeff Fisher LogoMotives is a past recipient of the Spirit of Portsmouth Award, Salvation Army’s North Portland Neighborhood Pride Award and the Portland Area Theatre Alliance B. Joe Medley Volunteer Award. Fisher is also Portland Rose Festival Character Clown Corps member Toots Caboose. Jeff and his partner, Ed Cunningham, have made Arbor Lodge their home for 15 years.

Past North Portland clients of Jeff Fisher LogoMotives have included James John School, Just Out, Peninsula Community Development Corporation, North Bank Cafe, Coyner's Auto Body, Lampros Steel, The Sentinel and DiPrima Dolci. The designer has donated his talents and abilities to create logos and other works for the North Portland Business Association, Project Safe Summer, Portsmouth Neighborhood Association, Peninsula Clean Team, Caring Community of North Portland, Kenton Neighborhood Service Center, Children's Relief Nursery, North Portland Neighborhood Services, St. Johns Window Project, Historic Kenton Firehouse Committee, The Salvation Army’s Moore Street Corps, and the North Portland Pride B.B.Q and Festival. He also designed the St. Johns street banners."

It's been a real pleasure to live and work in North Portland. I look forward to many more years of involvement in the vibrant community I call "home."

Jeff Fisher LogoMotives identity evolution

2011-03-01T09:03:00.000-08:00

I get a lot of questions about the creation of the Jeff Fisher LogoMotives identity, especially as many designers struggle with the creation of their own logos. I was certainly no different.

1987-1988

Almost eight years after moving to Portland from college, and beginning my career as a professional graphic designer, I determined I needed a business name that reflected my interest in logo design, combined with my lifelong fascination of toy trains and actual locomotives. The examples above show the development of a logo for, what I originally intended as the name, Logo Motive Design. The first drawing was executed in ballpoint pen on a notepad, recreated with a rapidiograph pen (this was before most designers had computers), and then reversed out to final art. The logo only appeared in one print ad. It was not met with positive feedback from friends and clients, who felt the emphasis on my personal skills and talent required my own name in my business identity. So, the idea was shelved and I continued as Jeff Fisher Design.

1991-1995

With more and more of my design work being involved in identity efforts I revisited my original concept for the business name Logo Motive. I attempted to create a logo combining the necessary text and a symbolic art element in an integrated emblem, while also conveying my own creativity and identity design ability. The rough design for the initial train imagery incorporating the name LogoMotive was even included in a 1991 self-promotion piece. I again received negative feedback from clients and associates in regards to such a name making my efforts seem impersonal and too corporate. Still, I began using the business name LogoMotive in 1995 to give an identification to what was unintentionally becoming my primary business focus. I again halted my own logo project out of frustration with it not conveying a strong enough image - and the effort becoming a low priority due to an ever-increasing workload.

1997

Early in 1997 I decided to finally finish the logo project I began ten years earlier for my worst client - myself. About 80% of my design projects were now logos. Potential clients, clients and friends were now asking why a logo designer did not have a logo of his own. My sister, Sue Fisher; owner of the advertising, marketing and public relations firm TriAd (in Bend, Oregon); encouraged me to focus on my logo design efforts and finalize my business identity. I embellished on the rough design of a couple years earlier. By simply adding my name to the design I was able to "brand" myself, giving the logo the personal sense it had been lacking. The result was a logo with which I was finally pleased and it has served me very well. To celebrate completion of the design, I bought myself the new toy train set I had always wanted.

These days about 35% of my new clients tell me they have made the decision to hire me based on my personal logo. The design has been honored with numerous design awards since first appearing long ago. The Jeff Fisher LogoMotives identity also appears in Letterhead and Logo Design 5 (1998), American Corporate Identity 14 (1998), New Logo & Trademark Design (Japan, 1998), the 1998 PRINT Regional Design Annual, The New Big Book of Logos (2000), PRINT’s Best Logos & Symbols 6 (2000), Logo Design for Small Business 2 (2004), Logos from North to South America (Spain, 2005), Logo & Trademark Collection (Japan, 2004), The Big Book of Business Cards (2005), American Graphic Design & Advertising 25 (2010), Type Rules: The Designer's Guide to Professional Typography, Third Edition (2010), 2011 Artist's and Graphic Designer's Market and a little book called The Savvy Designer's Guide to Success (2004).

Creative Services Logos

2011-02-10T15:06:00.000-08:00

Client: Jeff Fisher LogoMotives
Location: Portland, OR USA

Being my own worst client, creating my own logo was a ten-year process. The identity is featured in Letterhead and Logo Design 5, American Corporate Identity/14, New Logo & Trademark Design (Japan), the 1998 PRINT Regional Design Annual, The New Big Book of Logos, PRINT’s Best Logos & Symbols 6, Logo Design for Small Business 2, The Big Book of Business Cards, Logos from North to South America (Spain), New Logo & Trademark Collection (Japan), American Graphic Design & Advertising 25, Type Rules: The Designer's Guide to Professional Typography, Third Edition, 2011 Artist's and Graphic Designer's Market, and The Savvy Designer’s Guide to Success.

Read more about the Jeff Fisher LogoMotives identity evolution.

NoBox Design
Client: NoBox Design
Location: Portland, OR USA

This interior design company logo features a Donghia-like chair image and a "B" representing the client's first name, on a stylized blanket element. The logo was also created in a version without gradients for ease in reproduction in some applications. The NoBox Design logo was recognized with a 2006 American Corporate Identity Award, and it will appear in The Big Book of Logos 5.

Twisted Elegance Interactive
Client: Twisted Elegance Interactive
Location: Seattle, WA USA

A very simple, artistic type treatment successfully conveyed the name of this company. The design was recognized in the P22 Font Foundry Font In Use competition, and appears in the books American Corporate Identity 2007 and The Big Book of Logos 5.

DesignEire
Client: DesignEire
Location: Dublin, Ireland

DesignEire was a web development company located in Dublin, Ireland. The design won a Summit Creative Award (Silver) and appears in the books The Big Book of Logos 3, New Logo World (Japan), Graphically Speaking, Global Corporate Identity, and Logo Design for Small Business 2. It was also critiqued by the UK newspaper The Sunday Times.

Toot! Toot!*: New 'iheartlogos' volume gives love to Jeff Fisher LogoMotives identity designs

2011-01-20T18:03:00.000-08:00

The recently released book iheartlogos season one includes design efforts from Jeff Fisher, the Engineer of Creative Identity for the Portland-based firm Jeff Fisher LogoMotives.. The inspiration-filled volume, published through the iheartlogos website, features 462 logos created by 109 designers from 26 countries around the world.

The Jeff Fisher LogoMotives designs selected (above) include the logo for Fontana, CA computer consulting firm DataDork and an identity concept for the Cat Adoption Team. Also showcased in the book is the logo for the Portland entertainment troupe Stumptown Clowns, of which designer Fisher is a member in his alter-ego persona of clown Toots Caboose.

Identities included in the book were judged and voted on by other designers submitting logos, and individuals registered to vote, at the website iheartlogos.com. The limited edition book is currently available exclusively on the site, for $25 - which includes free shipping in the continental United States. Season two of the iheartlogos competition is currently underway.

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.)

Logodotes: Cat Adoption Team concept

2011-01-10T14:16:00.000-08:00

It's always interesting to be contacted by a nonprofit organization with a request to design a logo pro bono. I get numerous such requests each month. These days, to give myself permission to politely decline some inquiries, I only consider donating my services if the project is related to education, nonprofit performing arts groups, children's causes, HIV/AIDS or issues in which I have a strong personal interest.

I had certainly heard of the Cat Adoption Team (C.A.T.), the Pacific Northwest’s largest nonprofit, limited admission cat shelter with its own on-site full-service veterinary hospital. My initial contact with the organization came via an email from a graphic designer doing volunteer work for C.A.T. She explained that she was a fan of my own identity design work and asked if I would possibly consider designing a new logo for C.A.T. as it approached its tenth anniversary celebration.

After expressing my interest in taking on the project, an appointment was made with the woman who was the group's Executive Director at the time. I appreciated the advertising and marketing background of this individual. She had a great understanding of branding - and the fact that the logo in use at the time (above left) may have served the agency well in its first decade, but it was time to convey a stronger, more professional and memorable public persona. With the emotional and historical investment in the existing logo, the was certainly a "never tell a potential client their logo sucks" situation. Personally, I felt the hand-drawn logo, with one black cat looking outside a window while another looked in, projected a melancholy and somewhat sinister image.

My hope was to create a simple, memorable logo, that would be appeal to both adults and children, as an identifier for the group. With the gift of an organization name acronym creating the primary word associated with the cause, I set about the design a logo turning C.A.T. into the graphic image of the animal. I got increasingly excited as I doodled (above right) and saw a recognizable cat form taking shape within the name.

My excitement was shared by the Executive Director when I explained the direction in which I was taking the project. As I fine-tuned the concept, I opted to make use of letterforms from the font Frankfurter to form the cat and then be used to spell out the organization name. The roundness of the letters created a soft, friendly, inviting design (above) for review by the client Board of Directors. The Executive Director seemed very pleased by my effort and felt it could successfully take C.A.T. into its second decade with a clever and professional graphic identity.

The Board of Directors did not agree. The Executive Director shared that the board members did not feel the design was "warm and fuzzy enough" to successfully represent the cause. She then graciously offered me an opportunity that no previous client had suggested. Given the fact I had donated my time and invested so much energy, into a design that I was convinced would best serve C.A.T and the Board of Directors disagreed; she was allowing me to remove myself from the situation if I chose to do so.

I accepted her offer to separate myself from the project. Afterwards I learned that other designers had less than successful past business relationships with the agency, too. The combination of a mostly volunteer organization, the historical and emotional attachments to the group's past designs, a voting Board of Directors sometimes becoming a "design by committee' presence, and other elements can make such projects challenging - for the designer and the client.

Soon after ending my participation in the C.A.T. project, I received a call-for-entries for a book to display 50 of the best international rejected, or "killed," design concepts. The C.A.T. logo concept design got a second life when it was accepted for publication in the book Killed Ideas: Vol 1.

The C.A.T. design went on to have more than nine lives beginning with winning a Silver Award in the Summit Creative Awards. It is also featured in the books Letterhead & Logo Design 11, American Graphic Design & Advertising 25, Designing for the Greater Good, LogoLounge Master Library Vol. 2, Logolicious, For a Good Cause (Spain), iheartlogos season one and Logo Design Vol. 3 (Germany). The logo also appears in the textbook Perfect Match Art Primary 5, by Prisca Ko Hak Moi - a collaborative project of publisher Pearson Education South Asia and Ministry of Education Singapore. Most recently it is an illustrative element in an article I wrote for the 2011 Artist's and Graphic Designer's Market.

What became of the need for a Cat Adoption Team logo design? Well, another designer (if I knew the name I would post it here) did take on the project and successfully created an identity for C.A.T. (above). It seems that the organization got their more literal and "warm and fuzzy" feline representation within the logo design. It has been used as the agency's identity for some time now.

I had an immediate critical, rather than personal or bitchy, reaction to the new logo when first seeing it - and other logo designers have emailed me with similar thoughts. With the illustrative cat's head resting on the "C" letterform, that letter seems to visually close creating a noose-like appearance - or the cat's head seems to resting in wait for the falling of a guillotine blade or the ax of a a public executioner. Perhaps not the best graphic message for a "no-kill" cat shelter.

Anatomy of a logo design

2010-12-20T06:13:00.000-08:00

Several years ago my friend, and long-time client, Anne Kilkenny contracted me to design a logo for a grass roots community effort to oppose the inclusion of a "big box" hardware store in a new development proposed for construction on the east side of Portland's Willamette River. The site, at the end of the Burnside Bridge, was within a few blocks of numerous owner-operated smaller home improvement stores. Residential neighborhoods were nearby. The construction of a large retail store could have a tremendous negative impact on local business, the quality of life for neighbors and traffic.

I had worked with this client for years - including designing the award-winning identity for the nearly 100-year-old W.C. Winks Hardware store and the logo for her Heart of the Pearl retail development in the city's Pearl District. Kilkenny didn't need to provide much initial input on the project. It's just the way we've worked together over the years. I'd read the newspaper reports of the community issue and was familiar with the area in question. She gave me the rather clever acronym for the organization and set me to work. My one directive was to create something "that might look cool on a T-shirt."

I did a couple doodles on a piece a paper and then went directly to my PowerBook to fine-tune my one and only concept for the logo (above). Recently a friend was looking at the design and said "that's a design that would look really cool on a T-shirt, but what is it?" I gave a brief explanation of the concept behind the design and then my friend commented that it was "a really cool design."

In dissecting the design (above), I explained that the squiggly blue line (A.) represented the east bank of the Willamette River and one boundary of the area being impacted. The color blue was another representation of the water. Within the logo there are four abstract human forms (B.) representing the local community activists, the small business owners, other concerned citizens, and the public officials siding with the group. Together these four human forms created a circle (C.) signifying the unity of the various groups on this emotional community issue. Together the elements also created squares (D.) representative of Portland's grid system of small commercial and residential blocks in the area. I used upper and lower case letterforms on the AFriend element (E.), an acronym for Association for Responsible Inner Eastside Neighborhood Development, to make it seem friendlier and a little more neighborly for the group going up against the big corporations (and their lawyers) and city planners in dealing with the issue. A little last minute treatment was coloring the dot over the "i" blue to symbolically remind those involved that a single drop of water in a bucket can make a difference in the end result.

I don't know if my "cool" design had much of an impact on the outcome, but the developers of the project did end up going back to the drawing board to remove the "big box" retailers from their architectural plans.

The AFriend logo appears in The Big Book of Logos 5 and 100s Visual Logos & Letterheads (UK).

Toot! Toot!*: Jeff Fisher LogoMotives identities deconstructed in 'Design DNA - Logos' volume

2010-12-06T07:36:00.000-08:00

Two logo designs by Jeff Fisher, the Engineer of Creative Identity for the Portland-based Jeff Fisher LogoMotives are featured in the newly released book Design DNA - Logos: 300+ International Logos Deconstructed. Written by brand consultant and designer Matthew Healey, the volume was published by HOW Books.

Design DNA - Logos analyzes over 300 exemplary designs from around the world; giving designers a clear understanding of how to target specific markets and convey brand values. Showcasing inspirational design, it is also a practical and problem-solving handbook covering general process and specific detailing. Every logo is deconstructed to show how each element works to make the design an effective one, and case studies walk the reader through the reasoning behind successful design decisions.

The Jeff Fisher LogoMotives designs presented in the book include the logo for the short-lived Balaboosta Delicatessen and the identity for VanderVeer Center.

Featured in the "Food & Drink" section of the volume, the Balaboosta logo (above center) was designed to compliment the neighboring local eating establishments of Portland chef and author Lisa Schroeder. The tile design and colors of the historic restaurant setting were incorporated into the logo design, referred to as "old-fashioned and tasteful" by Design DNA - Logos. Unfortunately, after a short time in operation, Balaboosta was closed and the restaurant space was reconcepted.

The VanderVeer Center identity (above right), an element of a total rebranding of the facility providing non-surgical cosmetic procedures, is cited in the volume for the "soothing" colors used in the design. The use of "naturalistic" typography is also recognized by the author, in the "Health & Beauty" industry logo example.

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.)

Theatre Logos

2010-12-01T18:12:00.000-08:00

(Clockwise from upper left)

Anytime Tickets
Client: triangle productions!
Location: Portland, OR USA

An identity for the live theatre ticket sales for a local production company. The image appears in LogoLounge, Vol. 1 and the Japanese book Logo World.

As Bees in Honey Drown
Client: triangle productions!
Location: Portland, OR USA

Logo for a theatre production. The identity is featured in The Big Book of Logos 3 and Logos From North to South America (Spain).

Beirut
Client: triangle productions!
Location: Portland, OR USA

This logo for a play is one nearly 100 I have designed for one theatre company over the last 16 years. Honored with a Bronze Summit Creative Award, this logo is featured in The New Big Book of Logos and Logo World (Japan).

The Compleat Works of Wllm Shkspr: Abridged
Client: triangle productions!
Location: Portland, OR USA

Logo for a theatre production in which three actors perform all 37 of Shakespeare’s plays in a madcap style worthy of Groucho Marx. The design won a Silver in the Summit Creative Awards, and appears in the the books The New Big Book of Logos and Logo World (Japan)

Toot! Toot!*: Jeff Fisher offers career advice in "2011 Artist's & Graphic Designer's Market"

2010-11-25T10:24:00.000-08:00

Jeff Fisher, the Engineer of Creative Identity for the Portland-based firm Jeff Fisher LogoMotives, shares career advice for industry professionals in an article published in the recently released book 2011 Artist's & Graphic Designer's Market. In his piece, "Getting the Gig: Find Work and Develop Business Relationships Through Planning, Perseverance and Patience," the former art director and creative director offers numerous suggestions of how designers, illustrators, artists and others can best market and promote their efforts.

The new volume, published by North Light Books and edited by Mary Burzlaff Bostic, is the 36th annual edition of the Artist's & Graphic Designer's Market. A resource for artists, illustrators, designers and cartoonists who want to establish careers, and make more money, the book provides readers with contact and submission information for 1000+ markets, publishers, galleries, art fairs, ad agencies and more. In addition, purchase of the current edition includes a free annual subscription to the companion site Artist's Market Online.

The featured article by Jeff Fisher is illustrated with examples of his internationally recognized identity design work. Logos displayed include images for Jeff Fisher LogoMotives, Chameleon, Cat Adoption Team, the Holocaust Remembrance Project and DataDork (shown above).

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.)

Designer/author Jeff Fisher takes readers ofThe Squall Line for a ride on the 'Paper Train'

2010-10-10T19:47:00.000-07:00

In his 'Paper Cuts' article series, designer Tad Dobbs - of the Texas design firm Creative Squall - interviews printers, paper reps, and designers for their insights into how paper can strengthen the brand of a business or organization. The third piece in the series, 'All Aboard the Paper Train', features the experiences and thoughts of 32-year print design veteran Jeff Fisher, of the Portland-based firm Jeff Fisher LogoMotives.

Check out other interviews with Jeff Fisher.

Toot! Toot!*: Identity design efforts of 'Logolicious' judge Jeff Fisher featured in newly released volume

2010-10-01T10:13:00.000-07:00

Logo designs by Jeff Fisher, the Engineer of Creative Identity for the Portland-based firm Jeff Fisher LogoMotives, are featured in the newly released book LogoLicious. The volume, compiled by designer/author Peleg Top, features over 1,000 logos from identity designers around the world. Fisher's work is highlighted in the book as the result of being a judge in the Logolicious selection process.

Author Peleg Top asked 13 identity design industry experts to assist in judging the more than 3,000 logos submitted through the Crescent Hill Books website.

In addition to Fisher, Jeff Barlow (Jelvetica), Darin Beaman (OIC), Joshua Chen (Chen Design Associates), Jonathan Cleveland (Cleveland Design) and Jean-Marc Durviaux (DISTINC) selected published logos. Kit Hinrichs (Studio Hinrichs), Debbie Millman (Sterling Brands), Steve Morris (MORRIS), Robynne Raye (Modern Dog Design Co.), Cheryl Savala (Menagerie Creative), Rochelle Seltzer (Seltzer) and Petrula Vrontikis (Vrontikis Design Office) were also judges of submissions.

Judges each reviewed hundreds of logos. Top also requested that each industry professional provide their definition of a "good logo" and representative examples of logos they, or their firm, had produced.

Jeff Fisher LogoMotives designs featured in the book include images for the triangle productions! theatrical production "2 Boys in a Bed on a Cold Winter's Night," hair salon Chameleon and Holocaust Remembrance Project - a nation-wide high school essay competition sponsored by the Holland and Knight Charitable Foundation, Inc. The logo for computer consultation firm DataDork and the Cat Adoption Team logo concept are also presented in the designer's two-page spread.

The designer has received over 600 design awards and his work has been published in more than 140 books on identity design, self-promotion and the marketing of small businesses.

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.)

Event Logos

2010-09-25T18:26:00.000-07:00

(Clockwise from upper left)

Young Native Writers Essay Contest
Client: Holland+Knight Charitable Foundation, Inc.
Location: Tampa, FL USA

Learn more about the process of creating this logo on bLog-oMotives.

St. Johns Window Project
Client: St. Johns Window Project
Location: Portland, OR USA

Native Youth Internship Program
Client: Holland+Knight Charitable Foundation, Inc.
Location: Tampa, FL USA

Holocaust Remembrance Project
Client: Holland+Knight Charitable Foundation, Inc.
Location: Tampa, FL USA

One of a series of logos created for the Holland+Knight Charitable Foundation, this logo gives a graphic identity to the annual Holocaust remembrance essay contest for high school students. The triangle elements are used in a positive manner to take ownership of the negative image of the concentration camp uniform identification patches from the past. The logo appears in the books American Graphic Design & Advertising 25, 100s Visual Logos & Letterheads (UK), Logolicious, 2011 Artist's & Graphic Designer's Market and Logo Design Vol. 3 (Germany). It also was honored with a 2008 American Graphic Design Award.

Learn more about this logo project on bLog-oMotives.

St. Johns banners finally see the light of day

2010-09-20T18:07:00.000-07:00

I've always enjoyed creating designs for businesses, nonprofit organizations and events in my own North Portland neighborhood. Back in early 2002 I designed a series of banners for the volunteer organization Destination St. Johns. The banners were to be displayed on utility poles in the business district of St. Johns, less than a five minute drive from my home studio.

And then nothing happened with the designs and the banners never appeared in public.

In an October 2009 article in the late, great neighborhood newspaper The Sentinel (a past identity design client of mine), Meg Farra, one of the founders of Destination St. Johns, explained, “It was a group we put together to do some projects within St. Johns. For example, we planted native plants in the tree wells through downtown and organized some cleanups before the parade for a few years."

As reported in The Sentinel, "The group decided to create banners for downtown and applied for a grant from the North Portland Trust Fund [the Portland International Raceway noise mitigation funded.] They received $4000 along with support and in-kind donations from many businesses and other groups in St. Johns and North Portland."

I didn't realize that the banners had ever been produced - but instead of adding high-flying color over downtown St. Johns, the banners and all hardware were stored in the basement of the historic Kenton Firehouse.

According to The Sentinel: "...the set of 20 or so vinyl banners were never hung due to political squabbling and the high cost of insurance."

"When the banners were ready to hang, bureaucratic difficulties and a policy change at Portland General Electric entered the game. Partway through negotiations about the banners, PGE changed its insurance requirements. Instead of $1 million, groups now had to carry $2 million in insurance before PGE would allow them to use its poles. PGE also asked Destination St. Johns to coordinate with the St. Johns Boosters, who had a long-standing arrangement with PGE to use certain light poles at Christmastime. A rift developed between some of the leaders involved and for over a year the groups were unable to negotiate a compromise.

"At that point, according to Tom Griffin-Valade of the Office of Neighborhood Involvement, the banners were rolled up and stored in the basement of the Office of Neighborhood Involvement at the Kenton Firehouse. Seven years passed."

The mystery of the missing banners had always intrigued Sentinel publisher Cornelius Swart. With a little detective work, he learned that the banners were in the Kenton Firehouse all along. Swart presented the banners to members of the St. Johns Neighborhood Association in May 2009. At the time of the October 2009 Sentinel article, efforts to hang the banners were being driven by members of the St. Johns Boosters and the St Johns Main Street Coalition, which have representatives from both neighborhood associations, businesses, and individual residents.

I'm not sure what transpired over the past year in regards to insurance issues and neighborhood politics. However, My partner Ed and I recently decided to make a Saturday morning visit to the St. Johns Farmer's Market - and were very surprised to see the banners lining the streets and the farmer's market venue, St. Johns Plaza.

On a recent sunny afternoon, I went to St. Johns to photograph the banners in place (above). I popped into St. Johns Booksellers, the location of my 2007 book signing for Identity Crisis!, to say "hi" to co-owner Nena Rawdah and explain why I was wandering the business district with my camera. She told me that upon learning that the banners were actually going to be installed, she requested a red and yellow one for installation in front of her store (above center).

"I didn't know who was responsible for the design of the banners," added Nena, "but, I'm certainly not surprised."

DesignCasts and podcasts featuring Jeff Fisher

2010-08-18T15:02:00.000-07:00

Designer Jeff Fisher, the Engineer of Creative Identity for Jeff Fisher LogoMotives, is often called upon to share his career experiences - and what others think he knows - through designcasts, webinars, podcasts, teleseminars and other online presentations:

Using Social Media to Boost Your Career - The Dos and The Don'ts, Jeff Fisher and Jean Branan of The Art Institute of California-San Diego's Career Services department, The Career Blueprint Podcast Series, a joint production of The Creative Group and The Art Institutes. (August 2010)

Talk Story Special Edition graphics by RDQLUS Creative

Talk Story with Jeni - HOW Design Conference Special Edition with Steve Gordon Jr., Jeff Fisher and Bryn Mooth, with Jeni Herberger - JeniHerberger.com Sponsored by Neenah Paper. (June 2010)

Using Social Media as a (Free!) Marketing Tool, HOW Magazine; HOW DesignCast (February 2010)

Talk Story with Jeni - and Jeff Fisher, with Jeni Herberger - JeniHerberger.com (February 2010)

How to Survive as a Freelance Designer, HOW Magazine; HOW DesignCast (November 2009) • Survival Resource List from DesignCast

Social Networking with Jeff Fisher, with Thomas James; Escape from Illustration Island (September 2009)

Social Networking with Jeff Fisher, with Thomas James; Illustration Mundo (September 2009)

Planning, Packaging & Promoting Yourself, HOW Magazine; HOW DesignCasts (August 2009)

Tooting Your Own Horn!, RGD Ontario; Design Business Teleseminar (July 2009)

Jeff Fisher Does the LOGO-MOTION, with Donovan Beery and Nate Voss; The Reflex Blue Show (May 2009)

Packaging Yourself, RGD Ontario; Design Business Teleseminar (March 2009)

Brands, Logos & Identity Crisis, with Scott Sheppard and Gene Gable; Inside Digital Design Radio (September 2008)

Creative Experts Audio Interviews: Jeff Fisher, with Doug Farrick; originally for The Designer's Inner Circle - now posted on creativepublic.com (December 2007)

Marketing Through Blogs and Forums, with Joel Welsh; StartupNation (November 2006)

Toot! Toot!*: New edition of 'Type Rules!' includes identity of design firm Jeff Fisher LogoMotives

2010-07-18T20:13:00.000-07:00

The identity for Portland design firm Jeff Fisher LogoMotives is one of the new typographic images illustrating the recently released third edition of the book Type Rules!: The Designer's Guide to Professional Typography, by educator and expert Ilene Strizver of The Type Studio. The volume was published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Type Rules! is a practical guide to understanding type and how to use it effectively. It is intended for beginners and advanced professionals alike, and covers a broad range of topics. The new edition includes:

• New information on OpenType, font management utilities, font web sites, and interactive typography.
• An expanded history of type and an updated glossary of key terms.
• Exercises throughout to help reinforce the concepts presented in the book.
• A wealth of tried-and-true as well as recently developed type tips.
• More in-depth type issues, including scaling logos.

The featured logo was selected after author Strizver made use of her Twitter account @TheTypeStudio to request "type-centric images and design" examples for the new edition of her book. Fisher contacted Strizver, provided a link to a Flickr gallery of his identity work, and the author selected the identity representing the logo design firm.

The Jeff Fisher LogoMotives identity also appears in Letterhead and Logo Design 5, American Corporate Identity/14, New Logo & Trademark Design (Japan), the 1998 PRINT Regional Design Annual, The New Big Book of Logos, PRINT’s Best Logos & Symbols 6, Logo Design for Small Business 2, The Big Book of Business Cards, Logos from North to South America (Spain), New Logo & Trademark Collection (Japan), and The Savvy Designer’s Guide to Success.

Fisher, a 30+ year design industry veteran, is the author of Identity Crisis!: 50 redesigns that transformed stale identities into successful brands and The Savvy Designer's Guide to Success: Ideas and tactics for a killer career. He is currently writing the book Logo Type: 200 Best Typographic Logos from Around the World Explained, about typography in identity design, with a scheduled 2011 release.

The designer has received over 600 design awards and his work has been published in more than 140 books on identity design, self-promotion and the marketing of small businesses.

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.)

Logodotes: Al Bauer Advertising

2010-07-10T09:51:00.000-07:00

In 1980, my first year out of college, ad agency owner Al Bauer asked me to design a logo to identify his firm. Bauer had been toying with the idea of using an abstract image to represent the company. In fact, he'd even considered making use of an abstract painting created by his daughter, artist Marlene Bauer. The pre-digital printing expense of reproducing a four-color image led to the client quickly changing his mind about the possibility.

The initial concept (above left) evolved out of my interest in the minimalist logo imagery I studied in school during the 1970's. Many logos of the time were simple, somewhat heavy, and involved geometric forms. The client almost immediately selected this particular design. I was told that he appreciated its abstract representation of how advertising was often a very orderly discipline - until something went completely out of whack.

A couple of weeks later an excited Bauer called me, having just realized the design was in actuality very abstract lower-case a and b letterforms (visually defined above right).

'The Art of Self Promotion' book - a valuable marketing tool for any creative professional

2010-06-30T15:12:00.000-07:00

Over the past 15 years, my work, writings and comments have appeared in nearly 140 books. I try to keep track of such things; making others aware of great design and business resources in the process. However, once in while I will come across published surprises in bookstores, online or even through the use of the Google book search tool.

It was through a Google book search, a couple of months ago, that I first became aware of my inclusion in the book The Art of Self Promotion, written by marketing expert Ilise Benun. I had not previously seen or heard about the book at all.

Benun and I do have a history of using each other as a source in books and articles, and speaking at the same conferences. She used me as a resource in her books Self Promotion Online and The Designer's Guide To Marketing And Pricing (written with mutual friend Peleg Top), in the HOW Magazine article eSelf Promotion, and in her Art of Self Promotion newsletter. Benun provided valuable information for my first book, The Savvy Designer's Guide to Success (now available as a PDF on CD).

The two of us have been able to keep in touch over the years through multiple invitations to speak at the annual HOW Design Conference. I was also honored to make a presentation at the first Creative Freelancer Conference, an event coordinated by HOW Magazine and Benun's own firm, Marketing Mentor.

It was a real pleasure to see Benun at the recent How Design Conference in Denver. Seeing each other also gave me an opportunity to ask about the book The Art of Self Promotion.

It turns out that the book is a compilation of past articles from The Art of Self Promotion newsletter, published by Benun's own Marketing Mentor Press. The Art of Self Promotion is packed with valuable self promotion suggestions and examples. My own inclusion is in regards to the use of my "Toot! Toot!" press releases in marketing my design and writing efforts.

Benun was kind enough to give me a copy of the book when we last met. I would strongly recommend that all creative professionals get themselves a copy of The Art of Self Promotion - a great tutorial in marketing and promotion tactics.

Non-Profit Logos

2010-06-22T15:07:00.000-07:00

(Clockwise from upper left)

Rob Buckmaster Fund
Client: Rob Buckmaster Fund/Equity Foundation
Location: Portland, OR USA

This logo was created in honor of an actor friend who died of AIDS and a scholarship fund was established in his name. I've always been very happy with the comedy/drama mask image within the identity - and kind of frustrated with the heart/letterspacing of the text elements. The logo appears in the books American Corporate Identity 14 and The New Big Book of Logos.

Peninsula Clean Team
Client: Peninsula Clean Team
Location: Portland, OR USA

This logo for a neighborhood clean-up organization needed to appeal to children and adults. It appears in the books The New Big Book of Logos and Logos from North to South America (Spain).

Esther's Pantry
Client: Esther's Pantry
Location: Portland, OR USA

A graphic representation of my own great-grandmother gave the Esther's Pantry logo its personality. The image appears in the PRINT Regional Design Annual.

Hospice of Humboldt
Client: Hospice of Humboldt
Location: Eureka, CA USA

This identity represents an in-home hospice care organization in the Humboldt region of Northern California. The design won a Bronze in the Summit Creative Awards and appears in The New Big Book of Logos, The Big Book of Design for Letterheads and Websites, and Logos from North to South America (Spain).

Toot! Toot!*: Jeff Fisher LogoMotives designs included in LogoLounge's 'Animal & Mythology'

2010-06-10T16:28:00.000-07:00

Six identity designs by Jeff Fisher, the Engineer of Creative Identity for the firm Jeff Fisher LogoMotives, are included in the recently released book LogoLounge Master Library, Volume 2: 3000 Animal and Mythology Logos. The volume, produced by the web presence LogoLounge and Rockport Publishers, features over 3000 logo design examples from around the world.

The selected logos include images for the triangle productions! theatrical presentation When Pigs Fly, Portland company Black Dog Furniture Design and a Fall Thesis celebration for Reed College. One of the designer's first logo creations, created for the Chinese Student Association while a student at the University of Oregon, is also highlighted in the new volume. In addition, designs for greeting card firm Good Pig, Bad Pig and a multi-award winning concept for the Cat Adoption Team are featured.

The designer has received over 600 design awards and his work has been published in more than 140 books on identity design, self-promotion and the marketing of small businesses.

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.)

Jeff Fisher's Speaking Engagements

2010-06-01T06:22:00.000-07:00

Jeff Fisher, the Engineer of Creative Identity for Jeff Fisher LogoMotives, is often asked to speak at universities, colleges, community colleges, high schools, design industry conferences, non-profit organization events and business-related gatherings. His topics of choice include branding, marketing, graphic design, corporate identity, logo design, social networking/social media and other business-related offerings.

Linn-Benton Community College
May 19, 2011 • Albany, OR
Topic: Making Tracks Towards Success in a Design Career

AIGA Colorado
Denver Art Museum
October 6, 2010 • Denver, CO
Topic: Planning, Packaging and Promoting Yourself

Rocky Mountain College of Art + Design
AIGA Colorado Student Chapter
October 6, 2010 • Denver, CO
Topic: Tooting Your Own Horn!

Willamette Writers Conference
August 6-8, 2010 • Portland, OR
Topic: If I don't "toot!" my horn no one else will

CEDIM
Centro de Estudios de Diseño de Monterrey
2010 Summer Stars CEDIM
June 21-25, 2010 • Monterrey, Mexico
Topic: The Social Media Bible

Talk Story Live!
2010 HOW Design Conference
June 8, 2010 • Denver, CO

Bismarck State College
Freshman/Sophomore design classes
April 21, 2010 • Bismarck, ND
Topic: 30 Years of LogoMotives Designs

Bismarck State College
ArtsQuest
April 20-22, 2010 • Bismarck, ND
Topic: Planning, Packaging and Promoting Yourself

AIGA Idaho | Boise State University
Student Event
April 16, 2010 • Boise, ID
Topic: Planning, Packaging and Promoting Yourself

AIGA Idaho
Member Event
April 15, 2010 • Boise, ID
Topic: The Savvy Designer's Guide to Success

Columbia College Chicago
iChat Lecture Series
April 12, 2010
Topic: Tootin' Your Own Horn!

HOW Magazine Live DesignCast
February 18, 2010
Topic: Using Social Media as a (Free!) Marketing Tool

HOW Magazine Live DesignCast
November 23, 2009
Topic: How to Survive as a Freelance Designer

HOW Magazine Live DesignCast
August 31, 2009
Topic: Planning, Packaging and Promoting Yourself

RGD Ontario
Design Business Teleseminar
July 7, 2009
Topic: Tooting Your Own Horn!

2009 HOW Design Conference • Austin, TX
June 24-27, 2009
Topic: Why pay for something you can get for free
Panel: Surviving and thriving in a bad economy

Healthcare Communicators of Oregon • Eugene, OR
June 5, 2009
Topic: No-cost, or low-cost, marketing through social networking

RGD Ontario
Design Business Teleseminar
March 31, 2009
Topic: Packaging Yourself

Working Artists Network Roundtable • Portland, OR
March 29, 2009
Topic: Meet Me on Facebook - Artists & Creatives Who Successfully Use Social Media Marketing to Move Their Business Forward (Panel)

School of Visual Concepts • Seattle, WA
February 23, 2009
Topic: Identity Design Workshop

Central Washington University • Ellensburg, WA
January 21, 2009
Topic: Identity Design Insights

Yakima Ad Federation • Yakima, WA
January 2O, 2009
Topic: Identity Crisis!

Create Chaos Conference • Orlando, FL
October 13, 2008
Topic: Tooting Your Own Horn

2008 Creative Freelancer Conference • Chicago, IL
August 27-29, 2008
Topic: Reaping the Rewards of Creative Independence
Roundtable: Social networking as a marketing tool

APNBA Business District Association Conference
Portland, OR • June 12, 2008
Topic: Projecting a professional association image

2008 HOW Design Conference • Boston, MA
May 18-21, 2008
Topic: Planning, Packaging & Promoting Yourself as the Product

Self-Employed Creative Professionals • Portland, OR
May 15, 2008
Topic: Harnessing the Power of Online Social Networks (Panel)

Art Institute of Portland • Portland, OR
February 28, 2008
Topic: Identity Crisis!

AIGA Oklahoma • Oklahoma City, OK
January 24, 2008
Topic: Tooting your own horn

Oklahoma Christian University • Oklahoma City, OK
January 24, 2008
Topic: Designing in your underwear - life as a home-based independent designer

Southern Nazarene University • Oklahoma City, OK
January 24, 2008
Topic: Designing in your underwear - life as a home-based independent designer

St. Johns Booksellers • Portland, OR
November 8, 2007
Topic: The identity crises of North Portland businesses - book signing

Business Outreach Program
Portland State University • Portland, OR
November 5, 2007
Topic: Identity design as a business marketing tool

Art Beat Week • Portland Community College • Portland, OR
May 7, 2007
Topic: Designing in your underwear - life as a home-based independent designer

Spokane Falls Community College/
Eastern Washington University • Spokane, WA
May 3, 2006
Topic: Designing in your underwear - life as a home-based independent designer

Spokane Advertising Federation
Northwest Museum of Art & Culture • Spokane, WA
May 3, 2006
Topic: Tooting your own horn

University & College Designers Association Conference
San Diego, CA • September 17 - 20, 2005
Topic: Tooting your own horn from the in-house design department

2005 HOW Design Conference • Chicago, IL
June 12-15
Topic: Tooting your own horn

Art Institute of Portland • Portland, OR
May 19, 2005
Topic: The Savvy Designer's Guide to Success

2004 HOW Design Conference • San Diego, CA
May 16-19, 2004
Topic: The Savvy Designer's Guide to Success
Topic: The Limitlessness of the Long-Distance Designer

McNary High School • Art Careers Program • Salem, OR
Topic: Art as a viable career option

Creative Bloc 5 • Waterloo, IA
March 5, 2004
Topic: The Savvy Designer's Guide to Success
Topic: A Designer User’s Manual

City College of San Francisco • San Francisco, CA
April 21, 2004
Topic: Professional graphic design business practices

2003 HOW Design Conference • New Orleans, LA
June 5-8, 2003
Topic: Designers in handcuffs (panel discussion)

Association of Northwest Landscape Designers • Regional Conference • Portland, OR
January 2002
Topic: Graphic design and low-cost marketing solutions for small businesses

Tualatin Chamber of Commerce • Tualatin, OR
November 2001
Topic: Graphic design as a small business marketing tool

SBA/Small Business Development Centers Educators • Portland, OR
January 2000
Topic: Working with graphic designers in creating small business identities and promotions

Canby Union High School • Canby, OR
Topic: Graphic design as a career

Oregon Columbia IABC • Portland State University • Portland, OR
Topic: Profitable PR for non-profit groups

A look back at the 2010 HOW Logo Design Awards

2010-05-20T07:29:00.000-07:00

This year HOW Magazine sponsored the first HOW Logo Design Awards competition. I was honored to be asked to judge the magazine's first event of this kind.

Over 800 student and professional identity designs were submitted to the competition. It would be my responsibility to choose ten logos to be honored. Thankfully, the Editors and staff of HOW Magazine initially reviewed and selected about 350 logos for me to judge personally. The winning designs have been announced and posted on the HOW website.

Here's a bit of a recap, with my brief comments:

• Hayneedle (Design by: Lippincott - USA) - "Simplicity at its best—in type treatment and graphic elements."

• Thomas & Gray (Design by: 22squared - USA) - "Hitting the mark in creating a logo meant to convey 'distinction, tradition and timeless elegance.'”

• Dirty Ice Cream (Design by: Dirty Ice Cream Design - Phillipines) - "A beautifully executed, retro type treatment that beckons the viewer deeper into the design."

• Willoughby (Design by: Willoughby Design - USA) - "A major player in identity design shows how it's done—all while taking a chance on a non-traditional logo treatment to represent itself."

• New Sheridan Hotel (Design by: Urban Influence - USA) - "The history, culture and Western sophistication of Telluride, CO, are communicated in a crisp, modern presentation."

• Airplot (Design by: Airside - UK) - "This is a unique and intriguing, modular logo that allows for multiple uses and adaptations as needed."

• Lan Su Chinese Garden (Design by: Sockeye Creative - USA) - "This is an eye-catching, designerly twist on traditional Chinese imagery."

• Bronx Zoo Student Project (Design by: Carrie Madigan - USA) - "Inviting child-like imagery is in this logo, but there’s much more to be seen when taking a second look."

• Michael Bach Gastroenterologists (Design by: Josef Stapel Design - Germany) - "Never has the human digestive system been portrayed so elegantly—very clever letterform play."

• Renaud Merle (Blackbird) (Design by: Renaud Merle - France) - "A graphic smile delivered through two “r” letterforms creating a subliminal “m” with the extra treat of a fun blackbird image."

In addition, I wrote: "Over all, I was very pleased with the originality, execution and attention to detail exhibited in the hundreds of logos reviewed. Many designers submitted excellent showcase pieces that successfully conveyed their illustration talents, design skills and type treatment expertise.

"If I have any general criticisms, they are that a number identity designers need to break away from following current trends to create logos that may have greater longevity as an identifying symbol. And as entrants were given the opportunity, a short description or explanation of the logo submissions would have been very helpful as a judging tool for quite a few examples.

"Three of the final logos selected caught my eye on my very first review of all of the submissions. Narrowing the entries down to 100 logos was difficult; to 50 a real challenge; and to 20 was nearly impossible. I feel the 10 final logos selected represent the best of the best. After making my final selections, I was pleased to learn that five countries, large and small firms, and a student designer were represented.”

Toot! Toot!*: Summit Creative Awards recognizes Stumptown Clowns identity with silver honors

2010-05-07T08:00:00.000-07:00

The Stumptown Clowns identity, by Jeff Fisher - Engineer of Creative Identity for the Portland firm Jeff Fisher LogoMotives - has been recognized with Silver honors in the Summit Creative Awards. The awards honor and celebrate the creative accomplishments of small and medium sized advertising agencies and other creative companies throughout the world with annual billings of under $25 million. Thousands of entries, from 25 countries, were submitted for consideration this year. Since 1998, Fisher has received 18 of the Summit Creative Awards honors, in a variety of categories.

After attending Clown School in 2009, and becoming a member of the Portland Rose Festival Amtrak Cascades Character Clown Corps, the designer and several clown pals opted to form the Stumptown Clowns troupe for non-festival public appearances. When the name was adopted, Fisher immediately visualized a graphic clown face within the needed letterforms.

Judges for the 2010 Summit Creative Award were from both large and small-size companies including J. Walter Thompson USA, Inc.; Promoseven McCann Relationship Marketing; Pixel & Co.; Bates Ukraine; Wieden & Kennedy; Hal Riney and Partners; Strategy & Beyond, Turner Studios; Grey Advertising; MWW/Savitt; TBWA/Chiat/Day; Young and Rubicam; Leo Burnett; NYU; Turner Studios; Mfx, Inc.; Ogilvy; XM; and Saatchi & Saatchi.

Earlier this year the Stumptown Clowns logo received an American Graphic Design and Advertising Award.

Fisher, a 32-year design industry veteran, is the author of Identity Crisis!: 50 redesigns that transformed stale identities into successful brands and The Savvy Designer's Guide to Success: Ideas and tactics for a killer career. He is currently writing the book Logo Type, about typography in identity design, with a scheduled release in 2011.

The designer has received over 600 design awards and his work has been published in more than 140 books on identity design, self-promotion and the marketing of small businesses.

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.)

Publication Logos

2010-05-02T20:44:00.000-07:00

(Clockwise from upper left)

The Sentinel
Client: The Sentinel
Location: Portland, OR USA

A logo redesign for a monthly North Portland neighborhood newspaper involved combining letterforms from two typefaces, Boca Raton and Rockwell, to create a unique type treatment of the word "Sentinel." A third typeface, Helvetica Neue, was introduced for the line of location text. The design appears in the book American Graphic Design & Advertising 25.

Read more about the redesign of The Sentinel identity.

Chorus Quarterly
Client: Seattle Men's Chorus
Location: Seattle WA USA

Following my design of the logo for the Seattle Men's Chorus, I created the identity and format for the organization's quarterly membership publication, CQ. Bodoni FB Bold Condensed was used for the large letters, with some customization on the "Q." The name was spelled out in Avant Garde.

Just Out
Client: Just Out Newsmagazine
Location: Portland, OR USA

The redesign of the identity for this statewide newsmagazine, for the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered communities, gave the publication a fresh, contemporary look. The type used was Gill Sans. The logo won an American Corporate Identity 22 award. It also appears in The Big Book of Logos 5, 100's Visual Logos and Letterheads and Basic Logos (Spain).

Logodotes: W.C. Winks Hardware

2010-04-25T22:09:00.000-07:00

Jane Winks Kilkenny passed away, at the age of 98, in December 2009. For nearly five decades she managed the day-to-day operations of a Portland institution W.C. Winks Hardware. I first met her in 1996, following her retirement, when daughter Anne Kilkenny hired me to design an identity for the business, which had been without a logo throughout its previous 87-year-old history. In one of our early interactions, Mrs. Kilkenny bluntly informed me that she didn't like the new logo at all.

W.C. Winks Hardware was established in 1909 by William Caldwell Winks and his daughter Jane stepped in to run the business upon his death in 1945. In 1996, his grand-daughter Anne Kilkenny provided me with one of the few existing photos of the founder (above left) as a possible centerpiece for the first logo for the hardware store.

In designing the symbol I hoped to convey a historical perspective for the retail establishment. Making use of ovals with banners, to showcase a stylized representation of Winks, graphically hinted at the turn-of-the-century founding of the business. The typefaces Horndon, Copperplate Gothic 33 and Copperplate Gothic 31 added to conveying a look of the time.

When the finished logo (above right) was presented to Anne Kilkenny, she was very pleased, and told me "it looks like the logo that would have represented the store when it opened in 1909." Shortly thereafter, at the Winks Hardware annual holiday party for customers and staff, Jane Winks Kilkenny told me, "I don't like the logo at all; it doesn't look anything like my father."

In 2001, Winks Hardware moved from its long-time Pearl District location to a much larger building in the city's Central Eastside Industrial District. The logo was prominently displayed on the front of the building as signage. Anne Kilkenny and her husband Jon Naviaux drove her mother by to see the completed new location of W.C. Winks Hardware. "The logo looks really good," was her first comment.

The W.C. Winks Hardware logo became an element of an anniversary image in 2009 when the store celebrated 100 years in operation (above).

Since its introduction the Winks Hardware logo has appeared in the books American Corporate Identity/14, New Business Card Graphics 2 (Japan), Letterhead and Logo Design 7, Graphically Speaking, LogoLounge - Volume 1, Logo Design for Small Business 2, Logos from North to South America (Spain), 1000 Retail Graphics and The Best of Letterhead and Logo Design.

Toot! Toot!*: Jeff Fisher advice featured in Rockport book 'Design Matters: Portfolios 01'

2010-04-19T14:35:00.000-07:00

Jeff Fisher, the Engineer of Creative Identity for the Portland-based design firm Jeff Fisher LogoMotives is cited as an expert in the new book Design Matters: Portfolios 01: An Essential Primer for Today's Competitive Market. The volume, released by Rockport Publishers, was written by Maura Keller of Keller Ink.

Design Matters: Portfolios 01 defines the core elements of self-promotion and portfolio creation and provides the insights graphic designers need to showcase their work in unique and creative ways. Case studies demonstrate the different techniques designers use to create successful portfolios for different audiences and measure the results of those efforts. The book also details how often portfolios should be updated and distributed and determine workable budgets to produce a great portfolio.

Fisher offers recommendations for portfolio creation and presentation in a book contribution titled "Portfolio Must Haves: Knowing when to stop and when to go." His expertise is recognized as the author of The Savvy Designer's Guide to Success: Ideas and tactics for a killer career, now available in a PDF format on CD from publisher HOW Books.

In addition to freelance writing for more than 50 publications for the past 10 years, author Maura Keller was a marketing communications writer for the award-winning design firm, Yamamoto Moss in Minneapolis. She has also written extensively on marketing and business-related topics for regional and national consumer and trade publications.

Fisher, a 32-year design industry veteran, is also the author of Identity Crisis!: 50 redesigns that transformed stale identities into successful brands. He is currently writing the book Logo Type, about typography in identity design, with a scheduled release in 2011.

The designer has received over 600 design awards and his work has been published in more than 140 books on identity design, self-promotion and the marketing of small businesses.

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.)

'Trademark Power' book, published in 1916, offers identity advice to designers and business owners

2010-04-14T12:48:00.000-07:00

Recently, I took another look at a fantastic gift I received from Liz and Nena, the co-owners of St. Johns Booksellers and hosts of the 2007 Portland book-signing for the release of my book Identity Crisis! Their store sells new and used books - and they are always having a wide variety of books - from estates, house cleanings and other sources - being added to their inventory.

Among books coming into the establishment was a copy of the 1916 book Trademark Power: An Expedition into an Unprobed and Inviting Wilderness by Glen Buck. The volume, published 94 years ago by Munroe & Southworth in Chicago, even contained its original sales sheet of promotional blurbs (below left); with the notice that the volume was "Not for sale at book stores. One dollar a copy." The shop owners both immediately felt the book would be the perfect gift for me.

Considering the age of the book, it is incredible to see so many recognizable brands and identities. Of course, some have suffered their own identity crises and evolved over time. Still, Heinz, Western Union, Nabisco, Sherwin Williams, Dutch Cleanser, Yale Locks, RCA, Paramount Pictures, Dutch Boy Paints, Lysol, Log Cabin Syrup, Firestone Tires, Eagle Brand, and many other identities appear throughout Trademark Power (one page of examples is displayed below right). There are also many logo examples for firms that have disappeared over the past century.

Chapter 32 of the book covers what constitutes a good trademark - and things to be avoided when designing the identity to be trademarked. The author's list of things which may be avoided is as follows:

First - Common and familiar forms do usually make good trademarks, for they lack distinction. The circle, the square, the crescent, the star, the diamond. the heart, the oval, the shield, the cross, all have long ago been usurped and are burdened with significances.
Second - If one is anxious to aquire legal title to a trademark her will not have it resemble any other trademark, nor will he put in it any descriptive phrase or name.
Third - Flags and emblems of all nations, the established devices of societies, associations and institutions should be avoided as not legally usable or protectible.
Fourth - Complicated and confused pictures or devices do not make good trademarks, because they cannot be seen and comprehended at a glance. As they lack simplicity they lack strength.
Fifth - A good trademark will not depend upon any color arrangement for its effect, at it will undoubtedly be necessary to reproduce it in many places where color cannot be used.
Sixth - It is advisable to avoid designs that are higher than they are wide. A "tall" trademark is often difficult to fit into attractive and harmonious layouts.
Seventh - A trademark should be capable of reproduction in all engraving processes, by zincs, half-tones, and the different offset and lithographic methods, that it may be well printed on all kinds of paper and other printable materials.
Eighth - If the trademark is not as simple as it can be made, and carefully proportioned in all its parts, it may be impossible to reduce it to small sizes without losing the design, or to increase it to large sizes without rendering it ugly.
Ninth - Care should be taken to evolve a design that will not print too black or too light, for undoubtedly it will be used with many styles of lettering and kinds of type faces.
Tenth - Designs that have only a temporary significance should be discarded. They may be meaningless, absurd, or quite impossible of use tomorrow.
Eleventh - That which is vulgar, repulsive, or ugly will never make a good trademark. Also one should be extremely cautious in the use of comic motifs.
Twelfth - It will save expense and trouble, and perhaps prevent disappointment, if the work of designing the trademark is put into trained and understanding hands. It is work that can't be hurriedly done in an idle moment by one who has not conception of the importance of the task.

This advice is nearly a century old and, with all the advancements in the design industry and technology over that period of time, it is surprising that most of the recommendations are still very valid for today's identity designers.

In closing his book, author Buck writes:

The new manufacturer who does not bring into being a good trademark at the time his venture is launched, even though it may not at once be conspicuously used, is neglecting a real opportunity to add to his tangible assets.
And the established manufacturer who has not now a good trademark stands in pressing need of one.
The trademark is not a panacea for every business ill. But it is a fundamentally important part of the business equipment that is to serve efficiently in the new order.

Thank you again, Nena and Liz, for the incredible gift of yet another interesting and historical perspective on identity, branding and trademarks. It's a great addition to my personal design library of nearly 400 volumes.

Toot! Toot!*: Book 'For a Good Cause' gives new life to C.A.T. design by Jeff Fisher LogoMotives

2010-04-07T09:28:00.000-07:00

The newly released book For a Good Cause, coordinated and written by design firm Cactus Disseny, features an identity design by Jeff Fisher, the Engineer of Creative Identity for the Portland-based Jeff Fisher LogoMotives. The designer's logo concept for the Cat Adoption Team (C.A.T.) appears in the volume from Spanish publisher Index Book.

For a Good Cause is a collection of the best socially conscious design from around the world. Index Book originally set out to produce a book of only pro bono projects, but later decided to expand the concept to any design done with a good cause in mind. The projects featured were created to show that it is possible to make a better, more beautiful world and simultaneously convey the message of a cause-focused business or organization.

The Cat Adoption Team design won a Silver Award in the Summit Creative Awards. It is featured in the books Killed Ideas, Vol. 1, Letterhead & Logo Design 11, Designing for the Greater Good: The Best in Cause-Related Marketing and Nonprofit Design and American Graphic Design & Advertising 25. The yet to be published LogoLounge Master Library Vol. 2, Logolicious and Logo Nest 01 (Australia) will include the design. The logo also appears in the textbook Perfect Match Art Primary 5, by Prisca Ko Hak Moi - a collaborative project of publisher Pearson Education South Asia and Ministry of Education Singapore.

Fisher, a 32-year design industry veteran, is the author of Identity Crisis!: 50 redesigns that transformed stale identities into successful brands and The Savvy Designer's Guide to Success: Ideas and tactics for a killer career. Fisher is currently writing a new volume, Logo Type: 200 Best Typographic Logos from Around the World Explained, about typography in identity design. It is scheduled for a 2011 release.

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.

Fisher serves on the HOW Magazine Board of Advisors, HOW Design Conference Advisory Council and Art Institute of Portland Professional Advisory Council, and is a past member of the UCDA Designer Magazine Editorial Advisory Board. The designer also writes for HOW Magazine, other industry publications, and many webzines and blogs. In addition, Fisher is a nationally-recognized speaker, making numerous presentations each year to design organizations, design schools, universities and business groups. Graphic Design USA magazine named Jeff Fisher one of the design industry “People to Watch” in 2009.

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.)

Non-Profit Logos

2010-04-04T19:47:00.000-07:00

(Clockwise from upper left)

Stumptown Clowns
Client: Stumptown Clowns
Location: Portland, OR USA

After I attended Clown School in 2009, a group of my classmates and I formed the clown troupe Stumptown Clowns. Immediately after the name was selected I envisioned the logo with a winking clown face within the letterforms. Winner of a 2010 American Graphic Design and Advertising Award, the design appears in the books Logolicious, iheartlogos Vol. 1, Logo Nest 01 (Australia) and Logo Design Vol. 3 (Germany).

Historic Kenton Firehouse Committee
Client: Historic Kenton Firehouse Committee
Location: Portland, OR USA

An image representing the historic Kenton Firehouse near my home in North Portland. It was short-listed in the Russian design competition Identity: Best of the Best 2010, and appears in the books Logo Nest 01 (Australia) and Logo Design Vol. 3 (Germany).

Philandros
Client: Seattle Men's Chorus
Location: Seattle, WA USA

One of my favorite mid-career logos, designed in 1991 for the Philandros singers - a sub-group of the Seattle Men's Chorus. The logo appears in the book Bullet-Proof Logos: Creating Great Designs Which Avoid Legal Problems.

Seacoast AIDS Walk
Client: AIDS Response - Seacoast
Location: Portsmouth, NH USA

AIDS Response - Seacoast asked me to design a logo that could be used annually for their AIDS fundraising walk. The identity is featured in The Big Book of New Design Ideas, 100's Visual Logos and Letterheads and Logos from North to South America (Spain).

Check out additional Jeff Fisher LogoMotives non-profit logo designs.

Logodotes: Dishin' With Divine

2010-03-28T10:41:00.000-07:00

While in high school and college, in the 1970s, I created ink line drawings of historic Oregon architecture to be sold in galleries, and marketed as prints and notecards. I was often commissioned to execute illustrations of specific structures. At the University of Oregon, I was asked to produce such original art of many of the fraternity and sorority residences on campus. Within the fine detail of the drawings I would hide the Greek alphabet forms representative on my own fraternity, Sigma Chi.

Over the years, I have occasionally had the opportunity to hide similar graphic elements within some identity projects. One such effort was a logo created for a theatrical production of the show "Dishin' With Divine."

A designer does not often get the chance to create a logo featuring a infamous female impersonator such as Divine. The 1994 request to design the identity for the one-man show, written by my friend Don Horn, provided a great opportunity to possibly be playful with the image. I found the chance within the eye of the illustrative element of Divine's portrait. As my personal little "wink," the graphic element representing the reflection of the eye was created in the shape of a women's high heel shoe (above).

The fun with "Divine" didn't end with the logo design. T-shirts featuring the image were produced for the show. In designing the paper doll book Dressin' With Design, I got to art direct my college friend Tracy Hayes as she provided the illustrations for the item to be sold at performances. A set of paper doll refrigerator magnets, complimenting the book, was also produced as a marketing tool. Occasionally the collectible book and magnets may now be found on online auction sites.

Toot! Toot!*: Stumptown Clowns logo wins an American Graphic Design and Advertising Award

2010-03-25T05:15:00.000-07:00

The Stumptown Clowns identity, by Jeff Fisher - Engineer of Creative Identity for the Portland firm Jeff Fisher LogoMotives - has been recognized with an American Graphic Design and Advertising Award. The awards, formerly known as American Corporate Identity, recognize the best graphic design and advertising in the U.S.

In 2009, Jeff Fisher was a judge for the American Graphic Design and Advertising 25. Jeff Fisher LogoMotives has been the recipient of 27 American Corporate Identity Awards in the past.

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.

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.)

A collection of design competition - and book submission request - tips, tricks and observations

2010-03-22T22:06:00.000-07:00

Nearly 20 years ago I began responding to design competition calls for entries and book publisher requests for submissions with the entry of client work. Early on I saw awards and inclusion in books as much more than an ego booster. Instead, positive results of such opportunities were a valid marketing and promotion tool for my business. Since then, my work has garnered over 600 regional, local and international design awards.

My designs appear in over 130 books from publishers around the world. The majority of potential clients coming my way begin our interaction with comments such as “I was at my local bookstore and saw some examples of your design work in a book...” In addition, relationships have developed with writers, editors and publishers. When they need illustrative elements for books, I am often contacted as a result of past positive experiences to submit work for inclusion in articles or books. I’ve also been asked to judge design competitions, or book submissions, many times in the last two decades.

When writing my first book, The Savvy Designer’s Guide to Success, I crossed over to the other side and became the person requesting design submissions to illustrate a book. I quickly learned the challenges of compiling the images I desired, obtaining the proper digital files for quality reproduction, collecting the descriptions and credits for specific projects and getting the permission forms required by my publisher, HOW Books.

My frustrations were multiplied in writing Identity Crisis!: 50 redesigns that transformed stale identities into successful brands - a volume greater in scope, with many more contributors from around the globe, and hundreds of graphic and photo images. I am now in the midst of writing my third book, Logo Type: 200 Best Typographic Logos from Around the World Explained which has involved over 200 submitting designers or firms and thousands of contributed images. Some days, while digging through the numerous submissions, I find myself getting really cranky and bitchy.

A few years ago, at a design conference, another author and I were lamenting about the issues associated with writing and coordinating a book before the finished manuscript is shipped off to a publisher. Our gripes and pet peeves were remarkably similar. As our conversation came to an end, he said, “If I ever even consider writing another book please slap me silly.” I gave him similar permission. Of course, he just completed his third book, and I am working on my second, since having that particular discussion.

The work on my current book got me thinking. What advice would I share with other designers in regards to responding to competition calls for entries and book submission requests?

Read the call for entries or book submission request: Seriously. Read the call for entries or book submission request thoroughly and carefully. Pay attention to the details from the entity conducting the design competition or writing/publishing the book. Failure to follow the specific documented requests could result in your work being immediately disqualified from consideration.

Evaluate what competitions and book submissions will best serve the needs of you or your firm: What do you, as a designer hope to achieve by responding to a call for entries or request to submit designs for possible inclusion in a book? An ego boost? Validation from your design or industry-specific peers? A happy client? Marketing and promotion of your work? The opportunity to “toot” your own horn with the possible results? A trophy and certificate wall in your studio?

My purpose for entering design competitions, and submitting my work for possible inclusion in books, is to make use of the results for the marketing and promotion of my design efforts. With a focus on identity design, I tend to target competitions and publisher requests that will give the greatest exposure to logo design, corporate identity and branding. Logo-specific competitions and books are always a first priority. Requests for complete identity programs are a close second. Calls for entries focusing on stationery package and business card design follow. Re-evaluations do result in changing priorities over time. For example, my logo designs were selected for inclusion in Print’s Regional Design Annual for many years. When Print opted to exhibit many fewer logos in the annual, I lost interest in entering the competition as a possible showcase for my identity design work.

An added bonus in the case of some competitions, or book submission requests, is the future release of compilation volumes by the publisher. For sometime Rockport Publishers has increased the exposure of a designers’ work with The Best of the Best of... books highlighting brochure, letterhead and logo design. LogoLounge is now doing the same with the new Master Library series. It’s great to discover your work will be featured in an upcoming book – with no additional effort on the part as the original submitter.

Create a budget for entry fees and potential publication fees: Entering design competitions can be an expensive venture. From my earliest submissions, I created a budget for entry fees I was willing to pay – and considered that expenditure a major portion of what I would spend on marketing in any given year. I sought out competitions that had a cap on entry fees after a given number of entries, offered an additional cap on any publication or “hanging” fees (which just annoy the hell out of me), charged no additional fees beyond entry fees, or resulted in a book being published. The Big Book of Logos series, LogoLounge, the former American Corporate Identity competitions, the Creativity Awards, and a few others fit into the guidelines I established for my business.

I’ve always appreciated the fact that the Summit International Awards– already directed at smaller firms – is willing to offer an added discount to one-person studios. This year, the American Advertising and Graphic Design Awards offered a free pro bono project entry with a paid entry fee in another category. With their American Graphic Design Awards the trade publication GDUSA has offered discounted entry fees to previous submitters and winners. Still, having won 20 American Graphic Design Awards over the years, I have yet to pay what I feel are outrageous publication fees to have my work appear in the magazine. As a one-person studio, I simply can’t justify the expense - especially when some of the awards have been for pro bono logo design projects.

Personally, I prefer to submit my work to book producers such as the widely promoted efforts of Rockport Publishers, Rotovision (UK), Index Book (Spain) and zeixs (Germany) - which have no entry fees and incredible reach with their products. HOW Books and PIE Books (Japan) are increasingly promoting future books with no fees for submissions. Inclusion in the books of all of these publishers exposes a designer’s work to an international audience of potential clients.

I think it’s unfortunate the the American Graphic Design and Advertising Awards (formerly American Corporate Identity) recently announced that winning entries of the most recent competition will not be published in a book. To be honest, had I been aware of this prior to the competition deadline, I probably would not have submitted designs. I also noticed that for a specific submission request, although an entry fee is not necessary, Crescent Hill Books is now requiring a $25 fee ($350 for a selected case study) for publication in the future book release. I do understand the challenges of publishing these days, but such changes will cause me to have second thoughts about the book submission requests of those two entities in the future.

Enter what you consider to be your best and most representative work: When giving designers advice about what to include in their portfolios, I always say “only include what you feel is your best work.” The same goes for considering one’s own work for possible competition entry or book submission. Competitions and publications are an opportunity to present to the world what you do best. Don’t be tempted to submit what you may consider mediocre work due to an entry fee price break at, let’s say, 15 entries. If you have 10 kick-ass design projects to contribute; only submit the ten pieces. It’s almost a given that, if you present work of which you are not particularly proud, the work will be selected for recognition or publication.

Provide what is requested: Simple right? You would think so, but many designers seem to have a problem following instructions. If a competition or book call for entries requests actual printed samples don't provide digital images. Most likely there's a desire to photograph all selected projects in-house for quality control. If a writer or editor request two or three submissions, don't submit 10 and ask that the reviewer select what they like. With several hundred people submitting work, numerous additional, unneeded entries means hundreds of images that the recipient most likely doesn't have time to review. Besides, the submitting designer knows their own work best and should be able to select what they hope to have showcased.

Submit the exact image files needed: There’s a reason competitions and book publishers ask that image submissions meet their own very specific file type and size requirements. The requested files are what will best serve the needs of the specific judging process or high-resolution printing. Many submissions to my own books have been every file type other than what was requested - the wrong size, low resolution or just really poor quality. Specifications may differ for each competition or book project. It's in a designer's best interest to submit exactly what is requested to present one's work at its best. Improper image files, or misnamed digital files, may result in disqualification from review.

The old "garbage in; garbage out" adage applies here. Submission of a poor quality digital image is only going to make a designer's work look bad. High quality digital images are a book publisher's friend.

Take advantage of an opportunity to describe your work: If given the opportunity to submit a detailed description of your work, take advantage of the situation. In early 2010 I was asked to judge a large number of submissions for the book Logolicious. The online submission form provided designers the chance to include a short description of the logo being submitted. I was surprised at the large number of designers who entered no description at all. In judging the entries, I found myself questioning what some images were, and what other designs supposedly represented. Simple one or two sentence descriptions went a long ways in making my decisions as a judge much easier and definitive.

Complete all requested documentation and authorization forms: It may sound like a "no-brainer," but it is very important to complete all entry form information and provide any required signature verifying rights and authorizing publication. An individual reviewing submissions may find it easier to reject an incomplete entry than tracking down the designer to collect missing details.

Give credit where credit is due: It is incredibly important to always credit those who participated in any project you choose to submit as a competition entry or as possible book content. Be generous in listing all that have contributed to the final project – especially if the design will end up being published, with credits, in a book or magazine. There is nothing worse than a supposed “team” member providing a design for publication, or a competition, and not crediting (or improperly crediting) major players on a project. Many years ago a minor contributor on a project of my own submitted the end result for inclusion in an international design book – listing me as minor participant on the effort. To say I was unhappy is an understatement.

Verify that you have have permission to submit specific design work: Many designers automatically assume that they have all permissions required to submit a project for award or publication consideration. Work for employers, work-for-hire situations, projects executed as a contractor for a corporation and other scenarios may not offer carte blanche authority to do so. Many competitions and book publishers require that contributors verify that they have maintained the right to make the submission in question. Early in my career I would often find myself chasing down a former client to get permission to enter a project in a competition or for inclusion in a book. For the past decade the following clause in my own project agreement has made such submissions much easier:

The designer retains personal rights to use the completed project and any preliminary designs for the purpose of design competitions, future publications on design, educational purposes and the marketing of the designer’s business. Where applicable the client will be given any necessary credit for usage of the project elements.

Feel free to use and abuse the clause for your own purposes.

Set yourself apart from the crowd: What makes your design efforts unique? Work that stands out from the crowd in concept, execution and presentation is what will often get the attention of those judging a competition or selecting graphic content for a book. Several years ago I was judging the Summit Creative Awards and the trend of lime green and orange ink colors was a bit overwhelming. I found myself being drawn to the submitted designs that were unusual, didn’t fall into the trap of current trends or offered unique solutions to what may have been a very common design brief.

Ask any questions you may have about the competition or book project: Most design competition calls for entries, or book submission requests, do provide contact email addresses or phone numbers for any questions that contributors may have about the detailed specifications for such activities. Make use of these resources. Making your own assumptions in regards to any questions you may have could result in an entry that will not be accepted due to failure to follow the rules. In addition, contact with the competition sponsor or book publisher may initiate a relationship of value when submitters are being sought in the future for other projects.

Inquire about possible deadline extensions: Many design competitions and book submission deadlines allow for some flexibility. Rather than rushing to finalize an entry, due to a looming deadline, contact the entity in question and inquire about a possible extension. Often additional time will be provided, allowing for completion of an organized and complete submission.

Neatness counts: Neatness in all aspects of an entry or submission does make a difference. Enough said.

Package your submissions carefully: If shipping off actual printed samples of design work, make sure that your pieces are packaged to survive the wear and tear of the U.S. Mail or other delivery option. The first impression of a damaged project is going to impact the review or judging process.

Be patient in awaiting the results of a competition or book publication: Competition judging, and the production of a book, takes time. Be patient in awaiting the results of your design submissions. Most calls for entries or submissions result in hundreds, if not thousands of contributions. In its first year the HOW Logo Design Awards received over 800 entries. The book Logolicious required the review of nearly 5000 logo designs. In selecting designs for inclusion the book Letterhead and Logo Design 11, the firm Design Army had to sort through over 3000 submissions. Most design books are the result of a year or two of interviewing, writing, image selection, editing, design and printing.

Many competition coordinators and publishers are excellent about informing those whose work has been selected. By doing so, they are providing designers the opportunity to promote the news in a very timely manner - giving greater exposure to the competition or possibly increasing book sales. Unfortunately, in some cases I have received official notification of my work being included months after a book has hit the retailers' shelf.

Promote the hell out of your competition or book submission successes: It's in a designer's own best interest to "toot! one's own horn" when receiving a industry award or having work published in a book. Post the news on your blog, create a note on your Facebook page, or "tweet" about the information. Send out press releases to online and print design media, local newspapers, business publications, alumni organizations and trade magazines. An email press missive may be sent out to art/creative directors, vendors, clients, past clients, potential clients, design peers, friends and family. Make sure the client whose work has been recognized is aware of the fact. Ask the client if their specific industry has a trade publication or organization that should be made aware of the news.

Making others aware of your honor, or inclusion in a book, may result in requests for new work, possible inclusion in other books or articles, opportunities to make business or design organization presentations, or more.

Show your appreciation: In some cases, designers may receive complimentary copies of a book or magazine in which their work appears. If so, immediately send the author, editor or publisher a handwritten thank you note. In addition, whenever a writer or interviewer includes me in an article, book or podcast, I always make sure to express my appreciation with a note, email or call. Simple "thank yous" are an incredibly valuable tool in establishing career-long relationships.

Some additional resources on this topic:

Calls for entries: Upcoming graphic design competition and book submission deadlines

When a "contest" is not a contest

"Calls for entries" confusion?

A Winning Strategy

Toot! Toot!*: 'Best of Letterhead and Logo Design' features six identities by Jeff Fisher LogoMotives

2010-03-10T11:47:00.000-08:00

Six logo designs by Jeff Fisher, the Engineer of Creative Identity for the Portland-based firm Jeff Fisher LogoMotives, are featured in the recently released book The Best of Letterhead and Logo Design. The volume, from Rockport Publishers, is a collection of the best designs from the previous four Letterhead and Logo Design books released by the company between the years 1999 and 2007.

The selected designs include identities for Black Dog Furniture Design and the triangle productions! theatre company shows The Food Chain and Girls' Night Out. Logos for writer Kimberly Webster, retail establishment Peggy Sundays, and the 100-year-old W.C. Winks Hardware were also selected. All of the businesses are in the Portland metropolitan area.

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.

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.)

The client is always right......except when REALLY wrong

2010-02-26T19:40:00.000-08:00

In preparing a proposal for a potential corporate identity project client, I was going through my archives and came across one of the great blunders that occurred in a past effort. The 1992 project, for The Governor Hotel in Portland, was one of the last times I kept my mouth shut when within my head I was screaming "silly client, you're making a huge mistake!" It made me realize that the adage "the customer is always right" is not always true.

My first visit to the hotel site required donning a hard hat to tour the historic structure, which was already being renovated. Director Gus Van Sant had recently filmed a scene featuring transients around a bonfire for "My Own Private Idaho" in what was to be the lobby and, for those who recall that movie scene, the building actually looked worse when I was touring it than it did in the film. I brushed the dust off the paneling on one dark,, dirty wall to get a better look at the beautiful Arts & Crafts bell ornament inlay. I mentioned that the shape would make a great icon for the logo and the response, from one of the hotel development team, was "Oh, no, we don't want to draw attention to the Art and Crafts elements of the building. Huh? Hmmm...after numerous attempts to create a logo the final selected identity incorporated the bell-shaped image I saw on the wall that first day.

Lesson learned #1: The client is not always right.

After a lengthy debate about whether the official name was "Governor Hotel" or "The Governor Hotel" it was finally decided, at the last minute, the drop "The" as an identifier. I've always felt that last minute elimination left a visual "hole" in the logo design. The project moved along fairly well after that. I ended up designing more and more pieces for the hotel over a period of almost nine months. The design assignments included the stationery package, coasters, notepads, pocket inserts for the bathrobes to be in the rooms, notecards, signage, catering and event planning marketing materials, computer paper to be used by the reservations department, print ads, brochures, grand opening invitations, press passes for the opening, the hotel restaurant logo and much more. It was a great deal of fun to select the unique mixture of paper colors and textures that would be combined to create a beautiful identity system for the hotel.

It then came time to select the final colors for the logo and printing of all materials. The hotel's interior designer stepped into the picture and basically demanded that specific colors be used. The PMS colors being suggested would compliment many of the interior elements of the hotel, but I knew they would look horrible on the printed materials. I could also see I was losing the battle and soon gave in out of frustration. My rep at the print house even shook his head when he saw the ink color selection. The stationery package was printed - in quantities of up to 10,000 pieces per item - and delivered to the hotel. The General Manager was stunned when he opened the box and saw the end result. He looked at me and said, "It looks like the Taco Bell Hotel!" (see above)

The manager recommended that all the printed materials be scrapped and the reprinting make use of the much more subtle color scheme I had originally suggested. We were able to salvage some of the letterhead stock to be used for printing the new half sheets. I grabbed a few samples of the "Taco Bell Hotel" stationery package before all the boxes were hauled off for recycling.

Lesson learned #2: When the client is wrong they may be REALLY wrong and, when you hear "silly client, you're making a huge mistake!" bouncing around inside your head, you may want to open your mouth and let your thoughts escape.

The identity project for The Governor Hotel lives on to this day in materials still used by the hotel, in the Japanese book American Hotel Identity Graphics, and in David E. Carter's volume The Big Book of Designs for Letterheads and Websites.

HOW/Print DesignCast - 'Using Social Media as a (Free!) Marketing Tool' - available for purchase

2010-02-25T18:00:00.000-08:00

The recent HOW/Print DesignCast "'Using Social Media as a (Free!) Marketing Tool" is now available as a download for purchase from MyDesignShop. Presented by Jeff Fisher, the Engineer of Creative Identity for the Portland-based firm Jeff Fisher LogoMotives, the DesignCast was described in a bit more detail in a previous bLog-oMotives entry.

Fisher's books Identity Crisis!: 100 Redesigns That Transformed Stale Identities into Successful Brands and The Savvy Designer's Guide to Success (now a PDF on CD), previous DesignCasts, and selected past HOW Design Conference presentation audios are also available at MyDesignShop.

Special Offer: Purchase one HOW/Print DesignCast (archived or upcoming) valued at $69 or more and get one FREE! Use code HOWWB08A at checkout through midnight 02.28.10

Restaurant Logos

2010-02-23T21:48:00.000-08:00

(Clockwise from left)

Hamburger Mary's
Client: Hamburger Mary's
Location: Seattle, WA USA

A hamburger takes the form of the Space Needle in this 1991 logo for the Seattle restaurant. The design is featured in the Japanese book New Logo and Trademark Design.

Crossings
Client: Crossings at the Riverhouse
Location: Bend, OR USA

The resort hotel restaurant Crossings is located on the Deschutes River at the site of a historical cattle drive crossing. Lettering in the name is "off" a bit on purpose - to give the word Crossings the look of a hand set 1800's western poster. The logo won a Drake Award from the Central Oregon Ad Club. It also appears in the books Restaurant Graphics 2, New Logo & Trademark Design (Japan), LogoLounge, Volume 1 and Logo Design for Small Business 2.

La Patisserie
Client: La Patisserie
Location: Portland, OR USA

The identity for one of the first espresso establishments in Portland, OR. It appears in the book 1000 Restaurant Bar & Cafe Graphics.

Pizza Luna
Client: Pizza Luna
Location: Portland, OR USA

Restaurant logo incorporating the desired use of Tuscan colors and an Old World Italian look. The logo is featured in the books American Corporate Identity 15, The New Big Book of Logos and New Logo World (Japan)

Toot! Toot!*: Art textbook for Singapore 5th graders features design by Jeff Fisher LogoMotives

2010-02-20T19:21:00.000-08:00

Designer Jeff Fisher, the Engineer of Creative Identity for the Portland-based firm Jeff Fisher LogoMotives, recently received an email from an editor at textbook publisher Pearson Education South Asia. In collaboration with the Ministry of Education in Singapore, an art curriculum text for elementary school students was being produced and inclusion of Fisher's logo design concept for the Cat Adoption Team was requested.

As a result, the logo appears in the textbook Perfect Match Art Primary 5, by Prisca Ko Hak Moi. The C.A.T. logo appears in a section titled "Wordplay," with lessons on logos, what different fonts convey, computer manipulation of text, and the replacing of letterforms with objects.

The Cat Adoption Team design was previously recognized with a Silver Award in the Summit Creative Awards. It is featured in the books Killed Ideas, Vol. 1, Letterhead & Logo Design 11, American Graphic Design & Advertising 25, and For a Good Cause (Spain). The yet to be published volumes LogoLounge Master Library Vol. 2, Logolicious and Logo Nest 01 (Australia) will also include the design.

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.

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.)

Jeff Fisher's 'Talk Story with Jeni' goes live and host Jeni Herberger reflects on interview with 'husband'

2010-02-17T08:18:00.000-08:00

Jeff Fisher - the Engineer of Creative Identity for the Portland-based design firm Jeff Fisher LogoMotives - was recently the guest of longtime friend, "Speakers Gone Wild" pal and "conference wife," Jeni Herberger for the live broadcast of "Talk Story with Jeni." The archived interview is now available at the link for listening or download.

In addition, Herberger reflects on the recorded discussion in her blog entry "Doing What You Love To Do."

Previous "Talk Story" discussions - with riCardo crespo, Worldwide Group Creative Director of Mattel, Inc; RDQLUS Creative's Steve Gordon Jr.; and Michael Lejeune, Creative Director of LA Metro - are also available at JeniHerberger.com.

Font Aid IV release 'Coming Together' benefits Haitian victims through Doctors Without Borders

2010-02-11T17:05:00.000-08:00

The Society of Typographic Aficionados (SOTA) is proud to announce the release of “Coming Together”, a font created exclusively for Font Aid IV to benefit the victims of the recent earthquake in Haiti. The font consists entirely of ampersands, to represent the idea of people coming together to help one another. Nearly 400 type designers, graphic designers, and other artists from 37 countries around the world contributed artwork to the font.

The ampersand contribution of Jeff Fisher LogoMotives (above right) was inspired by traditional Haitian art hand-cut from discarded steel drums. The vines and leaves coming from the roots in the art, signify regrowth; while the bird taking flight represents hope for the future.

The font is being be sold for $20US and is available through font distributors Ascender Fonts, Veer, FontShop, and MyFonts. All proceeds from the sale of the font will go to Doctors Without Borders, to help with their relief efforts in Haiti.

The “Coming Together” font contains over 400 glyphs and is supplied as a single, cross-platform OpenType font. All glyphs are accessible using OpenType-savvy applications, Unicode-savvy utilities, the Character Map utility on Windows, and FontBook on Mac OS X.

Proceeds from previous Font Aid efforts have gone to UNICEF to help war and disaster refugees, benefit the victims of the September 11 tragedies in the US, and raised funds to expedite relief efforts in countries affected by the Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunamis. In the 2005 Font Aid III initiative, a combined program of SOTA and Building Letters, designer Jeff Fisher submitted an icon that became part of the the collaborative Fleurons of Hope typeface.

Toot! Toot!*: Identity by Jeff Fisher LogoMotives published in 'Designing for the Greater Good'

2010-02-08T16:20:00.000-08:00

The new released book Designing for the Greater Good: The Best in Cause-Related Marketing and Nonprofit Design, by Peleg Top and Jonathan Cleveland, features an identity design by Jeff Fisher, the Engineer of Creative Identity for the Portland-based Jeff Fisher LogoMotives. The designer's logo concept for the Cat Adoption Team (C.A.T.) appears in the Rockport Publishers volume.

Designing for the Greater Good features interviews with leading designers who do cause-related work for all kinds of organizations. A wealth of eye-catching full-color examples include notable and memorable designs from social service campaigns and organizations around the world. Also featured is a valuable Q&A with influential designers from both government-funded and private non-profits which explores the design ideas employed, the designers' inspirations, materials, and the financial results that effective cause-related design work can achieve.

Fisher's Cat Adoption Team design won a Silver Award in the Summit Creative Awards. It is featured in the books Killed Ideas, Vol. 1, Letterhead & Logo Design 11 and American Graphic Design & Advertising 25. The yet to be published LogoLounge Master Library Vol. 2, Logolicious and Logo Nest 01 (Australia) will include the design. The logo also appears in the textbook Perfect Match Art Primary 5, by Prisca Ko Hak Moi - a collaborative project of publisher Pearson Education South Asia and Ministry of Education Singapore.

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.

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.)

Theatre Logos

2010-02-05T21:47:00.000-08:00

(Clockwise from upper left)

The Food Chain
Client: triangle productions!
Location: Portland, OR USA

This logo for a theatrical production has been featured in the books New Logo & Trademark Design (Japan), The New Big Book of Logos, Letterhead and Logo Design 7, Graphically Speaking, LogoLounge - Volume 1, and New Logo: One (Singapore).

Two Boys in a Bed on a Cold Winter's Night
Client: triangle productions!
Location: Portland, OR USA

This logo for a play is one nearly 100 I have designed for one theatre company over the last 16 years. The logo appears in the books New Logo & Trademark Design (Japan), The New Big Book of Logos, Logo & Trademark Collection (Japan) and Logolicious.

The Dream State
Client: triangle productions!
Location: Portland, OR USA

"The Dream State" is another theatrical production idenity. It won a 2002 American Graphic Design Award, and appears in the books The Big Book of Logos 4, Logos from North to South America (Spain) and 100's Visual Logos and Letterheads.

triangle productions! 14 Years of Tears and Cheers
Client: triangle productions!
Location: Portland, OR USA

Stylized images of the traditional drama and comedy masks make an appearance in this anniversary logo of a theatre company. It appears in the book 100s Visual Logos & Letterheads (UK).

Check out other theatre logos by Jeff Fisher LogoMotives.

NOTE: Many of the logos designed for theatre presentations are available for licensing through the Theatre Logos Agency.

Putting a new face on a common design element

2010-02-02T07:25:00.000-08:00

Throughout history two masks have come to symbolize theatre and its two major dramatic categories of comedy and tragedy. Such masks have played an important part in the history of drama since the time of the ancient Greeks, originally allowing actors to clearly convey emotions such as anger, joy, or sorrow to the entire large audience. Masks also made it easier for the performers, limited to the male of species, to portray female characters.

During that same theatrical history the mask images were used in architecture, art, design and printing as graphic representations of stage venues, performance groups and plays. The result has been the overuse of mask imagery, in recognizeable forms, again and again.

As a designer who has created theatre graphic images for over 30 years, it is a challenge when being asked to use common elements in related graphics - especially in the design of logos for theater spaces, production companies or theatrical events. When creating such identities, it is necessary to move beyond the literal to produce fresh imagery making use of ancient themes.

In 1995, I was asked to design the logo for a San Francisco nonprofit using comedy performances to raise funds for AIDS organizations. The identity for Laugh Line Productions (below left) incorporated a interpretation of the comedy mask as the "U" letterform in the word "LAUGH." Today the logo looks a bit too basic and literal to me - but it is where I began to think about alternative treatments of the masks for future designs. The Laugh Line image is featured in the books Letterhead and Logo Design 4 and The Best of Letterhead and Logo Design.

One of my favorite theatre logos is my design for the former Main Street Playhouse (above right) in Portland. The space was located in the old Masonic Building, designed by renowned architect Pietro Belluschi. (The building has since been completely renovated and is now part of the Portland Art Museum complex.) Outside of the building, lining the streets along the city's South Park Blocks, are beautiful cast iron street lights. While standing near the theatre one night, I realized that the globes of the light fixtures could easily become the masks of comedy and tragedy. The graphic treatment, with the human imagery almost coming across as reflections in the glass, is so subtle than many people have missed the meaning completely. Still, the design was recognized with an American Graphic Design Award and publication in the PRINT Regional Design Annual.

Following the death of Portland actor (and acquaintance) Rob Buckmaster, I was asked to create a logo for the foundation established in his honor. It was a very sad time for the local theatre community, but still, thinking of Rob could immediately bring a smile to anyone's face. Once again I felt the masks of comedy and tragedy could provide a graphic solution to the design challenge. In the design the masks became a bit more graphic than in previous designs, and I purposely placed the sad image upside down to focus on the happier element within the logo. It was a widely accepted identity for the foundation. The Rob Buckmaster Fund logo appears in the books American Corporate Identity 14 and The New Big Book of Logos.

Much of my logo design for the theatre has been during my relationship with the triangle productions! production company, which began back in 1990. Each new season of plays and musicals has required the creation of an anniversary logo image to be used on ticket brochures, the website, posters, ads and playbills. When it came time to design the 14th anniversary identity, I immediately saw the numeral "4" as an abstract human form that could take on the characteristics of one of the historic mask forms. With my creation of the tagline "14 years of tears & cheers," placement of the the tragedy and comedy masks was determined within the design. I have mixed feelings about the fact that most people see either the "14" or the two masks in the logo - but not both design elements. The few that do "get it" have an "aha!" moment that is very gratifying to me. The identity appears in the book 100s Visual Logos & Letterheads (UK).

I wanted to present these examples to show that with a little creativity, and effort, a designer can avoid the "easy out" of just slapping very common imagery up next to some text. The result can be a unique design solution that attracts the attention of the viewer and, in some cases, draws them in for a closer second look.

Jeff Fisher to present live HOW/Print DesignCast - 'Using Social Media as a (Free!) Marketing Tool'

2010-01-27T16:02:00.000-08:00

Jeff Fisher, the Engineer of Creative Identity for the Portland-based Jeff Fisher LogoMotives, will present the live DesignCast "Using Social Media as a (Free!) Marketing Tool" on February 18, 2010 at 4:00 p.m. ET/1:00 p.m. PT. The one-hour session is sponsored by HOW and Print magazines. The registration fee is $69. Online registration, and more information, is available on the MyDesignShop.com website.

Learn how to use Facebook, Twitter, blogging and more to grow your business, build networks, and reach out an international community of design peers and potential clients. Designer and author Jeff Fisher will sort through a variety social networking/media options and teach you how to use these FREE promotional activities.

Jeff Fisher, author of Identity Crisis!: 50 redesigns that transformed stale identities into successful brands (HOW Books, 2007), is a 30-year design veteran. He has been honored with over 600 regional, national and international design awards and is featured in over 130 books about logos, the design business, and small business marketing. His first book, The Savvy Designer's Guide to Success was released in 2004 and has been reissued as a PDF on CD from MyDesignShop.com. Fisher is currently writing a new volume, Logo Type: 200 Best Typographic Logos from Around the World Explained, on the topic of typography in identity design.

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

Identity Re-Design: Balaboosta Delicatessen

2010-01-20T06:38:00.000-08:00

The Japanese book Works in Progress: Graphics for Visual Presentations features a portion of the logo design process for Balaboosta. The following example of a logo re-design project by Jeff Fisher LogoMotives goes into a bit more detail.

Local chef and restaurant owner Lisa Schroeder was opening a new traditional delicatessen on a city block where she owned two other eating establishments. Initially the new eatery was also going to display and sell artisan furniture made from reclaimed products. A polished identity was needed to represent the new business.

Furniture designer Brett Bigham had created an initial image for use in promoting the establishment which would also showcase his creative efforts (above). A more stylized and finished business identity was desired by the owner of the business. Retaining the image of a waitress in the graphic was discussed, as was the incorporation of some retro restaurant imagery.

With "Balaboosta" being a rather unique word, I first presented the client the word in a wide variety of typefaces - both upper and lower case for each font presented (above).

The initial concepts (above) incorporated waitress imagery, a retro-like checkerboard pattern and all of the text elements desired by the client. The first two logo concepts included an oval shape - an element used in the identities of the client's tow other eating establishments.

Feedback on the initial concepts led to the elimination of the waitress image. The client suggested that I concentrate on promoting the food offerings of the delicatessen within the logo design.

I then decided to incorporate a cup of coffee and a bagel as replacements for the "O" letterforms in the word "Balaboosta." In addition, concepts were presented that conveyed a restaurant tabletop with coffee cups, bowl, plate and pitcher. (above) Again, one of the designs involved the inclusion of the oval shape.

The oval resonated with the client and I was asked to move forward with that shape as a graphic element. The coffee cup remained within the design; while the bagel was replaced with a half sandwich and a dill pickle slice. In simplifying the design, the name Balaboosta Delicatessen was the only text retained. A variety of background treatments were presented (above).

The client, who had a great understanding of design and typography, then suggested that I take a look at the font Serific/Serifa as a possible primary type treatment. Baskerville was discussed as a complimentary type selection for the word "Delicatessen" (above).

The simplification of the logo design continued with the elimination of all illustrative elements. The diamond pattern background of previous concepts brought my attention to the tile pattern on the floor of the historic building housing the delicatessen. I then brought that tile pattern - and the colors of wood, paint and tile within the restaurant - into the design (above).

The oval shape was a consistent element from the beginning of the process to create an identity for the Balaboosta Delicatessen. Through the process of distilling the design down to a simplified image, a final sophisticated logo was created.

The client was very pleased with the final identity image and how it complimented the logos of her other restaurants. Unfortunately, the design got little use, as the eating establishment was reconcepted shortly after opening.

In addition to appearing in the Works in Progress: Graphics for Visual Presentations, the Balaboosta design lives on in The Big Book of Logos 5, 1000 Restaurant Bar & Cafe Graphics, 100s Visual Logos & Letterheads (UK), Design DNA - Logos: 300+ International Logos Deconstructed and Logo Design Vol. 3 (Germany). It also received an American Graphic Design Award from GD:USA.

Check out some other Jeff Fisher LogoMotives identity re-design projects.

(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.)

Business Logos

2010-01-14T06:27:00.000-08:00

(Clockwise from upper left)

Deschutes Plumbing
Client: Deschutes Plumbing
Location: Bend, OR USA

The identity for a plumbing contractor located in the resort community of Bend, OR - near the Deschutes River and the Three Sisters Mountains. It is featured in the book New Logo & Trademark Design (Japan).

PavelComm
Client: PavelComm
Location: Portland, OR USA

A 2008 identity redesign for PavelComm, a customer service focused organization specializing in complete communications and technology solutions. Read more information about this logo design project.

KIOTI
Client: KIOTI Tractor, Inc.
Location: Portland, OR USA

In 1985, I participated the naming process for a tractor company, importing an equipment line manufactured by Daedong of South Korea. Once the name was confirmed, I created the initial identity for the business.

Buttonberry Books
Client: Buttonberry Books
Location: Lebanon, NJ USA

Logo for a book publishing company. The identity appears in the books New Logo World (Japan), Logo Design for Small Business 2, and Logos from North to South America (Spain).

Check out additional Jeff Fisher LogoMotives business logo designs.

Toot! Toot!*: Jeff Fisher LogoMotives designs included in 'Basic Logos' from Spanish publisher

2010-01-09T21:39:00.000-08:00

The design work of Jeff Fisher, the Engineer of Creative Identity for the Portland-based firm Jeff Fisher LogoMotives, is included in the newly released book Basic Logos. The volume, from Spanish publisher Index Book, is currently available in Europe and will be in U.S. bookstores this spring.

Fisher's logo for Just Out, the monthly newsmagazine for Oregon's GLBT community, was one of two designs selected for inclusion in the book. The Just Out identity redesign gave the publication a fresh, contemporary look. It won an American Corporate Identity 22 award and also appears in The Big Book of Logos 5 and 100's Visual Logos and Letterheads.

A personal logo designed for hairstylist Micki King, while she was working at a salon named Chameleon, is also included in the new volume. In addition, the image is showcased in the books LogoLounge 4 and 100's Visual Logos and Letterheads.

Fisher, a 32-year design industry veteran, is the author of Identity Crisis!: 50 redesigns that transformed stale identities into successful brands and The Savvy Designer's Guide to Success: Ideas and tactics for a killer career. 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.

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.)