Identity Re-Design: RiverWest Acupuncture

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

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

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

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

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

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

© 2009 Jeff Fisher LogoMotives.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

© 2009 Jeff Fisher LogoMotives

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

© 2009 Jeff Fisher LogoMotives

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Identity Crisis!

Jeff Fisher, the Engineer of Creative Identity for the Portland-based firm Jeff Fisher LogoMotives, is the author of Identity Crisis!: 50 Redesigns That Transformed Stale Identities Into Successful Brands, which was released by HOW Books in late 2007. Fisher, a 30+ year veteran of the design industry, often writes and speaks about various aspects of logo design, corporate identity, branding and marketing. Read more about Fisher's book on the Identity Crisis! blog. The images below are case study spreads from the volume:

Table of Contents

Oregon Department of Forestry • Jeff Fisher LogoMotives • Portland, OR USA

VanderVeer Center • Jeff Fisher LogoMotives • Portland, OR USA

Sheridan's Frozen Lattes and Custard • Willoughby Design Group • Kansas City, MO USA

Toppers Pizza • Shine Advertising Co. • Madison, WI USA

Vancouver Aquarium • Subplot Design • Vancouver, BC Canada

Images: Copyright © 2009 Jeff Fisher • Used with permission of author and HOW Books, an imprint of F+W Publications, Inc.

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Toot! Toot!*: Jeff Fisher LogoMotives logo processappears in Japanese "Works in Progress" book

A visual example of the logo design process of Jeff Fisher, the Engineer of Creative Identity for the Portland-based Jeff Fisher LogoMotives, is featured in the new Japanese book Works in Progress: Graphics for Visual Presentations. The volume, from publisher PIE Books, showcases projects from around the world in explaining the creative process of presenting design concepts to clients. Revisions made after feedback, and the final product versions accepted by the client, are also highlighted.

The book features the process the designer used in creating the identity for the Balaboosta Delicatessen, with text in English and Japanese. Unfortunately, the final identity design got little use, as the eating establishment was reconcepted shortly after opening. The design also appears in The Big Book of Logos 5.

Designer Jeff Fisher is the author of Identity Crisis: 50 Redesigns That Transformed Stale Identities into Successful Brands (HOW Books, 2007). He has received over 600 regional, national and international graphic design awards for his logo and corporate identity efforts and his work is featured in more than over 100 books on the design of logos, the business of graphic design, and small business marketing. His first HOW Books offering, The Savvy Designer’s Guide to Success, appeared on bookstore shelves in late 2004, and has been re-released in PDF format on CD. Fisher is currently writing a book about typography in identity design.

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

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

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

© 2009 Jeff Fisher LogoMotives

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Toot! Toot!*: Jeff Fisher LogoMotives business card featured in new German design book

The business card of Jeff Fisher, the Engineer of Creative Identity for the Portland-based firm Jeff Fisher LogoMotives, is featured in the new design volume Letterhead and Business Cards. The book, available in the United States later this year, is produced by the German design entity zeixs, which was founded by the publishing house Feierabend Unique Books and the design agency 12ender.

This past year Fisher updated his business card, from a similar design, to reflect the growing aspects of his business. The previous card, a letter press effort, is featured in the book The Big Book of Business Cards.

Designer Jeff Fisher is the author of Identity Crisis: 50 Redesigns That Transformed Stale Identities into Successful Brands (HOW Books, 2007). He has received over 600 regional, national and international graphic design awards for his logo and corporate identity efforts and his work is featured in more than over 100 books on the design of logos, the business of graphic design, and small business marketing. His first HOW Books offering, The Savvy Designer’s Guide to Success, appeared on bookstore shelves in late 2004, and has been re-released in PDF format on CD. Fisher is currently writing a book about typography in identity design.

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

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

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

© 2009 Jeff Fisher LogoMotives

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Excavated Design Artifact #22

Another box of stored old project elements has been opened and I've found many more excavated artifacts from my 30 plus years as a graphic designer. I think it's going to take me years to go through all the folders of papers.

This particular project had its start back in the mid-80's, when I was the art director of a small advertising agency in Portland. One of the agency clients was considering opening an Italian restaurant with the very non-Italian name of Linda's - in honor of his wife. In preparation for the project the agency owner asked me to spend a bit of time roughing out a possible logo for the eating establishment (below left). In the end, the restaurant project never panned out and the design concept was filed away.

Fast forward over a decade and I was doing a great deal of design work for one of my favorite causes, Our House of Portland. The residential care facility for individuals with HIV/AIDS was preparing to host its fifth annual fund-raising dinner series. I was asked to create a logo for the 1997 activity - to be used on all promotion for the event, the program for the series and even an apron to be presented to those hosting the dinner parties in their homes.

In my archives I found two original doodles for the image to identity "Five Festive Years of Fabulous Feasts." The first (above center), on a scrap or printer paper, showed a somewhat ornate numeral 5 placed on a plate with a banner announcing the dinner series. An additional concept on ruled notebook paper (above right) hinted at the Linda's restaurant image of 12 years earlier. I went digging into my files to find the unused image from the past.

What evolved in the process was a somewhat retro diner look, in red and black, for the finished logo (above). My plate of squiggley spaghetti with meatballs, from the Linda's concept, found it's way into a customized numeral 5. Boca Raton Solid was implemented as the type within the graphic. The font being used at the time in all Our House branding was Letraset University Roman. It was incorporated into the dinner logo to compliment the organization identity and contrast the hard edges within the image.

The 1997 Our House dinner series logo appears in The New Big Book of Logos.

© 2009 Jeff Fisher LogoMotives

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