bLog-oMotives: January 2008

The dreaded "F word" - yea or nay?

For many years I've encouraged design students and independent professionals to avoid using the "F word" ("Freelance" - it almost makes my skin crawl to use it...) when describing what they do for a living. One of my long-time Jeffisms is:

Freelance’ is a nasty little word. It seems to imply an individual doesn’t have a ‘real’ job, can’t get a job, isn’t truly professional in their field, and is willing to work for ‘free.’

Many designers, including a few at my recent AIGA Oklahoma talk, have shared that the public and business perception of their design efforts has improved as they stopped making use of the word in marketing and promoting creative services.

Yesterday, in adding my thoughts on the matter to a Put Things Off blog entry, I sparked a bit of a debate with my opinion. In response, Put Things Off author Nick Cernis has posted Shock! Horror! Are You Using The F Word Around Your Clients? - a look at possible negatives and positives of using the "F word."

Toot! Toot!*
TCG eZine publishes Jeff Fisher interview

The latest edition of the TCG eZine features the article A New Brand for the New Year - an interview with Jeff Fisher, the Engineer of Creative Identity for the Portland-based design firm Jeff Fisher LogoMotives. The author of Identity Crisis! 50 Redesigns That Transformed Stale Identities Into Successful Brands discusses aspects of the new book, as well as strategies for adding impact to a professional designer's own brand image.

The TCG feature notes: "In his second book, Identity Crisis!: 50 Redesigns That Transformed Stale Identities Into Successful Brands, Fisher takes a fresh look at before-and-after case studies of businesses that refined their images. In doing so, he explores the process of redesigning existing identities to help organizations better communicate with customers and find success. We recently caught up with Fisher to discuss how creative professionals can apply the concepts he discusses to advance their careers, and how social media and "blogfolios" can be used to fortify brand image and drive business."

The eZine is the online magazine of The Creative Group, a highly specialized staffing company focusing on the placement of freelance professionals in the creative, advertising, marketing, web and public relations fields.

Jeff Fisher has received nearly 575 regional, national and international graphic design awards for his logo and corporate identity efforts. His work is featured in nearly 100 books on the design of logos, the business of graphic design, and small business marketing.

Fisher is a member of the HOW Magazine Editorial Advisory Board, the HOW Design Conference Advisory Council and the UCDA Designer Magazine Editorial Advisory Board. His new book, Identity Crisis!, was recently released by HOW Books. His first volume, The Savvy Designer’s Guide to Success, appeared on bookstore shelves in late 2004.

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

AIGA OK is much more than just O.K.

I just wanted to share what a great time I had last week, accepting the invitation of AIGA Oklahoma to speak before before their membership and students of two Oklahoma City area college design departments. My host for the trip was Brian Mays, president of the AIGA chapter.

I first "met" Brian on a design newsgroup about seven years ago. For the past couple of years he's hinted at getting me to Oklahoma City to speak to the revived AIGA OK group. Well, last week it happened.

On Wednesday I flew out to OKC (of course, my luggage went to Dallas, Texas!) and Brian picked me up at the airport. He checked me in at the The Grandison Inn (a great B&B), took me out to lunch and then to the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum. A long-time collector of Western memorabilia, I really enjoyed the museum - especially the Charles Russell art exhibit. That evening I met several of the AIGA Board members for dinner and drinks at RedPin - a new restaurant and bowling lounge. We drove by the National Memorial - which was really impressive with the glowing chairs representing those killed in the Federal Building bomb blast (below left). Later board member Suzanne Green took me back out to the airport to pick up my stray luggage - which came in on a totally different airline from Texas.

Thursday was a busy day. In the morning I spoke to the majority of the graphic design students from Southern Nazarene University It's a fairly new program with incredibly enthusiastic instructors and students. I especially enjoyed meeting Marcia Feisal, Chair of the Art and Design Department, and Adjunct Professor Whitney Porch. After making an identity design presentation at the university, I went out to lunch with Brian and a group of the students.

My mid-afternoon engagement was at Oklahoma Christian University for reviews of four very impressive graduating senior portfolios and another presentation to a large group of design students. Department Chair Michael O'Keefe heads a very thorough and strong design program at the school.

After a quick freshening up at the B&B, it was then off to the great public space and auditorium facility at the offices of The Oklahoman - the newspaper and media corporation where Brian Mays works - for a reception and my presentation with the largest audience of the day. I signed posters and a lot of copies of my book Identity Crisis! - and The Savvy Designer's Guide to Success - and met many wonderful people.

In the middle of the night I heard freezing rain hitting the windows of the B&B and was a little concerned about my early morning flight back to P-land. However, by the time Brian picked me up at about 5:30 the roads were clear and he got me to airport with no problems. It was a relaxing, uneventful and sunny trip back home.

The entire trip was a very enjoyable - and somewhat exhausting - venture. It was really a pleasure getting to meet Brian and the rest of the AIGA gang. He was an amazing host and I really appreciate all he did. Any design industry speaker making the trip to Oklahoma City could easily get very spoiled by the Oklahoma AIGA group!

Image © Oklahoma City National Memorial

Logo Design Love goes live

Some unusual cyber traffic coming my way caused me to take a look at the unfamiliar source Logo Design Love this morning. Today is the launch of the blog of articles, examples and resources for those who love logos. The project is the work of David Airey, a self-employed graphic designer in Edinburgh, Scotland.

I was happy to see my Creative Latitude column Logo Notions (which is greatly in need of an in-the-works update) and bLog-oMotives are as listed Logo Design Love resources. Some "love" was also sent to my book, Identity Crisis!: 50 redesigns that transformed stale identities into successful brands, in the form a recommendation from the new industry blog. I'm honored to be considered a charter "Friend of Logo Design Love."

It looks like Logo Design Love is going to be a great place to visit, on a regular basis, for anyone with a passion for identity design. Check it out.

SNU invites students to Jeff Fisher presentation

On its website, Southern Nazarene University has invited students to attend the upcoming presentation by designer Jeff Fisher, author of Identity Crisis!: 50 redesigns that transformed stale identities into successful brands:

Join the SNU Art & Design Department and the American Institute of Graphic Arts to hear Jeff Fisher, noted HOW Magazine (The Graphic Design Community’s Trusted source for Creative Inspiration, Business Advice and Tools of the Trade) conference speaker and author on Thursday, January 24, at 9:00 a.m. in the SNU Art & Design Computer Lab, Fine Arts room 146 on the campus of Southern Nazarene University, 6729 NW 39th in Bethany, OK.

Fisher will also be visiting students in the graphic design department of Oklahoma Christian University and speaking to AIGA Oklahoma members while visiting Oklahoma City..

Jeff Fisher to speak at AIGA Oklahoma

On Thursday, January 24th I will be speaking to members of AIGA Oklahoma in the group's first event of 2008. The presentation will be held at 7:00 p.m. at OPUBCO Communications Group/The Oklahoman, 9000 N. Broadway in Oklahoma City. Admission is $15 for professionals and $5 for students.

In addition to speaking about the book Identity Crisis!: 50 redesigns that transformed stale identities into successful brands, I will be discussing designer self-promotion methods and various aspects of my 30-year career. Books will not be for sale at the event, but I will be happy to sign copies of both Identity Crisis! and, my first book, The Savvy Designer's Guide to Success for those attending.

While in Oklahoma City I will also be visiting the graphic design departments at Southern Nazarene University and Oklahoma Christian University to speak with students, have question/answer sessions and possibly review some portfolios.

I want to thank AIGA Oklahoma President Brian Mays for his efforts in coordinating these appearances - and for the mention on his blog. I'm really looking forward to visiting Oklahoma City.

Jeff Fisher shares 'Savvy Marketing Secrets'

Recently communications specialist Marcia Ming, the publisher of the site Savvy Marketing Secrets (and owner of Ming Communications), conducted an interview with me for the marketing web presence. Ming wanted my take on some of the promotion challenges that are faced by small business owners on a regular basis. The result is the posted piece Home Business by Design.

Design professionals often ask me about unique networking opportunities that might lead to greater exposure for their business efforts. A perfect example is being asked to participate in the interview - after Ming and I "met" while cyberly networking on the business portal StartupNation.

Toot! Toot!*:
Create Magazine quotes designer and
author Jeff Fisher on education options

Jeff Fisher, the Engineer of Creative Identity for the Portland-based Jeff Fisher LogoMotives is quoted in the January/ February 2008 issue of the industry journal Create Magazine. The veteran graphic designer is one of several industry professionals cited in regards to design education options for the article Art School vs. The Real World, from Dave Willmer of The Creative Group. The piece is part of the publication's annual Learn special section; a "guide to education for the creative mind." The feature includes information about a wide variety of design and art schools throughout the U.S.

In concluding his comments, Fisher addresses graduating design students with; "when you walk out of your school for the last time, degree in hand, your design education may truly begin."

Create Magazine provides creative professionals with an insider's perspective on the people, news, trends and events that influence the local advertising, design, printing, photography, film & video, animation and new media industries. Published in five regional editions, the publications has approximately 45,000 readers nationwide.

The Create Magazine web presence provides creative individuals with additional pertinent news, the opportunity to post an online portfolio, industry blogs, a job board, networking opportunities through a community forum and more.

Fisher is a member of the HOW Magazine Editorial Advisory Board, the HOW Design Conference Advisory Council and the UCDA Designer Magazine Editorial Advisory Board. His new book, Identity Crisis!: 50 Redesigns That Transformed Stale Identities into Successful Brands, was recently released by HOW Books. His first volume, The Savvy Designer’s Guide to Success, appeared on bookstore shelves in late 2004.

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

Stone Soup and a Diva sighting

This past week I received an email from Jan Eliot, the cartoonist behind the nationally syndicated comic strip Stone Soup. Jan, whom I've written about in a previous bLog-oMotives entry, was excited to share the news that she was being featured on an episode of the television program Oregon Art Beat.

Oregon Art Beat - one of my favorite shows - is an Emmy award-winning series produced by the Oregon Public Broadcasting. The weekly programs feature the stories and work of Oregon individuals in a wide variety of the arts. I regularly TiVo the show, and over the years many artists and performers I know, or have met, have been featured.

The episode about Jan Eliot and Stone Soup may be viewed online. The show did a great job in showcasing her work, the process she goes through in creating a weekly comic strip, and her personality.

The "diva" I refer to in the title of this blog entry is certainly not Jan Eliot. In the Oregon Art Beat segment following the piece on Stone Soup, "Diva" unexpectedly popped up, full screen, on the television in the form of a logo I designed for the Diva Salon.

Blues musician Steve Cheseborough was the topic the incredibly interesting feature (also available for viewing online). Early in the piece Cheseborough explains how he does not use a pick to play the guitar. Later the Diva logo, and my friend and client Lisa Fritsch, appeared on the screen. Fritsch is Cheseborough's manicurist and she applies acrylic to his picking fingernails.

The complete Diva logo includes a tagline and a leopard pattern border - suggesting the faux leopard skin covered stylist chairs in the salon. The image appears in the Japanese books New Business Card Graphics 2 and New Logo World, David E. Carter's The New Big Book of Logos, Logo Design for Small Business 2 by Dan Antonelli, and the Spanish volume Logos from North to South America.

(I also worked with salon owner Fritsch on two other identity projects. I created a logo for a salon to be called Page Six - which never opened due to lease complications with a building owner. She did have much more success in opening a salon with the name Slick in a converted auto repair shop.)

I had a lot of fun calling Lisa Fritsch to tell her that she, and her logo, looked great on television.

Re-Design: VanderVeer Center

Dr. Elizabeth VanderVeer’s clinic, offering nonsurgical cosmetic procedures, was having an identity crisis. In the period of just over a year there had been two name changes (one logo is shown above) and a major internal business reorganization.

It was decided to rebrand the company with the Doctor’s name. Initially I was asked to maintain Papyrus as the font for the redesign. By showing the client multiple images of the font in use by local businesses I was able to encourage the use of another typeface.

Originally the client proposed that the identity have an Asian influence, with bamboo as a design element. As the project progressed further, it seemed more appropriate to create an image that worked well with the rich Tuscan colors the walls of the clinic had been painted. The font Mousse Script lent itself well to use in the identity, especially with the expressive “V” letterforms.

Once the new logo (at right) was finalized the rebranding took an unusual turn. Before a stationery package, or any collateral materials, could be designed the immediate creation of a two-page magazine spread was required to meet an impending deadline for the premiere issue of a new publication.

The previous ads (at left) ran over a period of the previous six months and demonstrated the split personality of the business at the time.

The fact that Dr. VanderVeer was an artist led to the proposing of “The Art & Science of Image Enhancement” as a tagline. With the photo images of Loma Smith, the colors of painted walls in the clinic and the new identity, the ad effectively introduced the VanderVeer rebranding. The ad became the inspiration for all other marketing and advertising pieces.

The rebranding of the VanderVeer Center is one of 50 case studies, from designers and firms around the world, featured in my latest book, Identity Crisis!: 50 Redesigns That Transformed Stale Identities Into Successful Brands. The volume was released by HOW Books in late 2007. Read more about the book on the Identity Crisis! blog.

The initial two-page VanderVeer Center ad (above) was honored with a 2007 Summit Creative Award. A one-page version of the ad appears in The Big Book of Layouts. The VanderVeer Center logo is featured in The Big Book of Logos 5. The rebranding case study is also posted on the member- ship site The Designers Inner Circle.

Calls for entries:
Upcoming design competition deadlines

All of the following competitions deadlines present great opportunities to showcase your design efforts, market your work on an international scale through the published books, and "toot!" your own horn to clients, peers and the media:

Tempus Fugit - World's Best Calendar Design
(Index Book - Spain)
Deadline: No deadline published
No entry fees charged

The Big Book of Self-Promotion
(Crescent Hill Books - USA)
Deadline: No deadline published
No entry fees charged

2008 Design and Design Book of the Year
(DesignAndDesign.com - France)
Deadline: Ongoing at this point
No entry fees charged

Just For You - Designs Made By The Heart
(Index Book - Spain)
Deadline: January 2008
No entry fees charged

Identity - Best of the Best 2008
(Identity Magazine - Russia)
Deadline: January 15, 2008
No entry fees charged

D&AD Awards 08
(D&AD - UK)
Deadline: January 16, 2008
Entry fees charged

The Art Director's Club 87th Annual Awards
(The Art Director's Club - USA)
Deadline: 18 January 2008
Entry fees charged

Sleeping & Designing
(Index Book - Spain)
Deadline: 30 January 2008
No entry fees charged

Behind the Design
(Crescent Hill Books - USA)
Deadline: 1 February 2008
No entry fees charged

I.D. Student Design Review
(I.D. Magazine - USA)
Deadline: 1 February 2008
Entry fees charged

The One Show
(The One Club - USA)
Deadline Extended: 8 February 2008
Entry fees charged

2008 Gold Quill Awards
(International Association of Business Communicators - IABC)
Early-bird deadline: 5 February 2008
Final deadline: 12 February 2008
Entry fees charged

European Design Awards
(ED-Awards - Greece)
Deadline: 15 February 2008
Entry fees charged

1000 Garment Designs
(Rockport Publishers - USA)
Deadline: 15 February 2008
No entry fees charged

Summit Creative Awards
(Summit International Awards - USA)
Deadline Extended: 20 February 2008
Entry fees charged

The One Show Interactive
(The One Club - USA)
Deadline Extended: 29 February 2008
Entry fees charged

American Inhouse Design Awards
(Graphic Design USA - USA)
Deadline: 29 February 2008
Entry fees charged

Design=Information: 10 Principles for Creating Graphics That People Understand
(Rockport Publishers - USA)
Deadline: 29 February 2008
No entry fees charged

Logo Design Love Awards
(Logo Design Love - Scotland)
Deadline: 1 March 2008
No entry fees charged

PRINT’s Regional Design Annual 2008
(PRINT Magazine - USA)
Deadline: 3 March 2008
Entry fees charged

Market Smart Design
(Crescent Hill Books - USA)
Deadline Extended: 14 March 2008
No entry fees charged

HOW Annual Promotion Design Awards
(HOW Magazine - USA)
Deadline: 21 March 2008
Entry fees charged

International Gallery of Artistic Business Cards
(International Creators' Organization - Japan)
Deadline: 30 March 2008
No entry fees charged

STEP Best of Web Design 2008
(STEP inside design - USA)
Deadline: 1 April 2008
Entry fees charged

INHOWSE Design Awards 2008
(HOW Magazine - USA)
Deadline: 14 April 2008
Entry fees charged

Worldwide Logo Design Annual 2008
(Wolda - Italy)
Deadline: 20 May 2008
Entry fees charged

(For the latest bLog-oMotives design competition update click here.)

You may want to read my article about participating in design industry competitions: A Winning Strategy. It has appeared on the Creative Latitude and NO!SPEC web sites.

Design competition calendars are also available at Icograda and Workbook. DesignTaxi and Dexinger post competitions of great value to industry professionals - however designers need to be aware that some of the listings are for "spec" work as a requirement for submission. Requests for new, or speculative, work as a condition of entering a "contest" are much different than legitimate design competition "calls for entries," in which previously created works are judged for possible awards, exhibition, or publication in an annual or other book.

My own work appears in nearly 100 graphic design books. Many of those inclusions are the result of design competitions, or requests for submissions, like those listed above.

For the perspective from the other side of design competitions, I wrote a bLog-oMotives entry about judging the 2007 Summit Creative Awards.

Good luck!

Marketing a Portland balloon business in Africa?

Back in 1998 I redesigned the identity for the Portland-based company Balloons on Broadway. Several years after that first redesign I was again hired by my friend, and company owner, Ron Pitt to update the logo.

My original redesign of the logo for the retail store, balloon delivery business and event company won a Summit Creative Award, and appears in the books Logos Redesigned and The New Big Book of Logos.

Fast forward nearly a decade from my first redesign.

Last week a received an email from my friend and client, with the heading "Such a small world in which we live..." Ron explained 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 below showcased one of the families they befriended.

Ashley was the first to notice the following:

It really is a small world.

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."

So, this is just another example of the fact that, especially in this digital world, a designer never knows when work for their clients may be "borrowed" by someone for another use.

HOW Blog promotes FreelanceSwitch article

Thanks to Megan Lane Patrick, Senior Editor of HOW Magazine, for posting "Fisher on Freelancing" on the HOW Blog. It's a mention of the recent FreelanceSwitch interview with yours truly. It's also a nice little plug for my book Identity Crisis! - recently released by HOW Books.

Hmmm...the situation has forced me to use that "freelance" word I detest so much. One of my often-quoted Jeffisms is:

"Freelance" is a nasty little word. It seems to imply an individual doesn’t have a "real" job, can’t get a job, isn’t truly professional in their field, and is willing to work for "free."

2008 HOW Design Conference site goes live

The web presence for the 2008 HOW Design Conference, to be held May 18-21, 2008 in Boston, has gone live. Information about conference registration, sessions to be held, this year's speakers, available design studio tours, making travel arrangements and Boston tourism is available on the website. The 2008 HOW Conference program includes more than 50 sessions in a variety of tracks, including Creativity & Inspiration, Design Disciplines, Career Development and more.

Attendees registering prior to the Early-Bird Deadline of March 28th will save $80 in fees.

The 2008 HOW Conference marks the fourth time I have been invited to be one of the design industry speakers making presentations. I will be speaking on "Planning, Packaging and Promoting Yourself as the Product" as part of the Career Development track.

There will also most likely be a book signing for my recently released book, Identity Crisis!: 50 Redesigns That Transformed Stale Identities into Successful Brands, at the on-site conference bookstore.

Nice little plug (above) on the HOW Forum, too. (That's where I most often hang out with my imaginary design friends.)

Re-Design: Just Out

Just Out, the statewide monthly newsmagazine for Oregon's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities, was approaching 22 years in operation and its identity was showing some age. The heavy, bulky type treatment of the name (below left) was definitely hinting at the 1980's and 1990's.

Publisher and Managing Editor Marty Davis wasn't seeking an entirely new "look" with a redesigned logo, but rather a refined - possibly redefined - treatment of the existing identity. The hope was to maintain the readers' immediate recognition developed at newsstands over the years, while making the paper's flag fresh and a bit more flexible in cover design applications.

The use of the font Gill Sans gave the identity a fresh, contemporary and slimmed-down look (above right) that has worked very well for the publication.

The award-winning Just Out logo appears in the books American Corporate Identity 2008 and The Big Book of Logos 5.

(Note: My new 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.)

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