Clickety-clacks along the LogoMotives tracks

The month of May brought about many online mentions of Jeff Fisher LogoMotives. Here's what I've found to date:

• Crazy Train, Toots Style: Local Design Savant Turned Clown Has the Last Laugh • Writer Ryan J. Prado, of the LGBT community newsmagazine Just Out, interviews me about my clowning around as "Toots Caboose" and how it is an extension of my design business brand. [5.29.09]

• Thoughts on Design: Back where it all started • Nathan Sarlow, of CobaltCow Brand Development invited several designers to provide examples of thier first paid logo design effort. My design, for the Eugene University Music Association, was executed 30 years ago while I was in college. [5.29.09]

• Freelance is a lot like dating • Illustrative designer Leighton Hubbell contends that working as a freelance creative has many similarities to the dating game. Via Twitter he asked for examples to add to his list. My contribution: "First date – Meet with potential new client, share all the info, they're excited about the project, all is good - you never hear from them again." [5.29.09]

• NO!SPEC • CreativePro: Spec Work and Crowdsourcing • Catherine Wentworth, one of the founders of the NO!SPEC movement comments on the CreativePro.com article "Spec Work and Crowdsourcing: Gambles that Don’t Pay Off," which includes some comments of mine. [5.23.09]

• Creating Images From Text • On the Famous Logos blog, Roberta Seldon showcases the Jeff Fisher LogoMotives logo in her piece on identity images created from letterforms. [5.21.09]

• Masters of Graphic Design and Illustration: 25+ Interviews • A great collection of wide-ranging designer and illustrator interview links compiled by Noupe.. [5.21.09]

• Business Card Design: Better Than A Plain Ol’ Business Card • Kat Neville, in writing for the Smashing Magazine site, features the Jeff Fisher LogoMotives toy train kit marketing piece. [5.20.09]

• Care And Feeding Of In-House Designers • After seeing a link posted on Twitter, HOW Magazine Senior Editor Megan Lane Patrick mentioned my article "The proper care and feeding of the in-house graphic designer" on the HOW Blog. [5.20.09]

• The Reflex Blue Show: Jeff Fisher Does the LOGO-MOTION • As only they can, Nate Voss and Donovan Beery - of 36 Point - introduce my appearance on The Reflex Blue Show. [5.14.09]

• 'Make it Big' by Blogging an interview with Jeff Fisher and Sheri L Koetting • My long-time pals at The Creative Group e-Zine interview me about making use of blogs as marketing, promotion and educational tool for my design and writing work. [5.12.09]

• 45 logos that utilize negative space effectively • Designer Antonea Nabors included my design for the City of Portland's Neighborhood Service Center in her VelvetAnt Design Blog entry displaying negative space usage in identity design. [5.07.09]

• 85+ of the Best Twitterers Designers Should Follow • On the blog Mashable: The Social Media Guide, contributor Cameron Chapman includes Jeff Fisher LogoMotives on the list of designers to follow on Twitter [5.04.09]

© 2009 Jeff Fisher LogoMotives

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

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

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

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

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

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

© 2009 Jeff Fisher LogoMotives

LogoMotives Design Tracks: Critters • Part 1

In organizing 30+ years of design work, I've noticed that many past logo design projects can be sorted by themes, such as colors, shapes, typographic treatments, style, or certain types of images. Future "LogoMotives Design Tracks" will focus on presenting the identity design projects of Jeff Fisher LogoMotives in a variety of categories.

Animal life has been the subject of a large number of my logo design efforts - back to my college days in the late 1970s. Below are some examples, presented as "Critters • Part 1."

A Rubber's Ducky
Client: Jeff Fisher LogoMotives
Location: Portland, OR USA

The duck's head being the shape of a condom with a reservoir-tip was a subtle "life preserver" message in this safe sex image. The logo appears in the books New Logo & Trademark Design (Japan), The New Big Book of Logos, LogoLounge - Volume 1, New Logo & Trademark Collection (Japan), and Logos from North to South America (Spain).

Read more about the A Rubber's Ducky logo

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

This logo, for a production of playwright Nicky Silver's dark comedy, 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).

For The Birds
Client: For The Birds
Location: Portland, OR USA

For The Birds was created for a friend who was planning on opening a bird house store. The logo is featured in the books New Logo & Trademark Design (Japan), Bullet-Proof Logos and The New Big Book of Logos.

Read more about the For The Birds logo.

Black Dog Furniture Design
Client: Black Dog Furniture Design
Location: Portland, OR USA

Brett Bigham, the designer of new furniture from recycled parts, had his own drawing of his dog incorporated into the logo for the business. The logo was honored with a 2002 American Graphic Design Award. It also is represented in the The New Big Book of Logos, Letterhead and Logo Design 7, Graphically Speaking, American Corporate Identity 18, Global Corporate Identity, the 2002 PRINT Regional Design Annual, Logo Design for Small Business 2, 100's Visual Logos and Letterheads and Graphis Logo 6.

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.

North Bank Cafe
Client: North Bank Cafe
Location: Portland, OR USA

The television show Northern Exposure meets a cross-dressing, winking moose in this restaurant identity. It appears in the books Logo Design for Small Business 2, 1000 Restaurant Bar & Cafe Graphics and 100's Visual Logos and Letterheads.

Note: Many of the books mentioned in this post may be found at the LogoMotives Design Depot Bookstore.

© 2009 Jeff Fisher LogoMotives

"Milton Glaser: To Inform & Delight" showings begin - and the Milton Glaser Works online store debuts

I often tell the story of how Milton Glaser is responsible for my career as a graphic designer. In 1974, as a high school senior, I saw a copy of his book Graphic Design in the Salem Public Library and it gave a name to the form of art I wanted to pursue as an avocation. It also provided proof that someone could make a living in such a profession and inspired me to become a designer.

A lot has happened in the 35 years since I first saw that book. I have been a professional designer for over 30 years and Milton Glaser still inspires many by continuing to work in his chosen profession. I've also had the opportunity to meet Glaser on a couple of occasions - the first as a bumbling idiot of a fan - and have also corresponded with him a few times.

A new documentary, Milton Glaser: To Inform & Delight, has been released, bringing the industry icon's story to the screen. Director Wendy Keys, formerly of the Film Society of Lincoln Center, celebrates the life, work and times of Glaser in the project being distributed by Arthouse Films.

In reviewing the film, Stephen Holden of The New York Times, writes:

“To Inform & Delight: The World of Milton Glaser” may leave you with the impression that the spirit of modern New York was conjured out of thin air by its subject, the celebrated graphic designer who is about to turn 80. It was Mr. Glaser who came up with the “I ♥ NY” logo in the 1970s when the city, then on the verge of bankruptcy, was widely perceived as a crime-infested danger zone. As the center of a campaign to revive New York, the logo helped reverse the decline and boost morale.

Mr. Glaser’s signature is everywhere: not just in logos but in magazines (he founded New York magazine with Clay Felker in 1968), on posters (his silhouette of Bob Dylan with psychedelic hair is one of his most famous) and in restaurants and supermarkets. The hallmarks of his work are its simplicity, wit and elegance; it may be commercial art, but with a capital A. One of his strategies, he says, is to appeal to the problem-solving part of the brain by creating simple visual puzzles.

Current scheduled showings around the country include:

New York City: Cinema Village, May 22nd • San Francisco: The Roxie, June 19th • Boston: MFA, July 2nd • Chicago: Gene Siskel Film Center, June 12th • Denver: Starz Film Center, June 12th • Tempe: AIGA/ASU - Neeb Hall, June 13th • Albuquerque: Guild Cinema June 27th and 28th • Las Vegas: AIGA June 18th • Tuscon: AIGA/UA School of Art Building, June 20th

Arthouse Films sent me two copies of the Milton Glaser: To Inform & Delight poster (above). Over the next two weeks, those following me on Twitter will be given to opportunity to answer a question about Glaser to win the posters.

In addition to the documentary news, this past week I received an email from Glaser's office, announcing the launch of Milton Glaser Works, a new commerce site featuring signed editions of books and other works including Milton Glaser’s posters, silkscreens and a new range of giclée prints, mostly portraits of musicians and artists. These giclée prints are signed, numbered, and embossed with an archival stamp for authenticity. (I've promised myself, that one of these days, I will purchase one of his Italian landscape silkscreen prints).

© 2009 Jeff Fisher LogoMotives

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.

Healthcare Communicators of Oregon Conferenceto host author/designer Jeff Fisher in Springfield

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

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

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

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

© Jeff Fisher LogoMotives

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

Blogging efforts of designer/author Jeff Fisher featured in The Creative Group 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.

© 2009 Jeff Fisher LogoMotives

Clowning Around: Toots Caboose at Train Day

"Toots Caboose" and the Amtrak Cascades Character Clown Corps made their first public appearance May 9th, at Portland's National Train Day festivities. The new clowns - led by Boss Clown Angel Ocasio - entertained children (and adults), handed out Train Day memorabilia, directed attendee traffic and more at the Union Station event. The spotlight at the event was shared with the "World's Most Famous Steam Locomotive" SP 4449 - the only surviving example of Southern Pacific Railroad's (SP) GS-4 class of steam locomotives. Thousands of people came out to enjoy the beautiful day and railroad-related activities. Check out the "Toots" Flickr gallery of photos

Having recently completed clown school, in preparation for upcoming Portland Rose Festival events, the character of "Toots Caboose" continues to evolve. Unable to find an over-sized bandana, I found a fabric with similar print and Ed made a giant one for me. Toots also needed a bit of a "caboose" so he now has a stuffed rear-end.

With Amtrak Cascades as the sponsor for the Character Clown Corps, the National Train Day event was a very appropriate debut for the troupe. Future public appearances include:

• Friday, May 22, 2009 • Portland Rose Festival • Opening of Waterfront Village & Busker's Parade • Waterfront Park • Portland • TBA: Late afternoon/early evening

• Wednesday, June 3, 2009 • Portland Rose Festival • Fred Meyer Junior Rose Festival Parade • Hollywood District • Portland

• Saturday, June 6, 2009 • Portland Rose Festival • Key Bank Grand Floral Parade • Memorial Coliseum • Downtown Portland

• Sunday, June 7, 2009 Portland Rose Festival • Waterfront Village closing festivities

My first name is "Toots" and my last name is "Caboose."

© 2009 Jeff Fisher LogoMotives

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:

CMYK Magazine Aspiring Creatives #45
(CMYK Magazine - USA)
Deadline Extended: 15 May 2009
Entry fees charged

CMYK Magazine Best of the Web
(CMYK Magazine - USA)
Deadline Extended: 15 May 2009
Entry fees charged

Annual Reports Annual 2010
(Graphis - USA)
Deadline Extended: 18 May 2009
Entry fees charged

New Talent Annual 2010
(Graphis - USA)
Deadline Extended: 18 May 2009
Entry fees charged

Package & Label Design
(zeixs - Germany)
Deadline: 31 May 2009
No entry fees

Pattern Design
(zeixs - Germany)
Deadline: 31 May 2009
No entry fees

Fashion Design
(zeixs - Germany)
Deadline: 31 May 2009
No entry fees

Product Design
(zeixs - Germany)
Deadline: 31 May 2009
No entry fees

Worldwide Graphic Design: Down Under
(zeixs - Germany)
Deadline: 31 May 2009
No entry fees

Worldwide Graphic Design: Asia
(zeixs - Germany)
Deadline: 31 May 2009
No entry fees

Communication Arts Design Competition
(Communication Arts - USA)
Deadline Extended: 8 June 2009
Entry fees charged

Communication Arts Advertising Competition
(Communication Arts - USA)
Deadline Extended: 8 June 2009
Entry fees charged

American Graphic Design Awards
(GDUSA - USA)
Deadline: 10 June 2009
Entry fees charged

Made in Spain: Poster
(Index Book - Spain)
Deadline: 15 June 2009
No entry fees

Graphic Recycling: Logos
(Rockport Publishers - USA)
Deadline Extended: 15 June 2009
No entry fees charged

Cause/Effect
(AIGA San Francisco - USA)
Deadline: 19 June 2009
Entry fees charged

Summit Marketing Effectiveness Award
(Summit Awards - USA)
Deadline: 24 June 2009
Entry fees charged

PRINT's Student Cover Competition
(PRINT Magazine - USA)
Deadline: 30 June 2009
Entry fees charged

London International Creative Competition
(LICC - UK/USA)
Deadline Extended: 31 May 2009
Entry fees charged

Wolda '09
(Eulda Books - Italy)
Deadline: 30 June 2009 (logos designed in 2008)
Deadline: 31 January 2010 (logos designed in 2009)
Entry fees charged

UCDA Design Competition
(UCDA - USA)
Deadline: 10 July 2009
Entry fees charged

HOW Interactive Design Awards
(HOW Magazine - USA)
Deadline: 15 July 2009
Entry fees charged

The New Big Book of Layouts
(Crescent Hill Books - USA)
Deadline: 8 August 2009
No entry fees charged

Creativity 39
(Creativity Annual Awards - USA)
Deadline: 15 August 2009
Entry fees charged

Book of the Year, Volume 2
(Design & Design - France)
Deadline: September 2009
No entry fees charged

HOW International Design Awards
(HOW Magazine - USA)
Deadline: 1 September 2009
Entry fees charged

The Best of Sports Marketing & Design
(Crescent Hill Books - USA)
Deadline: 1 October 2009
No entry fees charged

Communication Arts Interactive Competition
(Communication Arts - USA)
Deadline: 5 October 2009
Entry fees charged

The Best of Sin Design (Naughty Products. Great Advertising.)
(Crescent Hill Books - USA)
Deadline: 1 November 2009
No entry fees charged

Communication Arts Illustration Competition
(Communication Arts - USA)
Deadline: 11 January 2010
Entry fees charged

Communication Arts Photography Competition
(Communication Arts - USA)
Deadline: 29 March 2010
Entry fees charged

(To make sure you are reading 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. Lürzer's ARCHIVE also has an impressive online list of competitions sponsored by international magazines and organizations. Dexinger posts 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!

© 2009 Jeff Fisher LogoMotives