Hi, I'm Jeff - and I'm addicted to collecting

(All together now: Hi Jeff!)

Over the years I have created collections of a variety of items including design books, advertising characters, salt and pepper shakers, cookie jars, character teapots, advertising signage, cowboy collectibles, art, fish-related items and more. Supposedly a moratorium has been placed on my "stuff gathering" activities, but I am still able to occasionally sneak an item into the house unnoticed until a much later date. Thankfully, friends are always happy to contribute to my habit and then I can't be blamed for the new additions.

Not long ago I realized that I don't have an archive of the sometimes very valuable items and, if for no other reason, I should have complete record for insurance purposes. The process of recording my collections began with starting to catalog the 300+ design books I have acquired since my high school senior year of 1974 - and that is still continuing. The ongoing spring cleaning of my home studio has required carefully dusting or cleaning many of my collectible items. While fresh and shiny, the inanimate objects have been pleased to pose (and many of them do look like they are posing) for my camera.

I'm never completely alone while working in my design studio. About 20 years ago I started collecting advertising character figures - beginning with Bob's Big Boy items. I've found items such as Snap, Crackle and Pop, Tony the Tiger, Sprout, Mr. Bubble,, Bibendum (The Michelin Man), Fred Fossil and many others in antique shops, at garage sales and flea markets, and on eBay. At one point my collecting got so out of control I was on a first name basis with the UPS man who was delivering my online purchases. The amassing of advertising characters came to a crawl when I ran out of room in my office. I think I have over 200 of the little figures. I'll eventually find out the size of collection as I continue the cleaning and mug shots.

Rather than just hoarding items for one's personal pleasure, I do think collections should be shared with others. Online sites such as Flickr and Facebook have provided me an opportunity to initially share small portions of the results of my habit. At this point 60 of my advertising characters and 28 sets of advertising-related salt and pepper shakers are getting a little public exposure. I've also started another advertising character album.

One of the interesting aspects of collecting is getting to learn the stories behind the collectible items. Many others share the collecting "bug' and have written about a wide variety of items gathering dust in people's homes and places of work. My collection of advertising characters has provided a great education about the company histories of the businesses and products represented, through books such as Meet Mr. Product, What a Character!, Advertising Character Collectibles and others. If you are collecting something, you can be sure that someone has written a book on the item.

As my cleaning, and archiving, frenzy continues I will post links to future galleries of collectible images. Have fun collecting out there!

(Images: Top - Mr. Bubble, 1990; Center - Millie & Willie, Kool Cigarettes, 1950's; Bottom: Nugget Sam, The Nugget Casino - Carson City, NV, 1950's)

© 2007 Jeff Fisher LogoMotives

An artsy message for door-to-door salespeople

I detest door-to-door salespeople. Well, not necessarily the people themselves. Not all of them. In fact, I kind of feel sorry for these individuals facing greater rejection than a graphic designer trying to get more than their foot in the door at a design firm in a major metropolitan area. What a horrible job. Still, for me, such an interruption at my front door is an invasion of my very private personal space.

No, I will not put vinyl windows on the 1929 Portland bungalow my partner and I are constantly improving. The same goes for vinyl siding. If you would just look around, you might notice that I don't have a lawn than needs any maintenance. I will not be allowing someone in my home to do an "inventory" of our existing security system to determine if their product is better. I don't want to talk politics on my front porch with anyone. I will not be buying steaks out of the back of a pickup truck.

If God, or Jesus, showed up to talk religion at my doorstep I would be interested in a discussion. However, those "selling" religion door-to-door annoy the hell out of me - especially when the church they are representing is somewhat vocal in opinions about my "lifestyle." I'll admit, I do get a bit of pleasure in seeing the looks on the faces of such proselytizers when I tell them, "I'm sorry; my husband and I wouldn't be interested." Funny, they seldom return to our house. We must get crossed of the great master list somewhere.

I do not make contributions to representatives of any nonprofits who come knocking on my door. I have my personal causes and they get more than enough of my time, energy and money. I'm certainly not handing over any money to someone at my door for a cause I know nothing about. The "representative" of a major environmental organization once came a-knockin' at our door. He immediately launched into his spiel. I had to interrupt his well-practiced performance twice to tell him I wasn't interested. He looked at me with shock and asked, "You mean you don't care about the environment?"

OK, that was enough. I was already annoyed - now I was also pissed off. I literally shut the door in his face, walked to my PowerBook to look up the cause and I reported the twit to the national organization. The next day I got a very nice email apologizing for their former representative's behavior.

Neighborhood kids are a different story - these are small people we actually know - selling candy, wrapping paper, magazine subscriptions, sponsorships for walks and runs, and more. Their art, sports and field trip programs actually need and deserve our support. I'm sure every parent on the street has trained their kids to always hit up Jeff and Ed first.

Every since we moved from the "salesperson barricade' of a secure downtown loft building I have looked for a decent "No Solicitors" sign to hang next to our door. Most were not created by graphic designers - and certainly not for the personal taste of a graphic designer looking to purchase such a product.

I've considered creating one of my own, in some tasteful typeface - certainly something other than Comic Sans or Papyrus - on a frosted glass panel; framed in copper or a rusted patina metal. Right, like I've had the time recently to design and create such a thing.

Thursday night we were at the home of our friends Shawn Jones and Greg Coyle (and their daughter Lily - there might be hell to pay if I didn't mention her!) for their weekly Thursday evening poolside "happy hour." Shawn informed me that while on a recent road trip to California they had discovered my "placeholder" birthday gift. (My "real" birthday gift, recognizing my May birthdate, has yet to be presented - among our friends we have something like a year to get such things accomplished.) Knowing my feelings about all I've ranted about in this blog entry, they found a rusted, artistic, wrought iron "Go Away" sign (photo above) for me at a store in Red Bluff, CA. It even has swirls on it - a design element that reoccurs in much of our garden art and home decor.

I love it! Now I need to figure out how to mount it to the outside of the house so someone doesn't steal the thing. Then we'll see how it works in making life a bit more peaceful at our aubergine front door.

© 2007 Jeff Fisher LogoMotives

A "toot-o-rrific" gift...

I'm a collector. To the point that my partner Ed tells me I'm not allowed to buy "things" any longer. Still, my collections are such that, once in a while, I find something I "must" have and I can sneak it into our home decor without him even noticing. To say that our home decorating style is eclectic is an understatement. Once, after a stint at housesitting while we were in Italy, my mother referred to our home as "sensory overload."

I collect cowboy memorabilia, primarily advertising related salt & pepper shakers and cookie jars, specialty tea pots and books (and more books - especially design books!). I have a collection of metal advertising signs and a couple hundred advertising character collectibles. Having over 600 rocking horse Christmas tree ornaments has led to other rocking horse items appearing in our home. We've also got a collection of art pieces from our trips around the world - and works created by, or given to us, by friends. Friends,family, clients and design industry pals have always been very helpful in contributing to my collectible addictions.

And then there are toy trains. I've always been fascinated by trains. That's one reason why LogoMotives has always been such an appropriate name for my business.

About a month ago I had an appointment with my chiropractor, known to our friends as Dr. Pain, in Portland's Pearl District. I parked my truck about half a block from his office, stepped over to the sidewalk and stopped in my tracks (so to speak). There, in the window of an antique shop called The Cultured Pearl was an incredible toy locomotive, with coal tender, sitting on a white bench as the store's window display. To me it was stunning. With about one minute until my appointment, I had to jolt myself out of my window-shopping stupor to get to Dr. Pain's office.

Returning to my truck, after my adjustment, I found my fascination with the two-foot long toy train had not diminished. I peeked at the price tag and knew immediately that there was no way I could justify such a frivilous impulse purchase. When I got home I gave Ed a call, told him what I'd seen and said I wished I had been able to just buy the thing without even thinking about it.

A couple weeks later I drove by the antique shop again. The white bench was still in the window. The train was gone. Oh, well...

Yesterday was one of Ed's family's combined birthday/holiday celebrations. We were celebrating Ed's birthday last month, his sister's birthday this next week, my birthday the following week, and Mother's Day. It is tradition to open the gifts in the order of the event - so, my cards and gift were the last to be presented. A large gift bag, filled with colorful shredded paper was in front of me. I know now that I should have suspected what was in the bag - but I'm usually oblivious about such things. I lifted off the top layer of the packaging paper and uncovered the black steel coal tender of "my" train. I really was stunned. Ed explained that he, his parents, his grandparents, his sister and her husband (plus his kids), and several other friends had all combined resources to get me the locomotive as my birthday gift. In fact, he'd gone to the store the first day I'd seen the thing in the window and purchased it. The owner of the shop had explained the train was an American-made piece that he had then found on a buying trip to Prague.

I'm still stunned - and amazed - today. Thank you so much Ed, Lily, Raymond, Neva, Harold, Tammy, Rich, Ricky, Maddy, Lisa, Bev, Mary, and Kate. It's an incredible gift and I break into a big smile each time I take a look at my new toy.

© 2007 Jeff Fisher LogoMotives

Gastronomical orgasms in a pretty purple gift box

I was very flattered when I got an email from a design industry peer (you know who you are!) thanking me for my mentions and support of their design firm over the past year. I was even more surprised to read that a gift of appreciation was on its way - and that "for optimal flavor, the items should be consumed by the suggested date."

OK, now I was really curious. I anxiously awaited the "clank" of the lid of my mailbox each day. When the package arrived I opened it to a beautiful little purple folded envelope containing an even more stunning tiny purple and white self-promo piece. That envelope was sitting upon a gorgeous purple box, wrapped with a purple satin ribbon, and on top the box were the words "Vosges Haut-Chocolat." (The entire presentation was fan-frickin'-tastic!)

I honestly think I started to salivate - or perhaps I was foaming at the mouth.

I'd been told all about Vosges chocolates when in Chicago for the 2005 HOW Design Conference - and previously read some of founder Katrina Markoff's great press. However, with my crazed schedule I didn't have the time visit the Michigan Avenue boutique.

The chocolates were truly multiple orgasms in a purple gift box. I received an Exotic Truffle Collection box of amazing variety. My gift included the delectible Naga (sweet Indian curry powder, coconut and milk chocolate), Black Pearl (ginger, wasabi, dark chocolate and black sesame seeds), Absinthe (Chinese star anise, fennel, pastis, dark chocolate and cocoa powder), Ambrosia (macadamia nuts, Cointreau and white chocolate), Chef Pascal (kirsch, dark chocolate and dried Michigan cherry), Gianduia (crunchy hazelnut praline, milk chocolate and praline bits), Wink of the Rabbit (caramel milk chocolate and organic New Mexican pecan), Woolloomooloo (Australian macadamia nut,coconut and milk chocolate), and Budapest (sweet Hungarian paprika and dark chocolate). I'm drooling on my keyboard just remembering the unbelievable sensations and flavors.

I must compliment Vosges Haut-Chocolat, and their designer(s), for the beautiful packaging and company literature contained within. Additional thanks go out to the design professional who sent me the wonderful gift. It was enjoyed with many "oohs," "aahs" and assorted moans while following the "see," "lick," "snap" and "taste" instructions from the "How to eat a truffle" booklet.

I think I will follow the advice from the Vosges Haut-Chocolat website and my New year's resolution will be to "Eat Chocolate" - much more chocolate - in 2007.

© 2007 Jeff Fisher LogoMotives

Yazi - a great (and beautiful) holiday gift

Last weekend my partner Ed and I went to a great holiday party at the home of some friends in the small mountain community of Brightwood. A fresh, light coating of snow made the location perfect for a festive evening. One guest brought the party-givers a "hostess gift" of a bottle of Yazi - a ginger flavored vodka.

The beautiful packaging immediately caught my attention as many of the party guests "oohed" and "aahed" when the bottle was removed from the gift bag. It was passed around the room to numerous comments about the "gorgeous" and "exotic" design. The vodka is contained in an imported French bottle with rich red side panels, a shiny red neck wrap and a gorgeous dragon etching. To be honest, when what resembles an oversized perfume bottle got to me, I was surprised to see that Yazi is a product of Hood River Distillers, in Hood River, OR - located about an hour from my home studio. (I've always gotten a chuckle out of the fact the distiller is located across the street from the city's sewage treatment plant.)

Everyone at the party then wanted to taste the product. Small liqueur glasses were brought out and the "oohs" and "aahs" started up again as we all began sipping the beverage. The stuff was really good. Along with orange, lemon, cayenne and red pepper extracts, the natural ginger flavoring gives Yazi a sensual and slightly spicy taste. I wasn't surprised at all to later learn that Yazi had received a "Very Good" (85-89 points) from Wine Enthusiast Magazine.

It was interesting to read, at a variety of online resources, that Yazi was created with the female market in mind. From initial visual impressions it would appear that it was also produced for a target market of designers, and those who appreciate good design. Portland, Oregon-based Leopold Ketel & Partners created the elegant package. The design received a Gold Medal in the packaging category at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition in 2006.

I'm looking forward to trying Yazi in some mixed cocktails. Hood River Distillers has several recipes for Yazi drinks on their website.

I do think Yazi would be a great last-minute holiday gift - or the perfect "hostess gift" as you celebrate the season in the next week or so.

© 2006 Jeff Fisher LogoMotives

Yikes! Suggestions for stressed out shoppers

The holidays are here! Last year many bLog-oMotives readers were thrilled when I posted my list of favorite places to shop - online and in person - for holiday gifts (and shopping year round!). I'll admit that I sometimes just slobber on my computer monitor while ogling some great products from some of the retailers. I've added some new suggestions this year:

Archie McPhee - Seattle WA • auto - New York NY • BabyStyle.com • Bad Byron's Butt Rub - Santa Rosa Beach FL • Bay View Farm Coffees - Kona HI • Blue Raccoon - New Hope PA • Cafe Du Monde - New Orleans LA • CD Baby - Portland, OR • Chef's Catalog • Chocolate Flower Farm - Langley WA • Chronicle Books - San Francisco CA • Clos du Val Wine Company - Napa CA • Coffee, Tea & Spice - Talihina OK • Cork - A bottle shop - Portland OR • Cornucopia - Napa CA • Cry Baby Ranch • Despair, Inc. • Desperado - Portland, OR • Dippy Chick Company - Kingston NH eCookbooks.com - Newton Highlands MA • Eleni's Cookies - Long Island NY • Erath Vineyards - Dundee OR • Elephant Dung Paper • Fireworks - Seattle WA • Fitzsu.com • Flax Art & Design - San Francisco, CA • Garnet Hill • Geribi Ceramics - Deruta, Italy • Hip CHICKS do Wine - Portland OR • In Good Taste - Portland OR • Inky Lips Press • J Peterman Company - Lexington KY • J.K. Carriere Wines - Newberg OR • Jacqui Naylor - San Francisco, CA • Joy Creek Nursery - Scappoose OR • Kenspeckle Letterpress - Duluth MN • Keyboard-Characters - Salem OR • Laughing Elephant - Seattle WA • Lime Green • Patina - Minneapolis MN • Peter Miller Books - Seattle WA • Mitchell Larsen Studio - Christiansted, St. Croix • Mobile State of Grace, Inc. • MoMAstore - New York NY • Moonstruck Fine Chocolate - Portland, OR • Moss • MXYPLYZYK - New York NY • New Dimension Seed - Scappoose OR • New Seasons Markets (great gift sections!) - Portland, OR • Oakville Grocery - Oakville CA • Oblation Papers & Press - Portland OR • Office - Portland OR • Powell's Books - Portland OR • Raindogs - Yachats OR • Rogue Creamery - Central Point OR • Ravenna Gardens - Seattle WA • Red Envelope • Rejuvenation - Portland, OR • SFMOMA MuseumStore - San Francisco CA • The Spoon Sisters - New York NY • Square Deal Wine Company - Portland, OR • Stonewall Kitchens - York ME • Sundance - Sundance UT • Sur La Table - Seattle WA • Ten Thousand Villages • Territory Ahead • The Conran Shop • The Hard-To-Find Grocer • The Monkey & The Rat - Portland OR • The Museum Shop of The Art Institute - Chicago IL • Twig and Fig - Berkeley CA • Uncommon Goods • Wipe Your Tush With Bush - Portland OR

Happy shopping!

© 2006 Jeff Fisher LogoMotives

It's Holiday Sale time at Chronicle Books

One of my favorite book publishing (and retail) companies is Chronicle Books. Right now, through December 10th, the company is having their 40% Off Holiday Sale. It's a great time to do some holiday gift shopping - or purchase some additions to your own library.

Chronicle has a wide selection of books, on a variety of topics, on their website. I always enjoy checking out the graphic design and art/design reference selections. In addition, whenever I'm in San Francisco I visit the Metreon store and slobber all over the books available.

Hmmm...one day I'd love to do a book for Chronicle Books myself...

© 2006 Jeff Fisher LogoMotives

Southwest designers have it all wrapped up

The other day I got an email from cyber-friend Kim Buchheit, of Buchheit Creative Services and Creative Refuge. She wanted to make me aware that she and three other Arizona designers were recently honored in a wrapping paper design contest sponsored by Southwest Graphics. Kim's winning design is the featured illustration in this bLog-oMotives entry. Her design, and those of Julie Jones (Studio Street Graphics), Jen Saunders (Jen Saunders Design) and John West (AAA Arizona), are all available for sale on the Southwest Graphics website. The four selected designs will also be featured in the November/December 2006 issue of Southwest Graphics magazine.

All proceeds will benefit the Phoenix-based UMOM New Day Centers, a nonprofit organization that provides homeless and low-income families with food, shelter and tools to build a bridge to self-sufficiency.

Ironwood Lithographers generously donated printing of the winning wrapping paper designs.

Designing wrapping paper, notecards or other marketable items for your favorite nonprofit cause would be a great way for any designer to do some good in their local community, help an organization raise some needed funds, and get some excellent design exposure as well. Those "warm and fuzzy" feelings from doing something for someone else are also a great bonus.

Congratulations Kim, Julie, Jen and John - and thanks to Kim for bringing this particular worthy cause to my attention.

© 2006 Jeff Fisher LogoMotives