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

The newly released book iheartlogos season three features two logo designs by 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 391 logos created by 121 designers from 20 countries around the world.

The Jeff Fisher LogoMotives designs showcased (above) are the logo for the North Portland Business Association (representing businesses in the designer's own neighborhood) and the safe sex self-promotion design for A Rubber's Ducky.

The identity re-design for the North Portland Business Association took the industrial history of the area, prominent landmarks and the familiar local blue heron into consideration as design elements. The symbol also appears in the books Logos From North to South America (Spain) and the Big Book of Logos 5.

A duck's head doubling as the shape of a condom, with a reservoir-tip, was a subtle "life preserver" message in the A Rubber's Ducky 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).

Logo images 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. Season four of the iheartlogos competition is currently accepting logo entries.

Fisher, a 35 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. 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.)

© 2012 Jeff Fisher LogoMotives

Toot! Toot!*: 'iheartlogos' second volume gives logo love to Jeff Fisher LogoMotives identity design

The newly released book iheartlogos season two includes the work of 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 450 logos created by 170 designers from 31 countries around the world.

The Jeff Fisher LogoMotives design included (above) is a pro-bono effort for the Historic Kenton Firehouse Committee, representing the group maintaining and operating the landmark community space in the designer's own North Portland neighborhood. The identity was also 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).

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 three of the iheartlogos competition is currently underway.

Fisher, a 35 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. 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.)

© 2012 Jeff Fisher LogoMotives

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

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)

© 2011 Jeff Fisher LogoMotives

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

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.

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. 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. 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.)

© 2011 Jeff Fisher LogoMotives

Two new logo sites provide competition, inspiration and opportunities for designers to be published

Logo designers from around the world currently have the ability to post their design efforts on a wide variety of portfolio and gallery sites. Some simply provide opportunities to share identity designs as inspiration. Others offer a format allowing site visitors to vote on and critique uploaded logos. A site such as the successful membership-based LogoLounge provides interviews, news, articles and results in "winning" designs being published in books.

With new year comes the introduction of two new logos sites offering competition, inspiration and opportunities to possibly be published:

• Logo Nest

According to the site:

Logo Nest is a place dedicated to creative designers, both professionals and amateurs, where you can share and compare your creative work. Publishing on this web site is free, and it includes no payment of any kind. Every day, every month and every year, we declare the best logo design, and all logos published on this site will be published in a book Logo Nest 01 at the end of the 2010!

Obviously, one of the advantages for any designer is the fact no submission fees are charged for this Australia-based site. There is no indication of the identity of the competition's "professional and competent judges," who are making initial selections and naming monthly winners. However, in early 2011, designers and site visitors do get the final say in voting for the annual design winner. The site also offers a blog of logo-related entries - and the latest news can be learned by following Logo Nest on Twitter.

• iheartlogos

The iheartlogos home page states:

This is a design competition – the only one of its kind. You are the judge here. So is everyone else. When you submit a logo, you let the entire design community decide its fate. In return, you get the right to judge everyone else’s work.

That means when the ever-so-coveted book of winners is published, the winning logos will have been selected by the entire design world. Not some "famous" judge. The award for winning this logo design competition is paid in the highest form of currency – respect.

Site registration is required to view and vote on logo designs at iheartlogos.com. There is a $10 fee for each logo submission. A blog of logo design articles, and other features to come, rounds out the site. Twitter is also being used to share information from @iheartlologs. (In the interest of full disclosure, I should mention that I did participate in the beta testing for iheartlogos.com)

Design competitions can be great ego and career boosters. The international presence of online galleries, being published in design books, and the publicity opportunities from winning results are great additions to a designer's marketing and promotion efforts. My own use of competitions, and the author/publisher relationships established in the process, has resulted in my work being featured in over 130 books. Logo Nest and iheartlogos are both included in the list of design competitions and book submission requests posted regularly on bLog-oMotives.

© 2010 Jeff Fisher LogoMotives