Resource links from HOW Magazine DesignCast 'How to Survive as a Freelance Designer'

Thanks to all who participated in my HOW Magazine live DesignCast "How to Survive as a Freelance Designer." During my hour-long presentation I mentioned a number of additional resources. As promised, I'm posting links to those sites, blog entries and books:

• Resource 1: Make use of online portfolios as promotion tool

• Resource 2: Network outside of design - Biznik; StartupNation

• Resource 3: HOW article on social networking for self-promo purposes

• Resource 4: Side-bar from HOW social networking article

• Resource 5: BoDo (Business of Design online)

• Resource 6: Design book submissions and competitions

• Resource 7: Example of a self-created marketing/media kit

• Resource 8: Examples of my "Toot! Toot!" press releases

• Resource 9: The Design Entrepreneur by Steven Heller

• Resource 10: Savvy Designer's Guide to Success by Jeff Fisher

• Resource 11: Designers Guide to Marketing & Pricing by Ilise Benun and Peleg Top

• Resource 12: Designer's Guide to Business & Careers by Peg Faimon

• Resource 13: Breaking Into Freelance Illustrations by Holly DeWolf

• Resource 14: Customizable contract/project agreement example

• Resource 15: Design entrepreneur - Von Glitschka

• Resource 16: Design entrepreneur - Patricia Zapata

• Resource 17: Design entrepreneur - Cameron Moll

• Resource 18: Mentioned by HOW editor Bryn Mooth - FreelanceSwitch.com

My next HOW DesignCast, "Using Social Media as a (Free!) Marketing Tool," is scheduled for February 18, 2010. Watch for additional information at the HOW website.

© 2009 Jeff Fisher Logomotives

Logodotes: North Bank Cafe

[Over the 30+ years I've worked professionally as a designer, interesting side stories have come up about my identity designs. This is the third in an ongoing series of "Logodotes" - anecdotes about my logo designs.]

This past summer, I was very sad to learn of the passing of one of my favorite, and most fun, clients. Cecilia Murphy was one-of-a-kind and a Portland institution. It made me smile when, in doing one of the newspaper's "Life Story" features, The Oregonian began the article with "Cecilia Murphy lived by the unofficial motto "'more is more.' Less was not for her."

In that same newspaper article was the minor mention "She had a short-lived coffee shop." That's how I met the vibrant force known as Cecilia Murphy.

In late 2003, Murphy contacted me to assist in helping brand her latest venture - a coffee house and cafe in the St. Johns neighborhood of North Portland. She conveyed a desire to have the business project an image of the television show Northern Exposure meeting North Portland. Some Victorian elements were to be mixed with comfortable over-stuffed furniture and a few rustic Northwest touches - including vintage mounted heads of hunted wildlife.

Her eyes twinkled as she suggested that the cafe identity might included the image of a winking moose, with long eye-lashes and a "big rack." I knew that Murphy meant antlers in this case, but her smile told me she knew exactly what she had said. Throughout our conversation the moose was referred to as "she."

After thinking about the input for a moment, I told my client that I didn't think a female moose would have antlers. Murphy quickly replied, "Well, I guess we'll have a cross-dressing moose."

I appreciated the opportunity to be totally playful with the North Bank Cafe logo project. The moose image quickly developed as a fairly cartoon-ish creature. I researched moose hoof prints, to be used as bullets in the design, and had fun playing with type possibilities, prior to settling on Horndon as my favorite primary font for my initial design concept. Still, second-guessing myself, I was a bit unsure about having possibly taken the beast too far. I included one more conservative concept in the rough designs I presented (above left).

As is the case in 85-90% of my identity design projects, the client was immediately drawn to my very first concept. With a little fine-tuning it became the final logo for the North Bank Cafe (above right).

The North Bank Cafe was short-lived. Unfortunately, Cecilia Murphy is also no longer with us. I am happy that the cross-dressing moose of the logo does live on. It appears in the books Logo Design for Small Business 2, 1000 Restaurant Bar & Cafe Graphics (and its recently-released paperback mini edition) and 100's Visual Logos and Letterheads.

© 2009 Jeff Fisher LogoMotives

Recently released paperback design book editions highlight work by Jeff Fisher LogoMotives

Four recent paperback edition releases, of previously successful design books, feature projects created by Jeff Fisher, the Engineer of Creative Identity for the Portland-based firm Jeff Fisher LogoMotives.

Rockport Publishers is offering the paperback mini version of 1000 Retail Graphics: From Signage to Logos and Everything In-Store, from firm JGA. Fisher's logo for the Portland retail institution W.C. Winks Hardware is included in the book.

The paperback version of Big Book of Business Cards has been released by Collins Design. The volume, by David E. Carter, showcases business card designs by Jeff Fisher for the hair and nail salon Slick, Pearl Real Estate and Jeff Fisher LogoMotives.

Luke Herriott's book 1000 Restaurant, Bar, and Cafe Graphics: From Signage to Logos and Everything In Between, another Rockport Publishers selection, displays Jeff Fisher LogoMotives identity designs for Glo's Broiler, Balboosta, La Patisserie and the North Bank Cafe. This paperback mini edition also takes a look at the menu package created by the designer for Indies Restaurant & Bar.

A full-page magazine ad for the Portland business VanderVeer Center is given exposure in the paperback version of The Big Book of Layouts; also by David E. Carter.

The design industry efforts of Jeff Fisher are highlighted in over 130 books from publishers around the world. A complete list may be found on the Jeff Fisher LogoMotives blogfolio.

© 2009 Jeff Fisher LogoMotives.

Jeff Fisher products on sale at MyDesignShop

Through Thursday, November 19, 2009, all products by designer and author Jeff Fisher - the Engineer of Creative Identity for the Portland-based firm Jeff Fisher LogoMotives - will be on sale for an additional 10% off the posted prices at MyDesignShop.com. Shop Jeff Fisher products below and use offer code HOWWB129 at the checkout to receive your savings!

The 10% discount applies to the following products:

• "How to Survive as a Freelance Designer" Live DesignCast Registration The one-hour session is sponsored by HOW Magazine on November 19, 2009 at 4:00 p.m. ET/1:00 p.m. PT. The already discounted fee of $39 will be $35.10 with the 10% off sale.

• The book Identity Crisis! 100 Redesigns That Transformed Stale Identities into Successful Brands

• The book The Savvy Designer's Guide to Success: Ideas and tactics for a killer career as a PDF on CD

• Planning, Packaging and Promoting Yourself as a Product - On Demand Webcast

© 2009 Jeff Fisher LogoMotives

Toot! Toot!*: Expert Jeff Fisher presents live HOW DesignCast - 'How to Survive as a Freelance Designer'

Jeff Fisher, the Engineer of Creative Identity for the Portland-based Jeff Fisher LogoMotives, will present the live DesignCast "How to Survive as a Freelance Designer" on November 19, 2009 at 4:00 p.m. ET/1:00 p.m. PT. The one-hour session is sponsored by HOW Magazine and the current discounted fee is $39. Those interested in participating may register through the MyDesignShop.com website.

Living—and loving—life as a creative solopreneur is an act of balance: Not enough work and you're in panic mode; too much and you're working 24/7. Take advantage of your freedom and you're not accessible to clients; chain yourself to your desk and you're a slave to them.

With that in mind, logo-design guru Jeff Fisher will share a collection of tips gleaned from his 30-year career as an agency of one.

You will learn about:

• Positioning as a means of commanding respect among clients and potential clients

• Marketing as a way of life, not just a task on your to-do list

• Working effectively from wherever you happen to be—at the neighborhood coffee shop, the beach, a villa in Italy...

Subscribers will have access to the archived version of this DesignCast for one year. In addition, as a bonus, participants will receive a free digital download of the HOW Magazine October 2009 Self-Promotion Issue with the purchase of the DesignCast.

Jeff Fisher, author of Identity Crisis!: 50 redesigns that transformed stale identities into successful brands (HOW Books, 2007), is a 30-year design veteran. He has been honored with over 600 regional, national and international design awards and is featured in over 130 books about logos, the design business, and small business marketing. The industry publication Graphic Design USA named Fisher one of its "People to Watch in 2009." His first book, The Savvy Designer's Guide to Success was released in 2004 and has been reissued as a PDF on CD from MyDesignShop.com. Fisher is currently writing a new volume, with the working title of LogoType, on the topic of typography in identity design.

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

Note: Through 11.19.09, use the code HOWWB129 at the MyDesignShop.com checkout to receive an additional 10% savings on the "How to Survive as a Freelance Designer" DesignCast, the book Identity Crisis!, the The Savvy Designer's Guide to Success, and the on demand DesignCast "Planning, Packaging and Promoting Yourself as a Product."

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

© 2009 Jeff Fisher LogoMotives

Swirling around the home and garden

When making presentations - or sending one of my marketing packets - to potential clients, I often end up having conversations about the swirl paper clips I've used to fasten a few pages together. Rather than discussing my design work, the immediate topic may be my Clipiola Italian paper clips from Cavallini Papers & Co.

Twitter and Facebook mentions of this phenomenon led to a renewed realization of how much swirl imagery plays a role in our lives. For some time I had been documenting the swirls around our home and garden. I've shared the images in a Flickr gallery.

© 2009 Jeff Fisher LogoMotives

Identity design by Jeff Fisher LogoMotivesincluded in new 'Retro Style Graphics' book

A logo design by Jeff Fisher, the Engineer of Creative Identity for the Portland-based firm Jeff Fisher Logomotives, is featured in the recently released book Retro Style Graphics. Written by designer and blogger Grant Friedman, the volume was published by Angela Patchell Books.

Fisher's logo design for the North Portland business Coyner's Auto Body (above) is showcased as an inspiration example in Retro Style Graphics. Coyner’s had been in business for 30 years without an identity. A long history in the business of passenger and race car repair conjured up an image of the nameplates, with connecting letterforms, on automobiles from the 1950’s through 1970’s. The House Industries font Bullet was the solution to creating a "retro" look in the design. The Coyner's logo also appears in the Spanish book Logos from North to South America.

The term "retro" is often used to describe trends in fashion, design, or architecture. It typically describes any item that was inspired by something from the past. Retro Style Graphics looks to the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s for inspiration and contains all of the elements a modern designer would need to create graphics in the retro style. The book is a style guide that also includes a comprehensive collection of graphics, textures, patterns, fonts, colors, Illustrator/Photoshop brushes, and a design gallery for inspiration.

"This book has it all," said author Grant Friedman, "I wanted to write a book that gives designers all the tools that they would need to produce graphics in the retro style. As a designer, I understand how much time it can take to research ideas, produce, and then implement a design in a particular style. For this book, I wanted to produce resources that would save my readers time while also ensuring that my readers could maintain full creative control over their projects."

Many in the the international design community, especially online, know author Friedman as the founder of the Colorburned.com, a popular destination for design resources, inspiration and information.

Photos courtesy of author Grant Friedman.

© 2009 Jeff Fisher Logomotives