Fiskum Law Office Website

When I moved my office to the Carlson 601 tower, I made friends quickly with Dan Fiskum. He's a divorce lawyer. Now don't get the wrong idea. (: Dan and I shared a joy for strategic branding and lunches downstairs in the cafeteria.

Early on, Dan asked me to help him with his website. Not wanting to spend much time with it, I created a nice site that was visually appealing and easy to navigate... and it nearly ruined his business!

Apparently much of his client base finds him through Google searches. He advertises through Google and his new site was not even remotely Google friendly. Upon learning this we went back to the drawing board and put some real time into rethinking not only his site design but more importantly, his brand and marketing strategy. It was a fascinating journey charting a new course for his business. When we were ready, we moved forward with the new site design with the help of a Google optimization expert. I can't say enough how valuable it is to build on sound research and strategy. It was even surprising to me to see how quickly Dan's business has moved forward in the direction he wanted because of the time spent on brand strengthening and strategy.

Below is the design I delivered for the home page. The final execution at www.FiskumLaw.com is not what I had hoped for from the web programmer, but that's another story all together. (:

Martyrs Masthead

I've been out of Christian comic publishing for a while now, but when Ken Raney of ClashEntertainment.com came a calling, I picked up the phone... mostly because he was a paying customer (not very common in Christian comics).

Ken needed a masthead for a 4-issue series on Christian martyrs down through the ages. I created the mark shown below at the top, which was turned down for a more logotype treatment. I then offered the versions below that. Even so, the powers-that-be at Clash wanted a strict type treatment with no embellishments to fit their other series. Not all projects work out the way we hope for, but I was encouraged to work with Clash. Please visit their website and check out their new ventures.

Treasure Map

Beth Louma of BI needed an illustration of a treasure map for her client's internal sales incentive program. I created the image below which the client loved. The final file was for a 4' x 6' poster. My poor G5 delivered the huge layered file, but it didn't like it. (:

Lack of Posts

Please forgive me for not posting since last December. No, I haven't gone off the grid. Thankfully, I've been very busy which in this economy is a honest-to-goodness miracle.

Over Christmas and the new year, I had some time off to think over my business. Globalization and technology has changed the design business. The recession hasn't helped either and the world as I've known it over the last 20+ years has changed for good. If anyone is still hoping that business will return to "business as usual" is in denial.

Logos can now be acquired on the internet for $200 and less. I actually think this service is a good thing. Many clients need a nice-looking $200 logo that will get them to market quickly and economically. These clients are not my clients but none the less, I can see the writing on the wall. Some design is now a commodity. To be relevant in this new economy we need to add value beyond execution... we need to innovate.

So, I'm making big changes to my business and will share some news on that when some details are finalized. Until then, thanks for your patience and I'll be posting some images later today.

ArmorQuest Free On-line

I was recently reminded that the ArmorQuest graphic novels I created with writer Ben Avery, editor Bud Rogers and colorist Brian Miller, are free to view online at http://urcomic.com

The site cut up the art to fit better on a horizontal format so it looks different than the print version. But for those of you who liked the first ArmorQuest colored graphic novel and would like to see the unpublished volumes II and III... take a look. Did I mention it was free?

Merry Christmas 2009!

Vino with Veterans Blizzard

The first Vino with Veterans event met with the first winter storm of the year. 20 hardy souls met at Spill the Wine for a few hours of lively conversation, beverages and snacks. I personally had a great time and hope the weather will be a little more kind to us for the next event
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