Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

I just want to acknowledge SuN member Christina.  A design project from her firm - the redesign of a retail website - will be one of 50 case studies featured in my upcoming book Identity Crisis!  I`m just sending off the final manuscript today and the book will be released in October.  I would have never known to extend an invitation to submit work to Christina`s firm had we not "met" here on SuN.

- J.




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Jeff Fisher | Jeff Fisher LogoMotives | Tweet! Tweet!

Congrats to Christina, both for her nod in the book and for the redesign!

Jeff - I think you should link to the project as well!

Wait....the book says it`s about 100 redesigns. What about the other 50, after the case studies? ;-)

I remember Christina, and think it`s very cool what you`re doing.

Congrats on the book.

Note on the cover: Yuck. Is that the final layout? If it is, it`s not a good show case of design.

I consult on corporate identity, and I`ve bought and read every book on the subject. With the existing cover, I would never buy it the way it is. Just my 2 cents.

As mentioned in my bLog-oMotives link, the format of the book was overhauled mid-project by the publisher (always fun for a writer) to what I originally  had suggested.  Hmmm...wouldn`t want to listen to a lowly writer would they?

I was pleased to include smaller design firms (including some one-person operations) in the book - as well as major players in the design and branding industry.

- J.



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Jeff Fisher | Jeff Fisher LogoMotives | Tweet! Tweet!

Don`t blame me - seldom does the author ever get much input on the cover design of the book - although I really had fun with the cover of my first book.  I used other design elements in promoting submissions for the book, sent them on to the publisher as a suggestion and the "suits" in the marketing department opted to go another direction.

At least in this situation I got to name the book - that doesn`t happen often.  I always detested the name of my first book.  These days I can even occasionally get individuals at the publishing company to agree that my proposed title would have sold even more books than what they used:

Their title: The Savvy Designer`s Guide to Success:  Ideas and tactics for a killer career

My title:  Designing in my underwear: Briefs on a career

Actually, the new book has some of the highest pre-sale numbers of any book the company has previously published - and I`m thrilled that this time there are Australian and European distributors already lined up.  As a designer, if I judged books by their covers I probably wouldn`t be reading much - especially when it comes to the topics of design, marketing, branding and corporate identity.

- J.



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Jeff Fisher | Jeff Fisher LogoMotives | Tweet! Tweet!

Odd, isn`t it, how publishers believe that the writers and authors are just commodities. "Oh hell, we can get ANYone to write the damn thing. The real skill is in gluing the pages together and putting it onto some shelves! THAT....nobody can do!"

Unh-hunh... :-)

Unfortunately, too many writers end up caught in the distribution necessities. All you can do is hope that the writing itself will reach out into people`s minds, and they`ll recognize you, not the publishers.

I`m confused by this statement: "   As a designer, if I judged books by their covers I probably wouldn`t be reading much - especially when it comes to the topics of design, marketing, branding and corporate identity. "

Design is a critical element of package design, and I view a book as a package design project as much as a piece of writing. As such, the cover simply portrays you and the contents as pedestrian and just plain bad design.

The `don`t judge a book by it`s cover` makes for a nice saying, but at point of sale, it`s huge. Since your book is about design, and your cover is hideous from a design prospective, I just see a disconnect there. And that`s true regardless of who`s calling the shots. It may be their publishing house, but it`s your name on the cover, and the existing cover just makes the design hair on the back of my neck stand up.

The problem is that usually the publisher calls all the shots, including design, unless that`s part of the basic contract. So you either like it or leave it. Which is more important, having your name out there and a book in print, or standing for a design and cover issue? It`s a tough call.

Worse is that most publishers have no interest at all in promoting a book. Sometimes, but not usually. They force a miserable cover, write the back cover stuff, make up some number for a print run, and toss it to the ocean. Then when it doesn`t sell, chalk it up to "just another bad author we took a chance on."

Luckily I had been warned about that, by other authors who had from the same publisher, prior to signing the contract for my first book.  Then when the book was released there were major issues with the marketing department not coming through with what they said they would do in regards to promoting the book. Still, having one of the major players in the design book publishing industry behind me, gets the book into many more bookstores (and design magazine ads) than I could accomplish on my own with limited resources if I were to self-publish - and I now have four international publishers who want to do future books with me.

A friend of mine currently has a book in the New York Times best selling top ten.  All of his books have made the list - and he has some of the same issues with his publisher and their marketing department.

- J.


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Jeff Fisher | Jeff Fisher LogoMotives | Tweet! Tweet!