'Identity Crisis!' to be available at firstCreative Freelancer Conference

While there will not be an official bookstore at the Creative Freelancer Conference - to be held August 27-29 at the Hyatt Regency in Chicago - the book Identity Crisis!: 50 Redesigns That Transformed Stale Identities Into Successful Brands will be available at the event registration desk. Author Jeff Fisher, the Engineer of Creative Identity for the Portland-based firm Jeff Fisher LogoMotives, will also be autographing copies of the book throughout the industry activity.

The Creative Freelancer Conference, co-sponsored by HOW Magazine and Marketing Mentor, will provide independent designers, illustrators, copywriters, photographers and others with pricing strategies, marketing techniques and the best business practices for running a one-person business.

Speakers for the conference include Ilise Benun and Peleg Top of Marketing Mentor; cartoonist, artist and writer Lloyd Dangle; and PR and issues management specialist Joan Gladstone of Gladstone International. Author, speaker, trainer and entrepreneur Lee Silber and Dyana Valentine, founder and principal of Creative Consultancy, will also be making presentations. Closing speaker for the event will designer and author Jeff Fisher of Jeff Fisher LogoMotives with his session, "Reaping the Rewards of Creative Independence."

Those interested in the new event may learn more on the Creative Freelancer Conference Blog, hosted by blogmistress Colleen Wainwright of communicatrix. Additional information, and registration, is available on the Creative Freelancer Conference website.

© 2008 Jeff Fisher LogoMotives

It's Ilise Benun's fault...

When people ask me how I got into writing articles about design, and eventually writing books on design topics, I will sometimes jokingly tell them it's Ilise Benun's fault. Back in 2000 HOW Books released her book Self Promotion Online: Marketing Your Creative Services Using Web Sites, Email and Digital Portfolios, and my own marketing and promotion efforts were featured several times in the volume. While my design work had been featured in a number of books prior to that time, Ilise's book brought my self-promotion methods and writing to the attention of a lot of people. Opportunities to be interviewed by other writers and authors, write articles for magazines and websites, and eventually write my first book, followed.

Fast forward seven years and Ilise Benun is known as one of powerhouses behind the Marketing Mentor. Ilise and I have kept in touch since she first interviewed me back in 1999. We usually have the opportunity to catch up in person at the annual HOW Design Conferences, where we both will speak again in 2008.

This morning, Ilise gave my new book, Identity Crisis!: 50 redesigns that transformed stale identities into successful brands, a great mention on The Marketing Mix blog. Thank you, Ilise!

By the way, Ilise and Peleg Top (her Marketing Mentor "partner-in-crime") present the first of HOW Magazine's Grow Your Design Business From Your Desktop Webinar series - "Get Rich in a Niche" - tomorrow, September 27th.