Creative people... input please :D
Hey all.
Well, the time has come. I've finished university, I've racked up more dept than I know what to do with, and my car has just broken down.
So, what am I doing to celebrate this glorious state of affairs? None other than going self-employed as a web designer.
Been doing it for a few years now but nothing serious - gonna make ago of it.
But, one major problem - I'm terrible at being creative (work with a friend who does all the designing - am just a code monkey myself). I need a name for the business! <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin-fix.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":D" border="0" alt="biggrin-fix.gif" />
If any one has any thoughts, throw them in. All suggestions welcomed. Winner gets a choice of a cookie, a hug, webspace, or something random!
Well, the time has come. I've finished university, I've racked up more dept than I know what to do with, and my car has just broken down.
So, what am I doing to celebrate this glorious state of affairs? None other than going self-employed as a web designer.
Been doing it for a few years now but nothing serious - gonna make ago of it.
But, one major problem - I'm terrible at being creative (work with a friend who does all the designing - am just a code monkey myself). I need a name for the business! <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin-fix.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":D" border="0" alt="biggrin-fix.gif" />
If any one has any thoughts, throw them in. All suggestions welcomed. Winner gets a choice of a cookie, a hug, webspace, or something random!
Comments
If you're a hard worker willing to go the extra mile pick something like "Midnight/3 AM Oil Web Design".
It sounds cheesy, but you really have to put yourself out there and sell yourself. You may say you don't think you're creative, but you have to be somewhat to get this far and being willing to go into business for yourself.
Cookie Jar!
Catnip Creations!
wait... what do your websites look like anyhoo? :o
<img src="http://koti.mbnet.fi/retales/bomblebee.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />
Waaait... I'm not creative
CaC , Color and Code
HaC , HC , Hammer and Cursor
Dreamcreaver
locallyunscene has the best suggestion though. Just look at apple, they got it by mistake and now it's recognized globally partly thanks to a very common fruit just about everyone knows about.
Somethin like this:
<img src="http://www.earthstarshop.co.uk/images/brass%20taper%20candle%20holder.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />
but with a lit candle and probably more cartoony/logoy (vector gfx)
Also think about a name that is going to be fairly unique to begin with on Google. Sure you can pay to boost its Google rating, but you can save a lot of money if its unique to begin with.
Try misspellings of words that still read and sound the same and stick in your head, or just made-up words that sound cool.
Whatever name you choose, it's worth tacking on -Web Design to the end of your business name to improve search results as well.
Think about... what was your reaction to games and the like that started using Z instead of S? (Kidz, Babiez, Petz) =P
Your name is your character as far as people who've never worked with you will know. If you choose something a bit more dry sounding like your name it'll make you sound more business like and reliable though perhaps not very creative (though this depends on your name... some people's names just scream 'artist' :3 ). Something more out there will inevitably make you look more artsy and cool but they might not take you as seriously.
Truth is, the name you're after will depend on both what kind of work you want to do and what kind of clients you're after.
That's part of why I asked what your sites would look like :3
I would think if you're doing web design you wouldn't be opposed to logo designing... Then again, you said you're not the artistic one so maybe we should be talking about this from the other direction. Maybe you shouldn't be limiting yourself to just website design and ignoring web programming.
Go check out some freelance sites and see what listings they have. I did freelance two years ago and it was quite the profitable job once I got started.
This one
Agreed that I don't want to use something with spelling mistake - can sometimes work really well (eg Kongregate.com) but more often than not just looks like you forgot to spellcheck when filling in the boxes or something.
@Psyke~ in my head, saying "web design" means all that it encompasses - programming and all. So yeah, having -Web Design on the end of the name could work, but also has the disadvantage of the limitation.
I was thinking an alternative ending could be "Studio", "System(s)" or something similar. Opens up the generality while maintaining a level of professionalism.
Target audience (at least to begin with) is mostly small business owners - kind of people who run a shop but don't have a site - they don't want anything too fancy or confusing - just something online so they can be found on google. However, likelyhood is over time this will lead to bigger jobs which we can also accomodate.
About the only thing I won't touch (and I know it's potentially cutting out a lot of business) is webshops. Until the business gets registered as a Limited (which won't be for at least a year or so) then if anything goes wrong, I'm personally liable. Too many risks involved with handling other peoples sensitive data (addresses + credit card details). Happy to do it utalising something like Paypal, but initially, just don't want that kind of info being involved.
Anyhoo - got to get back to work - got a few jobs to do already (just trading under my own name at the moment) - thanks again for the help - will have to go back to the drawing board with this.
And Anal Orbital - worst. idea. ever. <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tounge.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":p" border="0" alt="tounge.gif" />
Think about... what was your reaction to games and the like that started using Z instead of S? (Kidz, Babiez, Petz) =P<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->I said use misspellings that sound the same. Misspellings ending in Z make you sound like an idiot, clearly.
Some examples of brands with either mispellings or made up words that work well:
<b>- Google</b> (now an accepted verb in the Oxford English Dictionary)
- <b>Ariel</b> (UK washing liquid)
- <b>Persil</b> (UK washing liquid)
<b>- Accenture
- Coca-Cola</b> (the word 'cola' may have originated from the kola nuts that were originally used as the source of caffeine)
- <b>Intel</b> (not made up, but a shortened form of a word)
- <b>Cisco</b>
- <b>CitiGroup</b>
- <b>Pepsi</b> (Caleb Bradham possibly bought the name "Pep Kola" from a local competitor and changed it to Pepsi-Cola, or Pepsi comes from the Greek word "pepse" (Ï€Îψη), which is a medical term, describing the food dissolving process within one's stomach. Dyspepsia is also a medical term describes a problem with one's stomach to dissolve foods properly.)
- <b>IKEA</b> (an acronym comprising the initials of the founder's name (Ingvar Kamprad), the farm where he grew up (Elmtaryd), and his home county (Agunnaryd, in Småland, South Sweden))
<b>- 3com
- Xerox</b>
- <b>Adidas</b> (from the name of the founder)
- <b>Reebok</b> (from the Afrikaans spelling of rhebok, a type of African antelope or gazelle)
Interesting reading:
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_company_name_etymologies" target="_blank">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_compa...ame_etymologies</a>
Some bizarrely named brands that still do well because they are memorable. The definition of <b>Yahoo</b> has very negative connotations: member of a race of brutes in <i>Gulliver's Travels</i> by Jonathan Swift; a person who is not very intelligent or interested in culture [syn: yokel]!
Saying 'mispell' doesn't quite get across what you meant if you ask me :p
Saying 'mispell' doesn't quite get across what you meant if you ask me <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tounge.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":p" border="0" alt="tounge.gif" /><!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
It's all about the stylish misspellings. <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin-fix.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":D" border="0" alt="biggrin-fix.gif" />
Anel Orbitale
Haha good example.
"What? I Got the Name from Internet Board"
<img src="http://www.mustacheinc.com/images/logo.gif" border="0" class="linked-image" />
think of something similar, you want to be short sweet and memorable.
Goatie maybe ¬.¬
Goatie maybe ¬.¬<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
You could have a picture of a goat with a goatee.
Evil Goatee Productions
Evil Goatee Productions<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
or a picture of a goat wearing a t-shirt (a goatee)
or you could be completely self-referential and have a goat wearing a tee-shirt with a goatee sporting goat on it.
we have a winner!!
Mustached Monocle. The logo would obviously be a monocle sporting a mustache. Option: wearing a top hat too.
Oh! Oh! "I Say! Webdesign"
Oh! Oh! "I Say! Webdesign"<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I'm loving it... this may become reality guys! I see no harm in this being the reason for the name - it's brilliant!