What's In A Name
A friend of mine who is looking to start her own business recently asked me how I came up with my business name. If you have ever had to do such a thing then you know it's no easy task. Many designers, photographers, wedding planners use some version of their name to form a business. If you're lucky enough to have a name that suits a business you'll likely have an easier time (assuming your name isn't overly common). Personally, I didn't feel like any version of my name sounded right for what I was trying to get across. One version I came up, using my middle name - J Marie Designs - sounded too much like an interior designer to me.
Coming up with a completely unique business name takes a lot of work and research. When I first started thinking of names it felt like every idea I put into Google was already taken. Even something that I thought was totally unique, taken. ARGH. So, I started to think about me as a designer, a person and how I wanted my brand to represent itself. Family is one of, if that the most, important thing to me so I wanted to try and incorporate family in some way into my name/logo. I closed my eyes to see what might come to mind. Leaves. Three leaves, each representing a member of my family - Husband, Wife, Daughter. I knew right away that this name meant something to me so I prayed when I went to Google that no one else had the name. After playing around with letters vs. numbers and "design" vs "creative" 3Leaf Creative was born!
Now, if choosing a business name wasn't hard enough, choosing a logo can be even harder. If you are not a designer yourself, it can be easier to pay one to come up with one for you. I could have too but what kind of designer would I be? Having an object in your company name helped me at least narrow down my design scope a bit but it still took plenty of tries before I was happy. When choosing a logo, you're choosing the entire look and feel of your new business. Are you a Target or a Chanel? Traditional? Trendy? Corporate? Artsy? There are so many things to think about when deciding how your brand will be shaped. Here are just a few things to think about!
1 // TYPE OF LOGO - There are many types of logo's. Logo's that use typography only to highlight the company name; logo's that use just a graphic or symbol to represent their brand etc. Click here to read about different types of logo's and when you should use them.
2 // COLORS - Did you know there is science behind the colors chosen to represent brands and company's? Colors put off feelings when you see them and those feelings can persuade you in certain ways without you even realizing it. For example, many fast food restaurants use the color red (ever notice that?) because it encourages the appetite. Alternatively, if you are trying to lose weight, eat off of a blue plate, or in a room with blue walls because blue helps curb your appetite. Fascinating right? Check out this infographic on the Psychology of Color.
3 // FLEXIBILITY - What I mean by this is, think about the different ways your logo might be used? If you made a graphic that only looks good in full color, on a white background, that won't work if someone needs it black and/or white version? Or let's say your logo is going to appear with other logo's somewhere and all other logo's are vertical, where yours is horizontal. In order for yours to fit, it might be scaled down and appear smaller. So, have a few versions of your logo ready for any situation that might arise.
There are a TON more elements to think about so do some research, break out the sketch pad and put on your thinking cap and g
ood luck!
Jackie
