11.02
There’s an issue in advertising and identity design—maybe in all creative endeavors—commonly referred to as “not created here” syndrome. Well, there’s probably a better name for it than that, but that’s what I’m going with. Basically, it means creative people are less likely to approve of work done by somebody else. In fact, they’re more likely to say it stinks. I’m probably just as guilty as the next guy, and just to prove how snarky I can be, here’s something I’ve been itching to poke fun at:
Are there two Barnes & Nobles at the Irvine Spectrum Center? And, no less, they’re both to the right?
But anyways, speaking of Barnes & Nobles, I do like to try and give credit where credit is due.
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10.22
We had identical, simultaneous reactions. “Tech Ninja? Huh.” Kind of a goofy name, but it caught our attention.
About one second later…
“Oh wait, it says
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10.06
Heard a great story about naming on NPR the other day. I love the interviewee’s idea of “WTF should I do in Wisconsin?” Hilarious.
Click here to read or listen.
And here’s a link to the related blog post at A Hundred Monkeys; NPR interviewed them for the story.
09.10
A few months back I wrote a post about a local coffee (?) joint near my house. The problem with DeSpyro Coffee, from my point of view, was that they were claiming expertise in too many categories at once (coffee, burgers, breakfast, mexican food, gelato, subs, and “grill”), which gives the impression that they’re a jack of all trades, master of none. Maybe that’s fine if you’re a diner or a Jewish deli, but for a place with “coffee” in the name, it would be nice if they’d at least mastered a good cup a’ joe.
The other day I noticed that DeSpyro is now Dukes Burgers. I called, and apparently it is just a name change, with little change to the menu or anything else. The lady I spoke with wouldn’t give me a real reason for the name change.
But here’s the kicker:
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09.03
Look! It’s unnecessary quotation mark’s ugly cousin, the unnecessary apostrophe. Usually only spotted preceding an “s,” this is a rare and exciting find.
08.07
Picked up some flowers the other night from a place called Affluent Flowers. I should first mention that the lady who helped me there was polite and helpful, and the flowers I purchased were very nice and well-priced.
That said…
While I didn’t go there specifically so that I could write this post, I was thinking about their name even before I walked into the store.
You didn’t call this place ‘Affluent Flowers’ because everything here costs a lot, did you?
No, the woman behind the counter assured me that the name “Affluent” had been chosen primarily because it starts with “A.” The owner is hoping that as a result, his store will show up near the beginning of alphabetical listings. I’m sure the question’s been asked before, but is this still a relevant concern in most industries these days? I’d argue that it’s not. I found the flower shop by using Google Maps; I just wanted something that was on my way. For flower shops—and maybe most single-location retail stores—listing yourself in map-integrated online directories is probably more critical than choosing a name that starts near the beginning of the alphabet.
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