Creative Hustle and Flow

I can appreciate creativity in everything. It's everywhere, especially here in the Big Apple. I can sit and admire a well conceived campaign in a subway car, or take in the myriad of outdoor sculptures that adorn many a Manhattan building entrance, appreciate excellent architectural styles from Harlem to the Bowery and beyond, check out galleries, cuisine and museums, sidewalk exhibits, the list goes on. It's just wonderful to just sit somewhere and absorb all the buzzing culture and rhythm that permeates this place. I feel as though I live and breathe it from dusk til' dawn.

But mostly, I like to doodle and lose myself with great books on design or art or anything that stimulates ye olde senses. When I take a bike ride, walk or drive I can't help but pick a scenic route...nature's beauty is the best and I'm always motivated when I'm somewhere with nice atmosphere. When I'm lounging at home I lose myself in Home and Garden channels. Can't get enough of good interior design. I often enjoy cooking a good meal or take photographs (although developing them is another matter). I don't take up an instrument like I used to, but I certainly appreciate a good beat. And I'll give whatever craft that catches my fancy a shot at least once. Lately for example I've been "gettin' knitty wit it." Made a pretty neat bag after a slew of scarves.

I also collect things. I have a massive comic book collection, for example. And I like to write. That's pretty obvious for those who know how often I support my forum habit as well as blog.

A stimulating workspace is also key. I've got a few posters and nice or meaningful chatchkas that adorn my desk (among the clutter, which is why I'm not posting an image of it...oh, the "humanity"). For example, Crayola™ recently re-released a series of "vintage" 64 color crayola boxes. I kept one on top of my DVD drive, behind the little ceramic Met™ bag which has one of my Google Guys™ dangling from the strap (remind me to post a "how-to" on that one day).

So that's just a few ways on how I draw upon the creativity around me to stimulate my own without the need for a tropical getaway or participating in a cultural event. I see it just by taking a minute to stop and take in my immediate surroundings.

Who to Be, or Who Not to Be...That is the Question

The topic of naming one's independent (freelance) business has come up quite a few times during my forum romps lately. It usually unfolds like this: a grad or in-house designer wishes to branch out on their own and are seeking sources of inspiration by asking folks who are already entrepreneurs on how they decided on their business names. I thought I'd journal my own process here because a name...though not the most important factor in one's business, bears as much thoughtful "tailored" consideration as designing the identity itself. It should to some degree be a reflection of one's aspiration, motivation or personality as well as service. That said, I considered several factors:

1. Who do I want to woo? If I came up with a name that's too cute, kitschy or quirky, it might scare off corporate prospects because it didn't exude enough professionalism. If I decided on a name that was too stale, it would rub against the creative grain. I knew I couldn't appeal to everybody, but I did want to toss as wide a net as possible. That said, I decided that "clever" was going to be the operative word.

2. I wanted a name that would come up high in any alphabetized directory listing. My former incarnation of "Seahorse Productions" left me way too low—it was doubtful that any prospect looking for a designer wouldn't find someone else before reaching the "S" listings. I wanted a name that was high up enough to come up (hopefully) in the first page of any given listing.

3. I didn't want to use my own name. Why? Partly because I thought "Dagmar Designs" or some such name was too silly sounding to even consider, partly because it wasn't creative sounding enough to satisfy me and because I also wanted a name that was versatile enough to grow with my business' goals.

4. The domain had to be available. Just a given these days that a dot com denotes professionalism more than any of the others. Either way I did buy the dot net as well. Incidently, that's one reason why I settled on Archetype Design Studio..."Archetype" was bought by a broker and I didn't want the dot net. I also thought it was more descriptive of my services (see 5).

5. It had to be understood what I did for a living to a degree. I can't tell you how many times I had to explain my services with my former, more vague incarnation. Just felt it did more harm than good for enticing any "window shoppers," aka potential clients.

So with all that in mind, I searched dictionaries and domain availability. I finally settled on "Archetype" because it worked on so many levels for me. "Type" implied my niche of design to a degree and "Arche" can be easily interpreted as "Architect" therefore "Architect of Type" (many who are familiar with design jargon have told me that they also refer "type" as a shortened form of "typography"). What really sold the deal for me was the actual meaning of archetype (the original pattern or model of which all things of the same type are representations or copies : prototype; also : a perfect example) which vibed quite well with my personal creative ambitions.

Here are some examples of clever and distinct name solutions within our industry. I tried to show a nice variety of typographic and pictorial graphic solutions.

I wanted to add that for Jeff Fisher's Logomotives, (lucky for us) he wrote about the evolution of his own identity not too long ago. It's worth including a link. I would also be remiss if I didn't mention that a good old fashioned google search would probably yield volumes on the topic.

Everyone has their own personal criteria for settling on a name—as such, there is no standard formula. So long as the name is one that in some way reflects not only you as a designer, but also does it in a way that will generate interest from the target market, as they say, "let it flow."

All design identities are copyrighted by their respective individual authors.
William Shakespeare's Identity Crisis cartoon by Dagmar Jeffrey. All rights reserved.