This is an article by our guest author Antonio Fernández, who will help you with the namingthat is, to find the name with which to make yourself known as a photographer (or your studio).
First of all, by way of introduction, I will tell you that for make mark in the world of PhotographyAs in any business, there are countless factors to take into account: the language you use; your product and its qualities; the values and principles that define you; your personality and that of your work; the name of the business and its associations; the merchandisethe meaning of the symbol, stationery, advertising, etc.
Well, these last ones: name, symbol and advertising/stationeryare what we graphic designers call corporate identity and it is what is going to be your first and most lasting marketing tool for the studio or business, since it will be) or should be) the first thing that the potential client finds when trying to contact you or hear from you; business card, the logo inside the card, the dossiers or video portfolios, your corporate colors in advertising, your name, etc. Well thought out and workedwill also help you reach the customers you really want and, even if you are specialized and this corporate identity conveys it with quality and elegance, to close more sales at better prices.
What is the naming?
To name search it is known as Naming and it’s one of the first aspects in which you usually think when you start a business, and not without reason, because the name will determine your personality and very possibly the symbol of the logo. After this will come the colors corporate and a very long chain of decisions…
In this article I am here to tell you some ideas and tips that have helped me when learning how to make naming And I think that they open your mind a lot when you get stuck thinking about what to call yourself (or your studio) artistically. If you stop at the keywords of the tips that I give below, there is a huge universe of names waiting for you. if you give a little to the coconut, Sure.
1. choose theme
You can start choosing a theme that you like, of which you are a specialist, with which you want to be identified or, much better, where your potential clients are from.
Having this defined is more efficient when it comes to focusing the marketing of your studio or as a freelancer.
Example: I choose the theme “Nature” because I like birds and I photograph them, so I call the studio hummingbird.
An example of a logo for this decision could be this:
topic ideas
- Styles or philosophy of life: healthy, relaxed and meditative or sports life.
- photography in general: lenses or retro cameras that you like (we could call Mario D3X00 haha), something from the history of photography that catches your attention, etc.
- Work style: if you are minimalist, conceptual like Chema Madoz, very purist with zero photoshop, who retouches a lot, etc.
- photography techniques: long exposure, black and white, depth of field or your favorite technique.
- hobbies: urban sports (skating, skate), sports in general, pets, tattoos, nature or the hobby that you prefer
- Target audience or product this one is very efficient (you know, for marketing): portraits, seniors, children, albums, books, journalism, weddings, etc.
two. Search (or as Xavier Grau calls it) do a name hunt
Once the theme has been decided, the ideal is that, through a mind map and then in a brainstorming (brainstorming), write everything you have in your head without censorship, don’t be shy and write down everything that comes to mind on that topic even if it seems absurd, since your thing is that you choose some of these and in the end you finish, not only with the brastormingbut with about 100 possible names.
Search blogs, magazines, books, articles, publications… of the chosen topic and make a name huntinganything that catches your attention: a technicality that you like, adjectives that are repeated or are striking, guild terms, etc.
3. Technique: join words
A very successful technique is join two words without using the letter “Y” in between. They can be the ones you found in the previous point (or later, or whatever comes to mind). you can even include faults spell check to create a new word, use suffixes and prefixes, other languages, etc.
examples
- imagine what you do comic books: “PhotoBeo”. It unites photography, the verb to see and the word Tebeo.
- Or if you are a photographer with a studio focused on soccer world with very current photos: “FooToday”. feet of footballyou can guess the word photo and it ends with today… I don’t know, this is infinite and reality surpasses fiction 😉 .
4. Qualities
When choosing among the 100, try to have at least have any of these qualities as they teach us from Give me Name: descriptive, preferably short, that is impregnated, pronounceable, that evokes emotions, creative (do not stay with the first, flee from the obvious) and original (that does not follow fashions or trends), eloquent, that you see the logo just by naming it.
5. Archetypes
Another topic very different from the ones I have proposed in point 1 may be to search for the archetype with which you feel identified: innocence, ordinary person, exploration, wisdom, heroism, pranks, creativity, lover, fidelity, jokes, care, leadership… From here, look for names that evoke this idea, or if you already have one, think about transmitting it, validating it or correcting it joining words or adding prefixes or suffixes where appropriate.
6. Validation
When you have the list of 100, choose the 10 that you like the most and study its viability, that is, that it no longer exists, nor do internet domains, that there are no misinterpretations in other countries and languages, usability, sound, registration and legal problems…
Surely you will drop many names along the way and some of the best, it is hard, but you have to discard them, in the long run you will be happy, you may have to give those 100 another spin so that, in the end, you can keep the top 3 and, now yes, determine the winner.
With those 3: do surveys, ask your friends and family, think about what the logos would be like, write them with different fonts, put them with a background of the topics to which they belong…
Is a activity as beautiful and fun as it is important, So much so that I have stopped being a generalist designer and have focused my study on specializing in helping you as a photographer to get a name, “THE NAME”, with which to position yourself in the market and put together what, I reiterate, must be your first and longest lasting marketing tool: corporate identity (Name, symbol and stationery/advertising).
I hope I’ve helped with this article to choose your name. Share it to whoever can serve it and if you have any doubts, write them in the comments.
This is an article by Antonio Fernández, a graphic designer specialized in helping photography professionals. You can follow his work on his websiteOn InstagramFacebook or LinkedIn.
If you also want to participate as a guest author, click here.
Did you like the article? Thank Antonio for his advice by sharing the article on your favorite social network so that others can also enjoy his recommendations. Thank you and see you soon.