Helpful words
How to select a URL without going insane
Satisficing versus maximizing “So what about the .com?” is one of the more common questions we get asked when discussing a project. Often times, what’s baked inside that question is the desire to have theirname.com at the end of the naming process. Floating in the collective aether is this idea that when you’re starting something…
How to fix [Blank] & [Blank] names using only your delete key
- About: Naming
Blank & Blank names are everywhere these days. I’m not talking about law firms like Latham & Watkins or names that play off of known phrases like Day & Age. I’m talking about names that take two words with no clear relationship, typically nouns, and arrange them on either side of an ampersand: Salt & Straw, Alice & Olivia,…
If you cross a creative over the holidays…
- About: Naming
Being a professional namer of companies and products affects how people interact with you at social gatherings and holiday parties. New acquaintances might question “how it all works” or ask if I “went to school for that,” and tend to be enthusiastic to know more—especially if they have a new project or side hustle in…
Renaming, like naming but harder
- About: Naming
At A Hundred Monkeys we do our fair share of renaming projects. This year, 42% of our naming projects have been finding new names for products or companies that already have publicized names. Not only is renaming somewhat common, it happens for different reasons. Some companies are legally forced to change their names while others…
Snacks on snacks on snacks: Snack naming at the Island Pacific Supermarket
This weekend I had the pleasure of visiting the Island Pacific Supermarket in Vallejo, California. For the uninitiated, the Island Pacific Supermarket in Vallejo is a supermarket featuring foods from the Philippines. I entered the store looking for snacks as I had spent most of the day performing manual labor and was wanting to snack…
Go name yourself
- About: Naming
6 July 2020 Update: Go Name Yourself has arrived! You can pick up your deck here. When I wrote Don’t Call It That, the goal was to walk people through a naming process start-to-finish. It was an experiment. I had named hundreds of businesses and products but I had never written a guide for people to do…
« Nombres en México »
This spring I traveled to Mexico to take in the sights, sounds, and names of La Ciudad de los Palacios and the Oaxaca Coast. I found the names of shops, restaurants, bakeries, products, and even creative agencies were at times nuanced, mirthful, and clever — and other times mucho menos. « Romance de la lengua extranjera » Some of…
Fail to fail
- About: Naming
How to look at your studio critically, as a business When I first became Creative Director at A Hundred Monkeys, I had no idea what I was doing. I felt confident in my creative abilities but I had zero experience managing people or a business. Motivated primarily by a fear of failure, I did everything…
Problem namers
- About: Naming
A case for brand names that wallow with us. As consumers, we’re inundated with positive messages for products meant to make our lives better. This tastes good. This makes you more appealing to others. This makes your kids happy. This makes you happy because it’s cheaper than the other thing. Alongside this positivity comes a…
The secret habits of a highly-effective slacker
- About: Naming
If I’m being honest, I’ve never really worked that hard. I never pulled an all-nighter at school. I’ve never stayed at work until midnight editing a presentation. I used to feel bad about this — if I really cared about my work why am I not giving everything to it? I kept hearing people talk…