Helpful words

You are here: Navigating a naming ecosystem

It’s been a while since most of us have been to a theme park, a music festival, a zoo, or even a museum. If my memory serves me, these environments come with maps and directories, so you can plan your experience accordingly and tell your friends to meet you at the churro stand at noon….

Once, Twice, Three Times Creative: How to enjoy an effective extra round of creative work

Creative endeavors can sometimes produce an environment where a client is curious to see as many options as possible. In the case of our naming business we call this a third round. For reference, we typically develop company and product names across two rounds—a third is rare, but sometimes helpful. We’ve built our naming process around…

Your brand is a stranger

How to think about branding in an age of skepticism Branding gets used and abused. Companies recognize the value branding can create in a way they didn’t five or ten years ago. This has led to it being misunderstood and misused by people looking for shortcuts and sure bets. In this post I’m going to…

A case for getting the good news before the bad

  • About: Naming

Creative feedback edition Being positive is a big ask these days. As human beings in 2021, we’ve entered an unspoken agreement to be refreshingly honest about the crappy state of things. It’s united us in our collective groans, sleepless nights, and bouts of laughing-so-we-don’t-cry. As part of this unspoken agreement, it feels like it’s no…

A look at naming in the world’s specialty marketplace

This year, more than ever, we’ve needed small businesses as much as they’ve needed us. They’ve been there on our long neighborhood walks, or when we needed the perfect, thoughtful gift at a difficult time. I’ve spent more time on Etsy this year than I’d like to admit, but as a professional namer, it has…

What we talk about when we talk about naming systems and naming architecture

When we talk about naming systems and naming architecture with clients and potential clients there is a decent amount of consensus on what those activities entail, though we’ve heard enough variability to the point where we wanted to share our definition of each exercise. It’s not like there’s an ISO 9000 standard for what makes…

The good, the bad, and the bubbly: Naming premixed cocktails

I first became aware of premixed cocktails a few years back via a client project at A Hundred Monkeys. This modern beverage invention — a can, bottle, or ball containing an alcoholic mixture — takes a novel approach to drink-making by putting alcohol in a vessel along with traditional cocktail ingredients and sealing it shut. Premixed cocktails, for the…

In 2020, brands are treating their names like regrettable tattoos

We’ve seen a lot of change this year as brands, bands, and institutions have revised their language to be more inclusive. First and foremost: their names. Who knew it was so easy to not celebrate confederate generals? As namers here at A Hundred Monkeys, we’ve kept our eyes on these changes — taking note of the perceived solutions…

Table Stakes: A primer on our universal naming objectives

Whenever we start a new naming project, we always share a set of universal naming objectives with clients. While we also develop objectives specific to each project, these universal naming objectives are the minimum criteria a name should meet in order to be in the mix for consideration. We have a slide dedicated to the…

increase creative productivity

The blindingly obvious way to improve your productivity

  • About: Naming

Don’t look into the light! Sometimes it feels like your day controls you instead of the other way around. With most people checking their email before they get dressed, it’s easy to get buried under a list of to-dos before you even have your pants on, let alone coffee in your bloodstream. This early onslaught…

1 … 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 … 48