Help me name my new creative venture!
April 30, 2015 5:41 AM Subscribe
After running a successful food/lifestyle blog for a year with a friend, I'm branching out to do my own thing. I'm having trouble pinning down a name and after thinking of nothing but names for the past week, my brain is mush.
My site would be art themed with the goal of inspiring others to pursue creativity in their day to day lives. Emphasis will be placed on the fact that everyone, no matter skill/ability/station in life has the potential to be creative, and that being creative has many benefits and should not be overlooked. Think daily creative exercises, not DIY tutorials.
I will also have a store attached to my site where I'll sell hand carved wooden spoons I make and yarn that's been dyed with shavings from the wood. Come to think of it though, the shop will probably be the main focus of the site, with blog posts as a secondary draw.
The whole inspiration to start the site has stemmed from my new found skill in woodworking and carving spoons, so most of my name ideas thus far revolve around the word branch. I'll offer the results of a brainstorming session (some of these are just single words that I like and identify with but don't really know how to implement):
Chiseled Branch (this is a front runner)
Woven Branches
Interwoven Branches
Foggy Willow
Knitted Branch
Muted Prism
Muted Tones (really liked this one but the url is not available)
Whittled Sticks
Frosted Branches
Prismatic Branches
Fractal Branches
Corlette Collective (this is another front runner...my grandfather's name is Corlette and he's been a huge influence in my work. Not sure if it comes off a little odd though.)
Corlette Creative
Opaline
Woolen
Fractal
Milk
Iridescent
I realize a lot of the stuff above is cheesy in its current configuration so I'm looking for alternate suggestions because as it stands, nothing really clicks for me. I'm trying to avoid overtly hipster name generator-esque configurations like _____&_____ because my old site used that format and I cringed every time I had to tell someone the name and then explain why we chose it because it was weird.
My site would be art themed with the goal of inspiring others to pursue creativity in their day to day lives. Emphasis will be placed on the fact that everyone, no matter skill/ability/station in life has the potential to be creative, and that being creative has many benefits and should not be overlooked. Think daily creative exercises, not DIY tutorials.
I will also have a store attached to my site where I'll sell hand carved wooden spoons I make and yarn that's been dyed with shavings from the wood. Come to think of it though, the shop will probably be the main focus of the site, with blog posts as a secondary draw.
The whole inspiration to start the site has stemmed from my new found skill in woodworking and carving spoons, so most of my name ideas thus far revolve around the word branch. I'll offer the results of a brainstorming session (some of these are just single words that I like and identify with but don't really know how to implement):
Chiseled Branch (this is a front runner)
Woven Branches
Interwoven Branches
Foggy Willow
Knitted Branch
Muted Prism
Muted Tones (really liked this one but the url is not available)
Whittled Sticks
Frosted Branches
Prismatic Branches
Fractal Branches
Corlette Collective (this is another front runner...my grandfather's name is Corlette and he's been a huge influence in my work. Not sure if it comes off a little odd though.)
Corlette Creative
Opaline
Woolen
Fractal
Milk
Iridescent
I realize a lot of the stuff above is cheesy in its current configuration so I'm looking for alternate suggestions because as it stands, nothing really clicks for me. I'm trying to avoid overtly hipster name generator-esque configurations like _____&_____ because my old site used that format and I cringed every time I had to tell someone the name and then explain why we chose it because it was weird.
Response by poster: I agree with your reasoning and suggestion if I happen to go that route, buoys. The wording in my question may have been a bit misleading with the store talk. For the sake of argument, let's say the blog will be the lead attraction - I'm more interested in hearing the creative/out there/brainstormy/up in the clouds stuff the green has to offer. Give me your creative, folks.
posted by Gonestarfishing at 6:14 AM on April 30, 2015
posted by Gonestarfishing at 6:14 AM on April 30, 2015
tine brambles
posted by Potomac Avenue at 6:21 AM on April 30, 2015
posted by Potomac Avenue at 6:21 AM on April 30, 2015
The Spoon Tree
posted by prewar lemonade at 6:44 AM on April 30, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by prewar lemonade at 6:44 AM on April 30, 2015 [2 favorites]
If you like Corlette Collective, and you're hoping to also tie in your blog postings, I'd immediately go for Corlette Creative. It doesn't sound like a collective...and it's about creativity....and you like "Corlette". So it's a no-brainer, no?
"Creativity for the rest of us" is sort of a fait accompli, though, no? Apple's entire creative suite is about making non-creative people feel like they can do creative things by choosing canned choices within safe templates. Is that real creativity or simply futzing around in an app? I'm tipping my hat by the way I've described it....
posted by Quisp Lover at 7:25 AM on April 30, 2015
"Creativity for the rest of us" is sort of a fait accompli, though, no? Apple's entire creative suite is about making non-creative people feel like they can do creative things by choosing canned choices within safe templates. Is that real creativity or simply futzing around in an app? I'm tipping my hat by the way I've described it....
posted by Quisp Lover at 7:25 AM on April 30, 2015
Corlette is a great name -- I'd go with one of the Corlettes (collective if you want to bring others in as guest bloggers, retailers, or partners eventually, or have a lot of interaction or run a forum; creative if not).
The others all have a bit of the reek of early 2010s, rise of Etsy/Pinterest/"artisanal" to them. That bubble is going to pop (or is popping; you can just about buy artisanal toilet bowl cleaner now) and a name that will age well is a good idea. You don't want to be metaphorically selling off old stock of macramé kits in the neon and pop art 1980s, if that follows?
posted by kmennie at 7:31 AM on April 30, 2015 [1 favorite]
The others all have a bit of the reek of early 2010s, rise of Etsy/Pinterest/"artisanal" to them. That bubble is going to pop (or is popping; you can just about buy artisanal toilet bowl cleaner now) and a name that will age well is a good idea. You don't want to be metaphorically selling off old stock of macramé kits in the neon and pop art 1980s, if that follows?
posted by kmennie at 7:31 AM on April 30, 2015 [1 favorite]
Branching Out!
posted by mareli at 8:11 AM on April 30, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by mareli at 8:11 AM on April 30, 2015 [1 favorite]
Some thoughts on naming things online (from someone who has done a good bit of that and made All Teh Misteaks):
You want something you do not have to explain or spell. So, plain (common) English words that most folks can spell that don't require an explanation.
You should try to avoid painting yourself into a corner in terms of what the site is about. Give yourself some room for it to evolve over time -- because it will.
Shorter is better for typing purposes, but you should worry more about clear communication and not overtaxing people mentally. You want it easily and readily understood and remembered with as little cognitive effort as possible. If you can also keep it short-ish, great! But a lot of short URLs are already taken, so using a string of common words that makes it easy to understand and remember will open up URL possibilities without overtaxing folks mentally. So, in a mature URL market, it's a balancing act.
(If you get well known and become the top result in search engines for Thing, people won't care so much about the longer URL. They can google and click instead of remembering the exact string of stuff to type. People have also gotten used to the fact that the absolute best, shortest URL is often gone and people are adding words to get around that.)
So I will suggest you consider:
Born with a Wooden Spoon in my Mouth.
Or:
Born with a Wooden Spoon
(I am tossing out the second one primarily because it is shorter.)
It references your carved wooden spoons.
Since you say your grandfather was a huge influence on your work I am inferring there is some family background there and this references that ("Look, my art grows out of my roots").
It suggests you are a commoner (someone not born with the proverbial silver spoon in their mouth) and are reaching out to other commoners, not rich folks (which is part of what you are talking about with the creativity for everyone stuff).
It doesn't limit you to JUST wooden spoons because there are other things going on in the name besides "Hey, I carve wooden spoons." So if you start doing other stuff and possibly even stop carving wooden spoons altogether, it doesn't create an identity crisis. You won't find yourself needing to rename the site because it was Wooden Spoons Inc. and you no longer carve wooden spoons at all or you still carve wooden spoons but you also do all kinds of other neat stuff and people just don't realize that from the name.
posted by Michele in California at 10:03 AM on April 30, 2015
You want something you do not have to explain or spell. So, plain (common) English words that most folks can spell that don't require an explanation.
You should try to avoid painting yourself into a corner in terms of what the site is about. Give yourself some room for it to evolve over time -- because it will.
Shorter is better for typing purposes, but you should worry more about clear communication and not overtaxing people mentally. You want it easily and readily understood and remembered with as little cognitive effort as possible. If you can also keep it short-ish, great! But a lot of short URLs are already taken, so using a string of common words that makes it easy to understand and remember will open up URL possibilities without overtaxing folks mentally. So, in a mature URL market, it's a balancing act.
(If you get well known and become the top result in search engines for Thing, people won't care so much about the longer URL. They can google and click instead of remembering the exact string of stuff to type. People have also gotten used to the fact that the absolute best, shortest URL is often gone and people are adding words to get around that.)
So I will suggest you consider:
Born with a Wooden Spoon in my Mouth.
Or:
Born with a Wooden Spoon
(I am tossing out the second one primarily because it is shorter.)
It references your carved wooden spoons.
Since you say your grandfather was a huge influence on your work I am inferring there is some family background there and this references that ("Look, my art grows out of my roots").
It suggests you are a commoner (someone not born with the proverbial silver spoon in their mouth) and are reaching out to other commoners, not rich folks (which is part of what you are talking about with the creativity for everyone stuff).
It doesn't limit you to JUST wooden spoons because there are other things going on in the name besides "Hey, I carve wooden spoons." So if you start doing other stuff and possibly even stop carving wooden spoons altogether, it doesn't create an identity crisis. You won't find yourself needing to rename the site because it was Wooden Spoons Inc. and you no longer carve wooden spoons at all or you still carve wooden spoons but you also do all kinds of other neat stuff and people just don't realize that from the name.
posted by Michele in California at 10:03 AM on April 30, 2015
The Wood Files
posted by Klaxon Aoooogah at 11:50 AM on April 30, 2015
posted by Klaxon Aoooogah at 11:50 AM on April 30, 2015
Spooden Woon
posted by Kabanos at 12:09 PM on April 30, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by Kabanos at 12:09 PM on April 30, 2015 [2 favorites]
Grown. Whittled. Dyed.
posted by WeekendJen at 12:59 PM on April 30, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by WeekendJen at 12:59 PM on April 30, 2015 [1 favorite]
Working Wood
posted by gideonswann at 5:13 PM on April 30, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by gideonswann at 5:13 PM on April 30, 2015 [1 favorite]
Wood Works
posted by Michele in California at 5:17 PM on April 30, 2015
posted by Michele in California at 5:17 PM on April 30, 2015
Full Spoon
Spoon River
Spoon River Creative
New Spoon Theory
Once Upon a Spoon
PS The "Wooden Spoon" is an idiom meaning an imaginary prize given to whoever finishes a race last.
posted by carmicha at 7:36 PM on April 30, 2015
Spoon River
Spoon River Creative
New Spoon Theory
Once Upon a Spoon
PS The "Wooden Spoon" is an idiom meaning an imaginary prize given to whoever finishes a race last.
posted by carmicha at 7:36 PM on April 30, 2015
+1 for Spooden Woon!!
Kabanos above suggested it. Perfectly google-able & encapsulates exactly everything. And its unforgettable.
posted by OlivesAndTurkishCoffee at 7:16 AM on May 1, 2015
Kabanos above suggested it. Perfectly google-able & encapsulates exactly everything. And its unforgettable.
posted by OlivesAndTurkishCoffee at 7:16 AM on May 1, 2015
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posted by MonkeyToes at 6:09 AM on April 30, 2015