Name my storyboard business?

April 18, 2016 10:33 AM

I know this is a bit of a long shot but in the next few hours I need to pick a name for my new storyboard business. I'm hoping not to have to go with BonobotheGreat Storyboards.

I'd like something that's short and expresses my desire for professional development, work/life-balance and creative exploration. As a kid, I was pretty heavily influenced by MAD Magazine, Beano, and R.Crumb. Apart from art stuff, I'm interested in natural history (both living & fossilized) and also hand tool woodworking. I was thinking maybe Dovetail Storyboards but Dovetail Films is owned by the makers of a transhumanist documentary. I also thought maybe Crinoid Productions or something like that.

Sorry that this is so broad, I just can't think of many useful parameters. I've done animation storyboards for about 20 years and would like to branch out into live action/EFX.

posted by bonobothegreat to Media & Arts (12 answers total)

Paleoscene/Paleocene Productions
posted by Hermione Granger at 10:35 AM on April 18, 2016

Beanplate Studios!
posted by jozxyqk at 10:48 AM on April 18, 2016

Get On Board
posted by slmorri at 10:55 AM on April 18, 2016

Woodpecker Storyboards
posted by Kabanos at 11:03 AM on April 18, 2016

Could you draw your brand first and then name it? E.g., make a character for your studio / production house etc.
posted by typecloud at 11:21 AM on April 18, 2016

Storyboard Store
posted by rikschell at 11:28 AM on April 18, 2016

FishWrap Storyboards

Acme Storyboards

Global Empire Storyboards

DinoMite Storyboards
posted by artdrectr at 11:40 AM on April 18, 2016

I am just going to throw out whatever comes into my head.

BookEnds
Holocene
Birdsmouth
Tall Tale
Moving Pictures
Magpie
Curious Corvid
Sapling

Good luck, anyway! :)
posted by howfar at 11:56 AM on April 18, 2016

DoveTale Storyboards
KryNoId Productions
Bird's Eye
Truckin' Productions
posted by effluvia at 11:59 AM on April 18, 2016

You might want to approach this from another angle. For example: your interest in work-life balance, while laudable, is not likely to be one of the first things you want potential clients to think about when reading the name of your business. Don't worry so much about the stuff you like. What are the characteristics that you want your brand to convey? That's the question you want to answer to help come up with a name. When someone reads your name or sees your logo - what impression should they come away with? Do they need to learn something about your artistic style? Your versatility? Your lengthy experience? An iconic film you've worked on? The way you approach storyboarding?

If you just want them to know that you love woodworking, that's possible, but it may not help you out much from a business standpoint. But if you want to connect the idea about hand tools to show how you bring a handcrafted type approach to your storyboarding, then maybe you are on to something.

Also, if you are thinking about branching out later into multiple kinds of work, then you might want to leave out the noun ("storyboards" "productions," etc) from your name.

With this in mind, I kinda like one of your original ideas: "Dovetail" all by itself, with maybe a logo that finds a way to invoke both film and joinery, could work- but that's a project for a better graphic designer than I. But maybe you will come up with something else altogether by considering what work you want your brand to do on your behalf, before you have to start describing what it is that you do.
posted by cubby at 12:17 PM on April 18, 2016

Just to piggyback a bit on cubby's comment, the cynical Art Director in me (not film industry) thinks this when I read your desires: "professional development" (learn/train on my dime); "work/life-balance" (my job is not important); "creative exploration" (won't stick to the brief). So yeah, make sure to brand yourself with an eye to what what your potential clients are looking for. In this case, I'd guess that would be speed, above all else? I don't know though, not my industry.

Frankly I think your actual name would be best though, unless it's particularly difficult to spell or pronounce or something.
posted by Kabanos at 12:29 PM on April 18, 2016

Thanks all.

That's what I needed to hear, cubby (and Kabanos). I've just discovered that it's not a big deal to get it changed if I think of something better. Also, it's just an invoicing/sales tax moniker and my personal name/rep is really what's being marketed.

Phew. Thanks for the handholding, everyone.
posted by bonobothegreat at 12:38 PM on April 18, 2016