Band Names
by Nate Voss, (13 comments)
Starting your own business is a hellacious challenge. Very intimidating, scary, ulcer-inducing, that can contain a sort of panic that freezes you to the core of your being. I find the Fear to be interesting in that regard. I mean, once you look out a window and see umpteen thousand Targets, Wal-Marts, Starbucks’s, Home Depots and Burger Kings and realize those were all started by somebody, a lot of that fear dissipates. Every business started somewhere, by some yay-hoo who thought they could do it better than somebody else. And in design this is no different. When you choose the road to self-employment, you’re doing nothing different than what the people you used to send resumes to did five, ten, or twenty years ago. And that, again, is a bit of an empowering thought.
And what happens then but we a run out and screw up the very first step: the name.
The first time I freelanced was about three and a half years ago and I called myself “Nathan Voss Design and Illustration.” Because that’s who I am, and that’s what I do. This is a trap that most people fall into. I’ve always found it so incredibly odd that in a profession built on monsterous creativity we wind up with companies named “Charles S. Anderson Design” and “Crispin Porter Whoever.” I can think of a plethora of liked names in the Omaha area alone; pretty much everywhere there is to work in this town, with few exceptions, is named after the bloke who founded it.
But what does that really say about your new company? “We’re really creative! Swears! We just skipped the day where we named the company!”
Well, enough sermonizing. How to escape this is easy and relatively selective to the creative industries:
RULE #1: Don’t name a company. Name a band.
RULE #2: Do not talk about Fight Club.
Bands have cool names like Journey, AC/DC, WHAM!, Guns n’ Roses, Foo Fighters, The Killers, Radiohead, etc. Now imagine a design firm named “The Killers.” That’s plausible. You could see that. And I’ll bet that place kicks ass. “AC/DC” makes sense, and you may have laughed but I could totally see some touchy-feely design shop out there named “Journey.”
Please note that I am not recommending naming your company after a band. Name it like a band. Aesthetic Apparatus did it. Archrival did it. Modern Dog did it. Can you imagine heading out late on a friday to catch the Oxide show at the Sokol? Opening act Pentagram? Hell yes. Do you see yourself doing the same thing to catch the “BBDO” concert? Only if you’re into new-age adult contemporary.
Sure there will still be a few Steve Miller and Dave Matthews Bands out there, but the design world will be a much richer place in its chosen designations. Here’s a fine place to get started (not really).
COMMENTS SECTION GAME: Pick the band name that would make the best design firm name and, conversely, pick the design firm name that would make the best band name. Annnnnd go!
Comments (13)
Justin Paluch said:
I just went through this and it was the biggest pain in the ass for me. After a few years of using a ‘.net’ URL, I set out the requirement that whatever name I picked needed an available ‘.com’.
So, after banging my head against the wall to find something that sounded cool, and had some kind of tie into my personality; I’d run the whois only to get sent back to the drawing board.
I finally settled on Adapter.
In terms of your game: band to design firm: Tenacious D(esign) design firm to band: Razorfish… but only because you took Archrival already.
Posted on December 18, 2007
Prescott Perez-Fox said:
It would be awesomely absurd if there were a design studio called “The Presidents of the United States of America”. How about “Love Equals Death” or “Carnage Asada”. Not to mention those bands that go a little too far such as “Jesus Fuckin Christ” or “Not Drowning, Waving”.
I once worked for a design group called “Telekinesis”, that could be a cool band.
My suggestion is that anyone who starts a design firm should add the word “Starship” to their last name. Brilliant.
Posted on December 18, 2007
Nate Voss said:
Prescott, I think you’d have to begin with “Airplane” and graduate to “Starship.” Probably when you make the move from print to web design or something.
Posted on December 18, 2007
Jw said:
Band Name as Design Company: The Gossip
Design Company Name as Band: Jelvetica
Posted on December 18, 2007
Alfonso said:
Band to design firm: Depeche Mode
Design firm to band: Under Consideration
Great post!
Posted on December 18, 2007
Bill Kerr said:
Dethklok Metric Thievery Corporation
Posted on December 19, 2007
Bill Kerr said:
Remember that soft returns don’t work, Bill!
Dethklok Metric Thievery Corporations
Posted on December 19, 2007
Mitch Canter said:
I didn’t want to go by my own name when I started my design firm. I wanted something that I could work with locally, but at the same time have a name that people outside of Nashville could think is catchy and sort of cool.
my final choice: studio nashvegas.
Design Firm that could be a band: SeventhMan Band that could be a Design Firm: Muse.
Posted on December 20, 2007
Ash said:
Band as Design Company? - Lucky Soul
Posted on December 21, 2007
Bill KErr said:
I don’t care for this crappy band,but their name would rule for a studio:
Slipknot
Posted on December 21, 2007
Zach O said:
I have noticed that this is a new trend in advertising/design company naming. Call me old school but I still enjoy a good BBDO or DDB. However I completely understand why this trend is happening. 1) Advertising agencies are seen just a notch above lawyers and both use the partners on the door, so in order to separate ourselves from them the better. 2) Partners change. If partners change and the company’s philosophy why should the company keep the founders name. 3) Partners names are hard to pronounce: Kohnke Hanneken or Bogusky. Look at SKAR (Smith Kaplan Allen & Reynolds), people know them as SKAR and not the four partners. They got lucky with that abbreviation.
Band Name to Design Firm Name: Cobra Starship, Gym Class Heroes, Paramore, The Starting Line, New Found Glory, Cartel
Design Firm Name to Band Name: Cutwater, Element 79, Dave and Goliath, Love and War, Stick and Move, Kinetic, Tequila, 180, 72andSunny, Droga5
And then their is June; a month, an ad agency and a band.
Posted on December 27, 2007
Lawrence Anderson said:
What do you guys think of Pure Ninja as a design firm name?
Posted on December 28, 2007
BAMm said:
sound THE ALARM, because i would like to make THE CALL and tell all of U2 really think and get your TALKING HEADS out of your KANSAS! all of you have BEN HARPERing on what a great name WOOD be for a design stuDIO. well i didn’t get THE HIVES over it, but i did reach NIRVANA and deciDEAD to name my graphic business BAMM! you all are the FAUST to know! but you MIKE KNOTT like it…
mark jaquette @ ism & bamm graphics
Posted on January 2, 2008