Friday, August 5, 2011

It Is What You Name It

Something I've been thinking about recently is what people name their respective art companies. A lot of artists go with something obvious, like John Smith Illustrations, but sometimes people go with things that are less obvious all the way to downright obscure.

I chose Tiffany's Realm for mine. Why? Well, a lot of fantasy artists will go with Jane Doe Fairies or Jane Doe Fantasies or a combination of both, but I don't just paint fairies or fantasy art. I paint all kinds of different subjects, and I want people to feel like they are a part of the little "world" inside my head, full of dragons, fairies, vampires, mermaids, wizards and whatever else decides to poke its head out.

Some of the business names I have seen over the years left me scratching my head. Sometimes I wonder why people give their art the names that they have given it. This is just an example, but why use something like "Cruddy Art"? You're already telling everybody what to think of it! That's no good. You are inviting the inevitable internet troll to come by and tell you that it is indeed cruddy. And they will, believe me. There are more bored people out there without much common sense or courtesy and an abundance of free time than you can imagine, at least until you've been in the art business for a few years.

The other that really confuses me, is business names that are hard to understand, pronounce, and spell. If I can't remember it, how am I going to find you again later? "Now, was that rEihgmnlagh, or rIeghmnlagh?" I get it if you're from another country and it's a common word in your language. That's cool. But I see a lot of people in the good ol' US of A doing this, plucking a word or two that means something cool out of an almost-dead-language and then throwing it in their business name. You have to be sure to carry around business cards with a name like Reighmnlagh, 'cause good luck trying to explain to passersby at Art in the Park how to spell that one.

What I'm saying is, it is what you name it. If you call it crappy, messed up, turd-worthy poo-poo art, guess what? That's what it's going to be remembered as. If you call it obscure, hard to spell and/or remember art, guess what? It's going to be obscure and hard to remember. Forever. Because no one will remember how to spell your domain name.

It's better to pick something that means something to you, rather than something that seems cool and trendy. Eventually the trend will fade, and you'll be left with a real dud of a domain name and 5,000 business cards with "Turd-Worthy Art" printed on them.

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