Naming Yourself - Go Original or keep it clasic?

[abril1127]

I am trying to come up with a name for my (soon to be) portrait photography business. I have one that's kind of funky and off the wall, One I think people will remember. The other is simply my name.
What's your thought on naming/branding?

[toverman]

I went with classic for my name to make it easier for people to remember me and my name along with my business. Though I normally consider myself creative and not lazy, in this case I was the latter.

Many on the forum have come up with ingenious names, though, which might inspire you to come up with something different and wacky on your own. My advice is if you go that route, make it something photography related that non-photographers can identify with (not like "F Stop Imaging" but maybe something like "Focal Point," etc.). You'll also have to watch out for names that are already taken, including by the big corporate dogs who have lawyers and such.

If you are focusing on portraits, you might want to include that in the name of the biz. But then again, if you expand into weddings or even commercial work, you might not.

Did you have a name in mind?

[HotHolly]

You'll brand yourself with the name you choose, so be careful. Ask around to make sure people dont think/hear something else.

Here's a funny example of what can happen when you dont check your name, slogan, logo, etc with people before you go ahead and do it. The Women's Club (wealthy blue hairs) sponsored a huge planting of crepe myrtles here a few years ago. They had this nice magenta and white monochrome billboard, posters, and tv ads all made around this ad peice. It was the silhouette of a Victorian woman with a parasol, and next to her it said - "get your beds ready, Merytle is coming." Ooops. The womens club accidentally solicited the town. lol. It was really funny and it never occurred to any of them that it sounded like that. So take your name and slogan for a test drive before you commit it to print.

Personally, I think too many people use their names. Too many people are Smith Photography. Blah blah blah. I'd be more original and use something that communicates what you want your studio to be. Im all into pixie dust and purple cows for childrens stuff...doesnt work so well for weddings. lol. Good luck! :o)

[toverman]

Holly makes some excellent points, which reminded me of something else.

My native hometown of Fredericksburg, Va., at some point wanted to name its bus system. City leaders quickly discarded Fredericksburg Area Rapid Transit because of the acronym it created. They would have been the butt of everyone's jokes!

[abril1127]

LOL that's great!
I was thinking about Fat Hen Photography. My last name is Hendrick...thought a play off of that but then when I think about all the good photographers I've known, it seemed like they all have a cursive written name with the first letter spewing off the length of the entire name....Now for some reason to me that is like a sign of a good photographer....Now how did that get into my head and how many other heads think the same?

[LegacyPhotographic]

Holly makes an excellent point, your name not only represents you, but the type of photo industry you are looking to get into. I chose my name in particular for a couple main reasons: One, I enjoy doing portraits, especially engagement, weddings, etc. These kind of photos pass down through generations of family. Two, my parents own a printing company called Legacy Graphics. So, keeping a family relation, and playing off the same concept, I went with Legacy Photographic.

Come up with a few ideas, and bounce it off friends, coworkers, family, and on here, and I guarantee you people will be honest with you about it. Choosing a business name is something people recognize as a big choice that represents you.. and I learned that friends and family will be quick to point out that your name doesn't represent you, sending you back to the drawing board. lol.. good luck! Let us know what you come up with!

[toverman]

Maybe you should go with Phat Hen if you're going to go after the high school seniors.
Maybe "Hen House Photography." Sheesh, I don't know!

Whatever you do, go with something you like and can live with and represents what you can offer at least in some way.

[EagleGirl]

I went crazy trying to think up a name for mine. If my name was good, I would have used it. I finally decided on a name and then changed it. Now I'm Eagle Girl Photography which is definitely "different". Eagle was my maiden name and me and my sisters are proudly known as The Eagle Girls, so I finally relented to that. I still second guess myself on it though. So good luck.

[abril1127]

Originally Posted by toverman

Maybe you should go with Phat Hen if you're going to go after the high school seniors.
Maybe "Hen House Photography." Sheesh, I don't know!

Whatever you do, go with something you like and can live with and represents what you can offer at least in some way.

LOL You know I thought of that but Im not quite sure what PHAT stands for Pretty Hot ?? ??

[HotHolly]

Originally Posted by abril1127

LOL You know I thought of that but Im not quite sure what PHAT stands for Pretty Hot ?? ??

Thought it meant crazy cool. Kind of like updated verbiage for super-fly.

[d2creative]

I went off the wall with Blue Lemon Photo last year when i decided to actually register as a business.
I did sooooo many godaddy.com searches for countless "creative" photo related names and they were all taken. There is even a guy in another state with my exact first and last name which is already registered! The big thing for me was making sure I had an original dot com address so i need to search that more than I needed to search my own state records. So i was pretty much screwed. The BLP name let me have fun with a logo and it's more my creative personality. I also focus on more commercial type stuff with small business owners, graphic design agencies and marketers being my main client base so I thought I'd have a little fun with it.

[abril1127]

Originally Posted by d2creative

I went off the wall with Blue Lemon Photo last year when i decided to actually register as a business.
I did sooooo many godaddy.com searches for countless "creative" photo related names and they were all taken. There is even a guy in another state with my exact first and last name which is already registered! The big thing for me was making sure I had an original dot com address so i need to search that more than I needed to search my own state records. So i was pretty much screwed. The BLP name let me have fun with a logo and it's more my creative personality. I also focus on more commercial type stuff with small business owners, graphic design agencies and marketers being my main client base so I thought I'd have a little fun with it.

Not to mention you get to use that cool bright Yellow on your web page.

[abril1127]

Ok First draft. Not crazy about it but can't come up with anything better.
What's your thought?