Name Your Design Business

Tips and Ideas for Business Names
While there are no hard and fast rules for naming your business, here are some tips, tricks, and creative ideas^* to help you develop a business name.

• Use your own name or some variation:
  Tom Johnson & Associates | Deb's Desktop Designs

  Pros: Unless you change your name, it rarely becomes obsolete; in the first example, it may make your business "sound big"; in the second example, it may give your business that personal touch.
  Cons: In the first example, the type of business isn't clear; in the second example, the business name may be "too cute" or may peg you and your business as a "one-person home-based hobby-job" which might make some potential clients wary of doing business with you.

• Use a connection to your location (city, neighborhood, etc.):
  Loop 52 Desktop Publishing | Daimler City DTP & Graphics

  Pros: It can provide a positive name association for those familiar with the location in the name or indicate a specific neighborhood for customers looking for something in the vicinity.
  Cons: What if you move? The name may have no significance to customers new to the area or to long distance customers.

• Use a reference to what you do, your type of business:
  Pixels on Paper | Art for You | Jefferson Desktop Publishing

  Pros: Identifies your type of business or specialty.
  Cons: Terms like Art, Graphics, Designs, and even Desktop Publishing can have different meanings; Pixels on Paper sounds nice, but customers who aren't graphics-savvy might be left scratching their heads; Art for You could be a graphic design firm or a retail business selling framed prints or a commercial artist who paints the sides of buildings.

Next Page > Words and Phrases to Help You Build a Business Name

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^*The names used as examples are not intended to represent actual businesses. Any similarity to actual persons or businesses is purely coincidental.

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