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Whats in a name...?

Dr Octopus Creations...

         

Harley_m

7:37 pm on Oct 3, 2002 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



Dr Octopus Creations - for a Software/Web Design business - what do you think? i wont go into the long story that made my brother choose that name a couple of years back for the company we are now properly forimg, but i would love your comments on the name...

and no, the site wont have a maritime theme!

rcjordan

7:42 pm on Oct 3, 2002 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member



I don't like it, Harley. Comes off as both flippant and comic-book sinister.

[edited by: rcjordan at 7:43 pm (utc) on Oct. 3, 2002]

ken_b

7:42 pm on Oct 3, 2002 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member Top Contributors Of The Month



This could be a problem if it makes your clients think you can do eight things at once.

[As if clients don't think that already]

DrCool

7:59 pm on Oct 3, 2002 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



You might have to deal with possible trademark and copyright violations with Marvel Comics as well.

Harley_m

9:38 pm on Oct 3, 2002 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



wow, im surprised at that, everyone we have told here have thought "interesting, cool name" - and we didnt even know Dr Octopus existed until after we had thought of the name...! :)

We were just trying to think of a name slightly better than "TechoFab Design"

why do you think its flippant?

dcheney

9:43 pm on Oct 3, 2002 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member



The only thing I see that might be a problem is the "Dr." because people will be searching for both "Dr." and "Doctor" (and maybe "Doc", etc.)

Harley_m

9:46 pm on Oct 3, 2002 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



hmmm, a fair point, not an easy one to solve either - will take some thought

thanks for that

jatar_k

9:47 pm on Oct 3, 2002 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Administrator 10+ Year Member



I would agree whole heartedly with rc. It sounds like a niche comic book hobby site.

Harley_m

9:49 pm on Oct 3, 2002 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



maybe in the US, where the Marvel comic is well known - over in the Uk here not too many people even know who he is

digitalghost

9:55 pm on Oct 3, 2002 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member



Dr.Octopus 2002 All Rights Reserved- From a Google search.

Harley_m

10:02 pm on Oct 3, 2002 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



Does that mean that Dr Octopus Creations is totally unusable?

digitalghost

10:36 pm on Oct 3, 2002 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member



No, but it means contacting a lawyer, doing a trademark search and then registering a business name that has no baggage. All things that should be done anyway.

I also suggest a test logo and letterhead before committing to a name. It sucks to have a registered name, only to find that suitable graphics and letterhead can't be agreed upon.

<still editing typos> Man, I need lots of coffee today. Must of overdosed on Melatonin last night.

[edited by: digitalghost at 10:43 pm (utc) on Oct. 3, 2002]

ken_b

10:40 pm on Oct 3, 2002 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member Top Contributors Of The Month



It might seem like an obvious question, but what are you trying to communicate with the name?

Dr Octopus Creations really doesn't tell us much. And the message a name gives can be really mis-interpreted.

Quinn

10:50 pm on Oct 3, 2002 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



"Dr.Octopus 2002 All Rights Reserved- From a Google search."

I'm sure you're probably correct DigitalGhost, but I would do a search on the us patent and trademark office before I gave up....

Sometimes I wonder how often I see "All Rights Reserved" when no mark has been filed....

digitalghost

10:59 pm on Oct 3, 2002 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member



Actually, I believe it is possible to brand any name, c'mon, Mandrake? Red Hat? The subscript that follows most business names provides the description.

Halls Brothers? Makers of cough drops or carpenters? Singer? Making number #1 hits or sewing machines? Hoover? The dam? The President? Or makers of things that suck? ;)

Certain names lend themselves to certain attitudes though. H&R Block sounds austere and serious which suits the tax business. Peter Pumpkin might not be a company you went to to have your taxes done but you might go there for party supplies.

Following the basic rules, choose a name that is easy to pronounce, contains a mnemonic device such as alliteration and is distinctive.

mosley700

11:12 pm on Oct 3, 2002 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



Better to brand your own name.
A few domain names I never would have bought ( thinking they wouldn't turn into anything ):
Yahoo, Ebay, Monster, dmoz, msn, google, ...
I think it's easier to brand your own funky domain than trying to get a popular search term domain branded.
Somebody paid $1.5 million (?) for drugs.com or drug.com or something like that. Must not have done a good job of branding cuz I can't even remember the domain.
..........

Harley_m

12:40 am on Oct 4, 2002 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



the company is already registered, the branding has been sorted, and the logo's ect are all done and were very happy with them...

im honestly surprised to see some of you not like the name - we all thought it to be different, creative, and striking...certainly better than the average web design company name

see for yourself : [ali-t-l.com...]

[edited by: rcjordan at 12:47 am (utc) on Oct. 4, 2002]
[edit reason] on occassion, links to logo graphics have been allowed to discuss creative [/edit]

rcjordan

12:51 am on Oct 4, 2002 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member



>im honestly surprised to see some of you not like the name

That's understandable, Harley. I come up with some of (what I believe to be) the best names and urls only to have everyone else go thumbs-down.

The logo really adds to the sinister side, sorry.

mivox

1:26 am on Oct 4, 2002 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member



Depends on what market you're trying to target... for a general small business or corporate or other "serious" audience, I'd give it a big thumbs down. If you're marketing to the MLM/stay-at-home-mom-trying-to-make-a-buck market, I'd give it an even bigger thumbs down.

If you were going into a niche market of designing promotional sites for rave organizations and DJ's, I'd say you're probably fine.

Rule #1 to remember when you think a name, graphic, etc., is really cool: Are you representative of your target market? Are you marketing your services to people in your own demographic group? Probably not...

In most cases, a webdesigner is marketing to clients considerable less techno-savvy and much less "worldly" than themselves. Being in an industry that is on the leading edge of everything definitely exposes you to a lot of ideas and whatnot that most people needing your services will not "get".

I may think vinyl pants, industrial music and tongue jewelry are neeto, but I certainly wouldn't wear shiny black clothing and be sticking my tongue out at a client meeting. Even if you would never be caught dead in vinyl, you probably wouldn't be actively uncomfortable around someone dressed that way... your clients are a different story, and that logo/business name makes me think of techno music, glo-stick jewelry and gloomy melodramatic teenagers.

...and rc's right about the logo looking sinister.

mivox

1:33 am on Oct 4, 2002 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member



Hehehe... I just remembered the time someone emailed me about the front page of my personal website (which I think is rather austere and elegant looking), telling me how the design was tacky, and didn't I know black backgrounds made any design look like a p*rn site?

Takes all kinds... since it was my personal site, I couldn't care less what he thought. ;) If it were a business site though, I'd probably try to make it a bit more aesthetically accessible to the un-hip. heheheh.

mosley700

1:36 am on Oct 4, 2002 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



I can't agree w/ the thumbs down. You could name your business some silly name like "marbles", and if you brand it nicely you've got a business named marbles. The only thing in a name is what you put in it. Nobody would be taking Yahoo Inc seriously except for the fact that they got more money than all of us.

Harley_m

12:22 pm on Oct 4, 2002 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



Using an example only - what if i had come along with the name Mivox.com - which frankly sounds like a cough mixture or a headache pill, would you have liked it?

And if your scared of the logo, you shouldnt be reading so many comic books!

Thanks for all this guys - im finding it very interesting and valuable...

Harley_m

12:24 pm on Oct 4, 2002 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



oh and mivox - your link to web design inside the design.mivox doesny work - doesnt give the best impression of a good web designer if their web design link doesnt work! :)

Dreamquick

1:29 pm on Oct 4, 2002 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member



black backgrounds made any design look like a p*rn site?

I always thought that was pink/red, and black was goth homepages...

- Tony