A quick internet search will tell you there are five “most common” types of brand names, six “name categories,” seven “popular” types of brand names, 10 “types of brand names to consider,” three “categories” of brand names that include over 13 types of names, and 18 types of product names. In case your head isn’t […]
descriptive names
Definition: What is a naming approach?
A naming approach is how a brand name connects to qualities or ideas related to the underlying brand (e.g., descriptive names, suggestive names, abstract names).
Definition of abstract brand name (What is an abstract brand name?)
An abstract brand name is a brand name with no apparent connection to the underlying brand.
Definition: What is a descriptive brand name?
A descriptive brand name is a brand name that clearly describes what it refers to (e.g., a feature, product, service, or organization).
Naming an innovation (video)
Don Norman, design legend and author of The Design of Everyday Things, invited me to speak at UC San Diego Design Lab about how to name innovations. My talk focused on how to create descriptors for innovative products—the part of a name that conveys a product’s category. “Smartphone” and “universal remote” are examples of descriptors. […]
Six big mistakes to avoid in brand naming
We’ve identified six common mistakes made in naming, as well as pointers for avoiding them.
Trademarks and the spectrum of distinctiveness, part two
Drawn from a seminal 1976 federal lawsuit, the spectrum of distinctiveness sets out the relative legal strength of various types of marks. Part Two of a two-part series.
Trademarks and the spectrum of distinctiveness, part one
Drawn from a seminal 1976 federal lawsuit, the spectrum of distinctiveness sets out the relative legal strength of various types of marks. Part One of a two-part series.
