Drink Up!

Our two favourite drink-names from a recent trip to Edinburgh, had to be-

1. Iron barr bru (of course!)

2. Whittard (teas, hot chocolate, herbal drink etc)

So what’s you favourite drink-name tipple?

8 things about Philip Tracey

It’s hard to ignore the shooting star of the Irish design world. We are thrilled and inspired everyday but the endless creativity and brilliance of our leading lights.

Arguably, the creme of the crop is our milliner extraordinare.

And here are 8 things you may or may not know about him-

1. He was born in Ahascragh, Ballinsloe, Co. Galway and has seven brothers and one sister.

2. He studied at the National College of Design in Dublin before winning a scholarship to attend the Royal College of Art in London in 1988.

3. In 1991, he stablished his own company and in 1994, opened his first shop at 69 Elizabeth Street in London.

4. He has designed hats for haute couture houses such as givenchy, alexander mc queen, valentino, helmut lang, thierry mugler, anna molinari and versace.

5. His personal clients include Daphe Guinness, Isabelle Blow, Katy Perry, Sarah Jessica-Parker and Madonna.

6. He designed the G-hotel in Galway. On 31 July 2012, he was asked to design a collection of diamond engagemenet rings for Voltaire Diamonds.

7. 36 of his hats were worn at the royal wedding of Will and Kate in 2011. Princess Beatrice famously wore his Fascinator hat to the wedding.

8. In September 2012, he made his return to London fashion week after a twelve-year gap.

Now then, who’s that girl in the floral sculpture?

Competition

Your chance to win two complimentary places on our next Theory of Names workshop (or if you prefer, two hours one-to-one coaching)!

Using one of the case studies taken from our forthcoming e-book (see below), submit your four best name suggestions for the couple’s forthcoming arrival to-

info@theoryofnames.com before 12 October.

Good luck!!


Case Study 3 – The modern American Family

Marie Bac and James Watterson became a couple 18 months ago and are now expecting their first child.

Marie is a French artist/graphic designer, an only-child, born about 8 miles outside Biarritz. James, who was previously married, was born in Vancouver. His parents are inter-racial – Black and Caucasian, and he has three older brothers. James is a software developer with Opennet and they have just bought an apartment in West-side Manhattan.

James came across the Theory of Names on the net, read the e-book and they both did the half-day workshop during the week. They are really enthusiastic about using the ideas for naming their baby due in 6 weeks time. James has one son from his previous marriage – Tyler Be – so he is not averse to using exotic names although Marie prefers modern popular or classic names. To begin, they think about James’ surname, Watterson – which is a traditional Canadian name, although not very common.

What male and female name suggestions (2 + 2) do you have for Marie and James?

Benedict Cumberbatch – Beautiful Award Winner No. 5

Is there anything that Benedict Cumberbatch can’t do?

From iconic-genius Stephen Hawking to super-sleuth Sherlock, to Star Trek II villain to Smaug the Dragon (forthcoming Peter jackson’s Hobbit), to rumoured next Bond villain?

And of course, personal asset-holder of a magnificent, memorable name. Indeed, from a Theory of Names perspective, we view the name B.C. to have a feminine name-structure bias (adding to the mystery of the beguiling actor?).

Which of course leads us the compelling question – what are his middle name/s?

Answer – Timothy Carlton

Arise, then Benedict Timothy Carlton Cumberbatch – winner of our fifth beautiful award.

1,000 songs in your pocket & iPhone 5

Honestly, we’re a bit worried.

You see – words, descriptions, names and phrases – matter to us. We think of names, even product names, as assets (not just functional descriptors) because assets deliver value over and beyond their physical rebuild cost (usually over a period of time – often years).

So when Steve Jobs described the original iPod as “a thousand songs in your pocket” he knew what he was doing. He changed the game – from a music playing device into a portable library.

So when we hear the Apple people referring to iPhone 5 as “thinner and lighter,” we wonder what they are doing. God forbid, but are they tryiing to sell us phones? Seriously?

We just hope that somebody out there (somebody important – in Apple) realises that design begins with the name – not a machine.

We hope.

Theodora Rose Williams and Theory of Names

Congratulations to Robbie and Ayra on the arrival if their baby daughter, Theodora Rose Williams.

From a Theory of Names perspective, they’ve done well – a name with lovely balance, originality, context and most importantly, beauty and memorability.

A curiosity, perhaps, is their choice of P.A. (preferred abbreviation) – “Teddy” – which we normally associate with Edward. Of course, Theo or Dora might also become an adopted name of everyday use.

For the historians among you, the name has Roman origins – “Theodora I (Greek: Θεοδώρα) (c. 500 – 28 June 548), was empress of the Roman (Byzantine) Empire and the wife of Emperor Justinian I” (from Wikipedia).

So once again, our hats off to the musicians – we also blogged recently about Elvis Costello & Diane Krall’s excellent choice of boys names.

Dere’s music in d’em names.

Friends, Phoebe and Theory of Names

We recently ran a poll in Rollercoaster.ie on the prettiest Friends’ character name.

The outcome was… (da da)

64% Phoebe Buffay
27% Rachel Green
9% Chandler Bing.

Is this further proof that not all names are equal? Or perhaps, as we believe, there is a science and art to beautiful, memorable names?

To celebrate, here is one of Phoebe’s best moments from the show, when she meets Mike’s parents-

So where does everyone summer?

White is the new Black

Has anyone noticed the number of 2012 high-end/sports cars that are white? Are “white” cars the antidote to recession-weary black or silver cars?

More importantly, does colour have a part to play in perfect design? Could colour have a role in perfect name design??

Tell us your views!

Happiness by Design

Is it possible to design anything? Buildings – yes. Names – we think so.

Life? Love? Happiness?

Well, Happiness Designer (and Album Cover/Graphic Designer extraordinaire), Stefan Sigmeister, thinks it’s possible to boil happiness down to 7 rules.

Here’s he is, giving the presentation at a recent TED talk-

So what are your rules for designing happiness?

Elvis & Sons

We are of course talking about the second Elvis – Declan Patrick McManus (aka Elvis Costello) and his adorable wife, jazz virtuoso, Diana Krall.

In addition to the 30 studio albums he’s written, clearly he and Ms Krall know a thing or two about beautiful baby names, based on the memorable names they gave their twin boys in 2006 i.e.

Dexter Henry Lorcan and

Frank Harlan James.

Touch of class, eh?

So are musician better creators of children’s names than the rest of us mere mortals?

Tell us your views!

Early Bird Offer – Workshop, 29 September

We’re off!

And we’re really excited about our next Theory of Names Workshop in Mount Merrion Community Centre on 29 September from 10.00am to 12.30pm. To mark the occasion, we are offering an early-bird registration price of €25 for the first 6 bookings (standard price €40).

In addition, to promote couple-based name design and creativity, partners come free.

During the course, there are lots of thought-provoking case studies and our usual celebrity-baby name challenge, of course, we devote lots of time to the serious of business of-

– the universal name-design principles which govern all beautiful names

– the differences in creating girls’ and boys names

– appropriate and inappropriate uses of exotic children names

– overcoming family and partner preferences for generational names or trendy names

– identifying lots of new beautiful name options for your children

– becoming the “name-coach” in your family or sets of friends

Whatever your motivation, whether your male or female, expecting-mummy-or granny, we want you to come.  And we’ll do our best to surprise, entertain and educate you.

Of course, if you have any questions about the programme, please don’t hesitate to drop us a line.

If the times or dates don’t suit you, contact us a line and we’ll work something out.

Alternatively, if you’re ready to book now you can pay using credit card at the button below

 

 

 

Zaha

When is a name not a name?

Answer – if you’re Zaha Hadid (we prefer just Zaha for masculine impact).

Probably because there’s no better example of someone who’s has created a brand that exemplifies style, creative and panache from almost everything she’s done.

Could you describe her designs as “Beautiful”, “Memorable”? Yes, yes, without exception, YES. So we have something in common (in value and mission) as well as a huge amount to learn from her.

And our gold medal winner at the London 2012 Olympics? Has to be her London Acquatics Centre-

Zaha- worthy 4th Winner of our Beautiful Award? Oh yes.