Need some help for my new font name

Art Grootfontein

Hi there !

This is my first post and I’m really glad to be here
I’m a french illustrator, animator & graphic designer. You can see my work here :

http://www.grootfontein.net

I didn’t made a lot of fonts but I’m really thrilled about typography, and I want to do more !
I’ve released one month ago a script font named Jazzy Croquette and I’m working right now on a new one.
It is a serif typeface inspired by sign painting, 60’s movie posters and record cover lettering. Here is a sample image

I need your help about the name of that font. I found some name ideas using some distinctive letters, but I can’t choose between 2 concepts :

1. A short name that doesn’t really mean anything (Balter, Watsee, Blakey, Wilmy…)
2. A longer name meaning something with 2-3 words (Pink Mustard, Major Warden, Walter’s Midnight, Craft Maker…)

Could you please tell me which is the good way ?

BTW is it really important that the first marketing image of a font (in a market place) shows the font’s name ?

Hrant Հրանդ Փափազեան Papazian

Since you named your first font "Jazzy Croquette" you might use the #2 approach as a branding trick throughout your work.

So maybe the second word should be a French celebrity from the '60s (you guys had some great comedic characters back then :-) and the first word an adjective evoking the font.

Tipsy Funès?  :->

Especially if you choose the name based on distinctive glyphs in the font, I would definitely make the name prominent in as many places as possible.

JoyceKetterer

Naming anything, but especially fonts, is super hard.  There are many variables to consider and I everyone has their own hierarchy for those variables. 

For instance, a lot of people think that the font name MUST showcase distinctive letters from the font.  That's fourth priority on my list and so therefore not a deal breaker (it being very hard to find a name that passes the first three hurdles).  I will say that after "it's available" the thing that I rank as most important of the variables I have control over is character count. 

I love "Jazzy Croquette" on principle but it's longer than any name I'd approve.  So, though @Hrant H. Papazian's idea is also supper fun, I have the same objection.  

There is a limit to how long a font name can be, which varies based on software and platform. You may not care about having the initial name take up most of the available character count, @Art Grootfontein, depending on your plans for the fonts and expectations about use. The reason it matters to me is that if we make anything into a superfamily (which we are want to do) we're going to need the extra space. AND, we're also going to need space for custom builds.  Another thing our foundry is known for is alts, and customers frequently as for special builds (which we have to rename for caching reasons) with the alts swapped, hybridized, or expanded.   

K Pease

"Oilbirds" made a good first impression on me, actually.

Igor Petrovic

I naively named my first font "Postcard" hoping that people will stumble upon it by chance searching for real postcards or something (besides it's handwritten and looks like a postcard message; inspiration had some logic). But later I felt that I probably even lost some chances trying to compete with such amount of relevant google results.

Now I try to have short and unique, "meaning nothing" or eclectic "twisted" names for example color font "Popsky" [the style is a mix of pop art hence POP, and constructivism hence Russian like surname SKY like Kandinsky). Or font NASLOF (NASLOV means headline in Serbian, so I twisted it to NASLOF to be unique). Or font inspired by Memphis design I called it MEMPIX and so on. 

That way I have a kind of algorithm, I pick some normal logic name/word and then twist it a bit or make a composite of two words

Hrant Հրանդ Փափազեան Papazian

BTW I've always wondered whether choosing the name of an existing free font is a good idea. Most people who google a font want to pirate it, and they get thrown off the scent.  :-)

Igor Petrovic

Hrant H. Papazian said:

BTW I've always wondered whether choosing the name of an existing free font is a good idea. Most people who google a font want to pirate it, and they get thrown off the scent.  :-)

Not sure do you mean to have a "twisted" variant of the name, like "Exor Sans" instead "Exo Sans" i.e., but not being a SEO specialist I am afraid that even "Exor Sans" searches will end up on "Exo Sans" page, similar like my unfortunate try with "Postcard"

BTW, the more the font (or any software) is pirated, the more it is sold as well I guess. I even think of making some fonts free for some time (like the first year after release) until they are spread across the web. But, I already tried to make $1, and it was a huge fail, so regular intro discount or free, $1 didn't work

Jens Kutilek

I once made a tool that suggests names from word lists based on preferred letters, length, etc.: https://github.com/jenskutilek/WoLiBaFoNaGen

Art Grootfontein

Hi everybody and thank you so much ! I know it was a good idea to post on that forum… you guys really are an active & helping community !

@Hrant H. Papazian
I understand your idea, but I don’t really see me as a foundry or a branding 🙂 !
I’m just a type lover and I don’t think that anybody would notice me as a foundry, so I don’t feel that naming consistence is important in my case.
« Tipsy Funès » made me laugh 🤣

@JoyceKetterer

You’re absolutely right, the « available » criteria is the first for me too… And it’s the hardest one ! There are so much fonts already made out there…

And I feel it could be better to have some distinctive letters in the font name.

@K Pease
« Oilbirds » sounds nice , but I’m not quite comfortable with what it refers to 😬

@Igor Petrovic
Your twist method is a good way to « create » names that sounds familiar and unique !
I’ll think of it, thanks.
Regarding the discount option, I’m wondering : is it a good idea to release the font with a special 50% launch discount ? (for 1 week for example)

@Jens Kutilek
What a funny tool ! I don’t know how to make it work (don’t understand the GitHub thing…) but you must had some fun working on that little software ! Did you use it for your fonts ?

BTW I'd really like to see your typefaces, but I can't see any link in the profile page…
Where can I find your work ?

Paul Miller

Groovy Baby !

Art Grootfontein

@Paul Miller

It's nice, but I'd like to find something that is less "only for fun"…

BTW I love Daniel Jacques !

I saw only freef onts from you, do you also make commercial ones ?

Paul Miller

I only do free fonts.

Adam Ladd

@Jens Kutilek Nice... is there a web-based/browser version of the tool, or is it only GitHub download? Thanks.

Amy Hood

Along @Paul Miller 's idea and one on your graphic: what about "Abbey Rue" a take on Abbey Road, with the French translation of Road. 

Or "Bleue Hawaii" another spin on a pop culture reference. 

Super fun font, Art!

Claudio Piccinini

JoyceKetterer said:

Naming anything, but especially fonts, is super hard.  There are many variables to consider and I everyone has their own hierarchy for those variables.

You’re right, but actually almost always the first thing which I decide for a typeface is its name. It’s often the name, and the concept related to it, that fuels and drives the creative process of the whole design (even if I eventually decide to drop it).

Claudio Piccinini

Edit: I see Art already released (and named) his typeface. ;-)
http://www.grootfontein.net/?portfolio=balter-serif-font

Hrant Հրանդ Փափազեան Papazian

Claudio Piccinini said:
almost always the first thing which I decide for a typeface is its name.

Somebody famous (I forget who) once said: "Before I start making something I need a good name for it."

[Deleted User]

The user and all related content has been deleted.

Nick Cooke

James Montalbano said:

Ed Benguiat said that if you named a type design after a place eventually that place would adopt the design. He used his ITC Barcelona as an example. I'm not sure if that is true or if it is another Ed story.

There’s not much evidence of that in my two nearest large towns of Cheltenham and Gloucester. 

Claudio Piccinini

Nick Cooke said:

James Montalbano said:

Ed Benguiat said that if you named a type design after a place eventually that place would adopt the design. He used his ITC Barcelona as an example. I'm not sure if that is true or if it is another Ed story.

There’s not much evidence of that in my two nearest large towns of Cheltenham and Gloucester. 

Well, at the time I saw @Miles Newlyn's Modena in telephone company "3" ads, but these were nation-wide, not just related to my city.

Art Grootfontein

Hey there! the font is indeed released, I posted a message here 3 weeks ago to say thank you to you guys !:

https://typedrawers.com/discussion/3897/balter-serif-font-family-is-out#latest

I hope you'll like the name I chose

Igor Petrovic

@Art Grootfontein Well done, congrats!