I'm absolutely stuck on what to rename my perfume oils shop. I'm trying to remake with a soft grunge look, and I have an assortment of words that might work but absolutely no idea where to go from here. I paid a guy on Fiverr to help but I don't like any of what he's coming up with because he's just stringing random words rather than trying to find something that flows. I need help from people who know the theme. Here's my ideas board. I asked around, and mood words work better than visual words. I collected an assortment of both. I was focusing on punk-rebel-outlaw type words, but someone looked at my board and suggested "Nap & Resist", and I love the self-care reference and the contrast there. Words I've picked out: - Sundown, Vesper, Mist, Storm, Haze, Cascade, Spark, Burn, Blaze, Plasma, Blueshift, Sugar, Wired, Static, Nightlife, Neon, Shadow, Distort, Swirl - Misrule, Firebrand, Wavemaker, Distortion, Destruction, Demolition, Disruption, Twist, Smash, Crash, Carnage, (Rack and) Ruin, Undoing, Subversion, Virus, Discord, Chaos, Fury, Ferocity, Wrath, Rage, Flare, Disorder, Disharmony, Riot, Rumble, Grudge, Insurrection, Misbehave, Resist, Raise Cain, Untamed, Aberration, Heretic, Contrary, Caprice, Defy, Perquisitor, Disparity, Vicissitude - Nap, Connect, Embrace, Dream, Recharge, Breathe, Release, Laze, Recline, Drift
I’m slightly confused as to what I should be doing with the list of words you provided. Should I be trying to string some of them together to make something that sounds good, or just using them as a reference when coming up with new ideas, or both, or neither?
What I'm asking is for people to tell me which words sound good and which they think definitely won't work.
I can’t say which ones definitely won’t work as I still don’t really understand how they will be used, but I feel like words with strong negative connotations might be a bit iffy. That is just my uneducated opinion though.
I was thinking they might work with the punky-grungy image; Urban Decay works, right? Will go easy on the edge if people think I should though. Someone suggested Oil Slick, which I think is awesome, but there's already an oil painter going by that name on Etsy. Should I add another word in there and go for it?
Ok. To be blunt. Oil Slick sounds... dirty, to me, sorry. And not in a soft grungy way. Like, it doesn't sound edgy like Urban Decay (both pretty words- oil and slick are not, imo). Just unhealthy. I'd also recommend against fire/electricity names unless you plan to make candles a big part of your product base. For my part, I still like MiscRule. I'm big on the "rebel" words.
Okay! It sounded pretty to me but I was thinking of the rainbow patterns. I'd like to go with the rebel words too, but I decided against MiscRule because plays on words stop being funny after a day or so. What's a good one that's edgy but not too negative and easy to spell?
A couple of quick thoughts: Your mood board has an emphasis on pastel grunge and modern resistance, but a lot of the initial words listed have stronger connotations with cyberpunk futurism, an almost post apocalyptic feel. Reinforced by how many words related to destruction and destructive anger in the second list. Some of those are also really hard to incorporate into a phrase which will stick in the mind. The only word I can think of which has rebel connotations and would work with the oil-slick rainbow imagery is interference.
The words I, personally, like from the ones you've listed: "Rebel Words" Misrule, Disruption, Twist, Carnage, (Rack and) Ruin, Chaos, Ferocity, Rage, Riot, Misbehave, Resist, Untamed, Heretic, Contrary, Defy, Element Words (Air or Water would work best, imo, since you're dealing w/ scents) Mist, Storm, Haze, Cascade "Soft" Words Sugar, Dream, Breathe, Drift I like Rack and Ruin.
Maybe. What are some words I'm missing which would go better? Any ideas? Someone on Reddit suggested "Nap & Resist" which I really like, but someone else said it sounds more like pyjamas.
Well... Nap and Ruin would go, but I think that person is probably right that it sounds more like a sleepwear brand.
I'm still liking Oilslick as one word, but the connotations aren't great, yeah. What are good words for the urban theme? Negative keywords might not be a big downside; there's an indie makeup brand called Detrivore, which means garbage-eater.
For me, it's more about the feel of the words than the connotations- like, to me, Detrivore sounds sophisticated, feels good to say, whereas Oilslick sounds... moist, and it's more about "slick" than "oil"- like, if you weren't looking to avoid wordplay, RevOILutionary or something could work.
I see. I like the sound, but I can see why other people wouldn't, so yeah. Been browsing images again and Skyline sounds nice, but again, I'd rather use a mood word at least as the main part. Um. Urgh, prick on Reddit WOULD NOT STOP whining about how bitchy I was for not using their suggestion of "whatever apothecary" when I already told them numerous times that too many other people have used it and it's the exact opposite of the modern theme I'm going for!
@chthonicfatigue Is there a regional dialect issue going on there? "Interference" in the UK makes everyone think "meddling".
Maybe? I'm UK, but it's definitely not my primary connotation since I'm used to "running interference" and also using interference paint.
Not sure how helpful this is since it adds something else for you to consider, but maybe nacreous or iridescent would get that rainbow feel across without the negative feel of oil slick.
