Should you hire naming as well as visual identity?

No, if the name is already said in the neighbourhood and has reviews, a domain or a sign people use. Yes, if the venue is new and the working name cannot be said on the phone or searched without mixing it up with another. Test the name out loud, in a search and on the measured sign. If it fails one of the three, the problem is the name, not the type. Extra naming is commissioned and the name that already worked is dropped. Or a handsome logo is designed for a name nobody can spell.

If the name stays, the job is visual: mark and applications. If the name cannot be used, first a short list of names that can be said and searched, and the mark after, not the other way round.

Join our branding community

Join a community for people who care how a brand shows up on the door, the menu and the phone—not just in a pretty PDF. We share brand judgement you can use this week: names, systems, applications and decisions that hold on the floor. No endless moodboards, no empty decks and no agency theatre. Short takes, clear examples and tips for local businesses that already exist and need to look like themselves at every touchpoint.