Names in the Wild: Farmers' Market

On Sunday I went to the Temescal Farmers' Market for the first time in a couple of months and discovered some interesting names amid the quince and persimmons.

The first stalls I encountered belonged to T-shirt vendors whose wares were anything but standard issue. Naturally, I had to ask about Juror2:

Owner/artist Jenifer Kirsch didn't disappoint. She told me she'd played "Juror No. 2" in a high school mock trial based on John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men. It became her nickname, and she when she started making T-shirts it was a natural choice for her business name.

The Girl and Rhino also came from a childhood experience, owner Adam told me:

"When I was a kid my parents had a statue of a girl sitting on a rhinoceros," he said. "It made a pretty big impression on me." He added the umbrella and wrote a poem to the mysterious girl. (Click the About section of his website to read it.)

Finding a standout name for a small business, especially in a creative field, can seem like a big challenge. Jenifer and Adam solved the problem by mining their childhood memories and experiences; as a result, their business names are both authentic and distinctive. Their quirkiness, edginess, and air of mystery is completely legitimate (even expected) in the world of artwear. And it can't hurt their trademarkability.

I don't recommend this approach for companies of every size and category, but if you're launching an artistic or service business, it's definitely worth exploring.