Anyone who's ever had to form a company can sympathize with how difficult it can be to create a company name that is descriptive yet unique.
However, some companies have gone a less-traditional route and used some pretty unique naming conventions.
Here are some examples of interesting company names and the backstories behind them.
1. Google
The name started as a joke about the amount of information the search engine could search, or a "Googol" of information. (A googol is the number 1 followed by 100 zeros.) When founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin gave a presentation to an angel investor, they received a check made out to "Google."
2. Hotmail
Sabeer Bhatia and Jack Smith had the idea of checking their email via a web interface, and tried to find a name that ended in "mail." They finally settled on hotmail because it had the letters "html," referencing the HTML programming language used to help create the product.
3. Volkswagen
Volkswagen literally means "people's car." Adolf Hitler initially came up with the idea for "cars for the masses," which would be a state-sponsored "Volkswagen" program. Hitler wanted to create a more affordable car that was able to transport two adults and three children at speeds of 62 mph. He choose the car manufacturer Porsche to carry out the project, and the rest, as they say, is history.
4. Yahoo
The word "yahoo" was coined by Jonathan Swift in the the book Gulliver's Travels. The term represented a repulsive, filthy creatures that resembled humans (think: Neanderthal). Yahoo! founders Jerry Yang and David Filo considered themselves yahoos, and thought the term would be appropriate for their joint venture.
5. Asus
The consumer electronic company is named after Pegasus, the winged horse of Greek mythology. The founders dropped the first three letters for the high position in alphabetical listings. In 1998 Asus created a spinoff company named Pegatron, using the other unused letters of Pegasus.
6. Cisco
Contrary to popular belief and theories, Cisco is simply short for San Francisco. Their logo resembles the suspension cables found on the Golden Gate bridge.
7. Canon
When Canon was founded in 1933 under the name Precision Optical Instruments Laboratory. Two years later they adopted "Canon" after the company's first camera, the Kwanon. Kwanon is the Japanese name of the Buddhist bodhisattva of mercy.
8. Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola's name comes from the the coca leaves and kola nuts used as flavoring in the soft drink. Eventually Coca-Cola creator John S. Pemberton changed the 'K' of kola to 'C' to create a more fluid name.
9. FranklinCovey
The planning product line was named after Benjamin Franklin and Stephen Covey. The company was formed in 1997 from the combining of the two companies FranklinQuest and the Covey Leadership Center.
10. IKEA
IKEA is simply a random collection of letters, based from the first letters of founder Ingvar Kamprad's name in addition to the first letters of the names of the Swedish property and the village in which he grew up: Ingvar Kamprad Elmtaryd Agunnaryd.
11. Lego
Lego is a combination of the Danish phrase "leg godt," which translates to "play well." Initially the company built wooden toys, and later switched to making plastic bricks. Lego also means "I put together" in Latin, but the Lego Group claims this merely coincidence and the origin of the word is strictly Danish.
12. Reebok
Reebok is simply an alternate spelling of "rhebok," an African antelope. The company founders found the word in a South African edition of a dictionary won by the Joe Foster, son of the Reebok founder J.W. Foster.
13. Sharp
The Japanese consumer electronics company is named after its first product, an ever-sharp pencil that was created in 1915.
14. Six Apart
Six Apart's name has one of the most interesting origins. The web company's co-founders Ben and Mena Trott were born six days apart.
15. Skype
The original prototype of the company's flagship product had the name "Sky-Peer-to-Peer," which was shrunk down to Skyper, then finally Skype.
16. Verizon
Verizon is a combination of the words veritas, which is Latin for "truth," and horizon.
Contrast
Another way to make your subject stand-out, can be achieved by a massive contrast. Your subject needs to be different from the rest of the image. Find a light, dark or solid color background and a strong color subject. Or convert your file into black and white.
Image by Jono Renton
Less is often more. Even before the rule of thirds, I personally think that simplicity should be the first thing to think about when composing a photo. Try to keep your image ‘clutter free'. Remember that you want to draw your viewer to the main subject of the photo. To simplify your composition you should:
1. Get in close
Remove the distractions around your subject by zooming in. Once you think your close enough, zoom in even more! This is a very simple, yet very effective, way to simplify your image.
2. The blurred-background effect.
In technical terms, we talk about limited depth of field. That's a geek term meaning, “which part of the scene, front-to-back, is in focus”.
What we are looking for is: “Subject yes, background no.”
Images by Thorsten Becker, Xava Du
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Natural Frame
Use an element inside your frame to act as a frame. To be considered a frame, the framing element should cover at least two sides of the photo. It could be almost anything. Most commonly used are trees, branches and window frames.
The natural frame will bring depth to the photo and emphasize your main subject.
Image by Adam Barney
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Pictures are beautiful. They can decorate a home or an office, be published in magazines, books and calendars, or can be used for a kiss-ass presentation.
Creating a beautiful photograph isn't as difficult as you might think. Some people can instinctively compose their images beautifully others might need a little help.
Over the next weeks, I'll show you some basic photography techniques that will dramatically improve your images. Your photos will go from looking amateurish to professional.
Trick 1 - The rule of thirds
This is one probably one of the most popular rule out there. Draw 2 imaginary lines (both horizontal and vertical) at equal distance from each other, dividing your image into thirds. Now adjust your subject to these imaginary lines and press the button. The rule is based on the theory that the eye is naturally drawn to those ‘thirds' and the points at each intersecting line.
Image by John Watson
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