Ski Builders Forum

I have hit some sort of writers/naming block while trying to name my ski project/ business. This is much more complicated than I thought.

Names, as many other things can do, can either make or break your product.

I was wondering if the anyone could tell me where they came up with the idea for their ski name? or if you could tell me what kinds of algorithm you used to get to a name?

Name ideas would be cool, but I figured I'd ask for help, as anyone with a good name is probably going to keep it for them self.

There are some great startup names out there, like ON3P, which makes no sense until you read where the name came from, but its still a great name. Then there are some terrible ones like in my opinion, like Ramp Skis and 333.

I think names end up coming to you.
I think most are pretty simple - based on your own name, local features or things that are in the environment of your sport.
I also think that whether it's marketing or not names end up seeming like good names to us because we become so used to hearing them. eg K2, Salomon etc. Like if you tried to call your ski company Everest now it would seem pretty cheasey I think.
Some are truly ingenious though you're right.
I like Kingswood skis. Not so great for the US/Europe market, but down here in Aus/NZ the "kingswood" is a model of car from the 60s or 70s, built like a tank. There are plenty of them still on the road and I guess have the reputation that they'll run forever because they were so solidly made. To associate this already legendary toughness with your own brand of skis just fits for a handmade bomber freeride ski.
I thought a lot about my name for my project (and really it's probably not going commercial anyway). ended up calling them Crisp skis (or Crisp Customs) because that's the name of the street where we first built them and also has the connotation of a crisp, cold powder morning (I like it ok, but maybe it's actually really lame!?)
I think logo is equally, if not more important than name.

our name came when we were discussing what our team would be called.
Somehow it got to "so yea there's the grenade army, monster army, everyone has an army" and i just belted out "Blak Sheep SquADHDron!" (the ADHD part was added later of course)

Probably not much help but like Falls said, a good name will just come out

Mine (North Fork) came to me while I was out fishing, on the North Fork of the Snoqualmie.

I think it's good to come up with a name that has meaning for you.

Idris skis, and the inspiration for having a dragon in the logo came from the dragon character in a locally made cartoon where I grew up - also being the name of one of Wales highest mountains.

True, names will usually come to you. I don't have a formal company (yet) but a name I came up with is Section8, which came to me one night in this forum. Many people think it's crazy to actually build skis/boards and you get that strange amazed look when you tell people, 'Yea, I made these" . Hence the name Section8, which is an old military term to signify some one who is crazy, unstable, insane. Also thought of Chaos, because the building process can be chaotic at times. Even though I like both names, neither really fit the skis I want to make which are primarily classic looking wood veneer skis with modern designs. So now I think I've settle on a name, Desmond Custom Skis or DCS.

Write down the type of skis you want to make, target audience, graphics, local landmarks/icons like the other guys have done. Look at other products for inspiration. I looked at hand made guitars and custom wood boats. Eventually you'll see a pattern develop.

we go by NorthSide Customs. We make the skis on the northside of town and we make custom not a line of skis.

The northside of the town I live in has been a topic of controversy in the last few years. A developer tried to have the entire district marked as a blight zone and thus devalue the property values and buy at a cheap price and attempt to displace 100s of people and redo the infrastructure using subsidized government loans and build condos. It failed but the residents in that area now have a new found sense of pride for their district after that happened.

Plus everyone wants to is the northside of the hill cause that's where the snow stays the best longest, right? At least in NA.

Feral:
Came to me when I was watching a discovery show on the hunting of feral pigs in the Southern U.S. and a definition of the word feral was said "an animal which has escaped from a domestic or captive status and is living more or less as a wild animal" " The introduction of feral animals or plants to their non-native regions, like any introduced species, may disrupt ecosystems and has, in some cases, contributed to extinction of indigenous species" I thought of the captive state that all the large companies have such on the general public, when I was breaking away to form my own independence.

Sorry for the long ass description.

I kind of feel like the name isn't really that important. The product makes the name cool. Any name. Of course, that takes a little time. I came up with brazen because it's just a crazy project to have taken on...I kinda brazened my way into it . Some would say that's my personality, right?

thats part of why we're called blak sheep, because i'm so damn stubborn that when everyone i know keeps telling me what i'm doing is crazy i say yea sure thanks and just keep doing it. I'm supposed to be a computer guy like the rest of my family, LOL, well I kinda am, right?

I used the name OZ Snowboards for the sole reason it is simple and easy to remember. To me its all about the marketing. I racked my brain for weeks trying to come up with a name. I even posted a contest on craigslist to get name ideas with a $100 prize for the best name. I got hundreds of ideas but none of them really struck a chord with me. Don't over think it, use the KIS principal....keep it simple!

I had a friend who always referred to his schlong as his "monkey"... I always figured mine was especially happy...

Most people never got that. There was this chick at a supplier once, I think it might have been Composites One, and she got it right away... Giggled thru the entire order I love that kinda stuff...

i agree with brazen and several others.
the name is important but by no means more important than the product. good products sell themselves, a good name helps with marketing and recognition.
it took me (us) over two years to even begin talking about a name. and our "algorithm" was 10-15 people in a room yelling out names after having a week to think about it. we sat on this giant list of names for a month or two until something stood out. after that it was all stickers tshirts and naked ladies.

free your mind with lots of alcohol, works for me. You need to bring a pencil and paper to the bar as you will not be able to remeber the names in the morning.