Photography name

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JJ!

JJ!

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I’m trying to put a name to my photography and I’m over thinking it so please give honest and blunt opinions!

I started using JayX2A photography. It was a spin on my name and to be honest I now think it’s terrible and I don’t like it.

I have then thought just use my name. Justin Akehurst Photography but I’m not sure. For silly reasons really as it seems quite a long name. Yeah as I said over thinking.

So then I thought Justin Akehurst Images and think I like it more.

Anyone use the word images instead of photography in their brand?

Thoughts? I’m always over thinking everything. Born that way!!
 
I'm no marketing whiz, but Images to me implies you might do more than just Photography, such as image rework, or digital art.

As for the rest, Google your ideas, and pick the one with the fewest relevant hits: don't start out with something like "Smith Photos" and spend years trying to climb the rankings against everyone else with the same name !

I kind of like the shorter "Akehurst Photography" suggested above - it also lends itself more easily to an email address like justin (at) akehurstphotography.

Mind you, saying I use email probably makes me too old to have serious opinion these days !
 
What's this for ? A professional photography website ?
 
stumac said:
What's this for ? A professional photography website ?
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not exactly! Im doing photography for a new equestrian start up business. They are doing online videos and lessons and have asked me to be their photographer. I’m not looking to start a professional business as such but they are going to put my name alongside the images they use etc.

jayx2a got shot down in flames on here so will not use that one anymore.

They are call SJB Equanimity so could incorporate part of their name in to this project.
 
Why not just use your name followed by either .co.uk or .com

Simple enough

Les :)
 
JJ! said:
not exactly! Im doing photography for a new equestrian start up business. They are doing online videos and lessons and have asked me to be their photographer. I’m not looking to start a professional business as such but they are going to put my name alongside the images they use etc.

jayx2a got shot down in flames on here so will not use that one anymore.

They are call SJB Equanimity so could incorporate part of their name in to this project.
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What is the purpose of the website then?
 
Lez325 said:
Why not just use your name followed by either .co.uk or .com

Simple enough

Les :)
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Les, I think you might be right. I was thinking I needed to have photography after my name but I don’t think I actually do.

justinakehurst.com
Justinakehurst.co.uk
Justinakehurst.uk

All available. But which one looks the better? .com maybe? I like less dots:D
 
JJ! said:
Les, I think you might be right. I was thinking I needed to have photography after my name but I don’t think I actually do.

justinakehurst.com
Justinakehurst.co.uk
Justinakehurst.uk

All available. But which one looks the better? .com maybe? I like less dots:D
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As mentioned in the sony thread, if it is a u.k website .co.uk is a small ranking factor with google, general rule of thumb would be to buy all versions of the domain name .com, .co.uk etc anyway or otherwise someone else will snap them up and from then on can get confusing when someone is trying to find you on google.
 
f/2.8 said:
As mentioned in the sony thread, if it is a u.k website .co.uk is a small ranking factor with google, general rule of thumb would be to buy all versions of the domain name .com, .co.uk etc anyway or otherwise someone else will snap them up and from then on can get confusing when someone is trying to find you on google.
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...........And then get fleeced as every year the domain hosting renewal fees get bumped up!
 
jerry12953 said:
...........And then get fleeced as every year the domain hosting renewal fees get bumped up!
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I guess it depends on what you consider being fleeced, I have a couple of domains and have all the varients of them. It has never cost any more than £40 a year to renew them, that isn't being fleeced for me. The advantage of having them is well worth that for me.
 
JJ! said:
I was thinking I needed to have photography after my name but I don’t think I actually do.
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ASDA dont have supermarket after the name and asda.com does OK .. in fact theres thousands of companies who just use a word.... I sat down with pen and paper and made up a word for mine.... for the work i do in a large catchment area its a well known name :)

My only tip would be when choosing a name... make it generic.. so you can use it for anyhting.. have a name that can be said over the phone or at a party or somehting that people will know how to type it in.. domain names wiht hyphens and words than can be spelt different are hard to pass on by word of mouth... I have lost count of the amount of time I have had to say "one P " after mine :(
 
JJ! said:
not exactly! Im doing photography for a new equestrian start up business. They are doing online videos and lessons and have asked me to be their photographer. I’m not looking to start a professional business as such but they are going to put my name alongside the images they use etc.

jayx2a got shot down in flames on here so will not use that one anymore.

They are call SJB Equanimity so could incorporate part of their name in to this project.
Click to expand...
Ahh ok , all I was going to say is it should be easy to remember , easy to spell and should say what it does . I wouldnt choose a name based on the clients name as you really don't know where this job or your photography could take you in a year's time .
 
stumac said:
Ahh ok , all I was going to say is it should be easy to remember , easy to spell and should say what it does . I wouldnt choose a name based on the clients name as you really don't know where this job or your photography could take you in a year's time .
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Yeah true - I already have someone else wanting me to take some photos based on what I took at the weekend so will look to create a unique name. justinakehurstphotograpy.co.uk seems the obvious if not long winded name. But I guess it says what it is!
 
KIPAX said:
ASDA dont have supermarket after the name and asda.com does OK .. in fact theres thousands of companies who just use a word.... I sat down with pen and paper and made up a word for mine.... for the work i do in a large catchment area its a well known name :)

My only tip would be when choosing a name... make it generic.. so you can use it for anyhting.. have a name that can be said over the phone or at a party or somehting that people will know how to type it in.. domain names wiht hyphens and words than can be spelt different are hard to pass on by word of mouth... I have lost count of the amount of time I have had to say "one P " after mine :(
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I get a lot of people asking how you spell my surname! JayX2A was something I used for ages, although individual its a bit naff and was created originally as my gamertag :LOL: but there was some sort of reasoning behind it.

Justin Akehurst
Full initials JJA
Known by friends as Jay

Anyone come up with something original from that please feel free to share.
 
Your main domain for a UK company should be .co.uk if possible. If the .com is available then buy it but forward it to the .co.uk site. .co.uk lets people clearly know you're UK based. .com could be anywhere in the world.

Secondly, you want a domain that's easy to remember, preferably one you don't need to spell out to make sure people go to the right site and one that is quick to type.

For me the two most obvious options that are currently available are:

jjaphoto.co.uk

or

jjaphotography.co.uk

I would personally go with the first one because it's shortest, easy to remember and easy to pass on to people. Over and above that the .com is also available and both can be registered for £5 to £6 pounds each, depending on who you register with.
 
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THIRTYFIVEMILL said:
Your main domain for a UK company should be .co.uk if possible. If the .com is available then buy it but forward it to the .co.uk site. .co.uk lets people clearly know you're UK based. .com could be anywhere in the world.

Secondly, you want a domain that's easy to remember, preferably one you don't need to spell out to make sure people go to the right site and one that is quick to type.

For me the two most obvious options that are currently available are:

jjaphoto.co.uk

or

jjaphotography.co.uk

I would personally go with the first one because it's shortest, easy to remember and easy to pass on to people. Over and above that the .com is also available and both can be registered for £5 to £6 pounds each, depending on who you register with.
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thank you.
I just chucked load of variations in 123 reg to see what was available.

jayimages.co.uk (although people might think I take pics of birds!)

jjphoto.com
jjphoto.uk

the .co.uk is taken so think that rules that out

jjaphoto.co.uk works - like it because it’s short and easy so thanks.

others I checked were

jjpix.co.uk - nice and short and easy
jjapix.co.uk - again short and easy
 
JJ! said:
thank you.
I just chucked load of variations in 123 reg to see what was available.

jayimages.co.uk (although people might think I take pics of birds!)

jjphoto.com
jjphoto.uk

the .co.uk is taken so think that rules that out

jjaphoto.co.uk works - like it because it’s short and easy so thanks.

others I checked were

jjpix.co.uk - nice and short and easy
jjapix.co.uk - again short and easy
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You're welcome, Jay. I quite like jjpix.co.uk but you'll find yourself always having to reiterate that it's "pix" and not "pics" and if someone forgets they're suddenly at someone else's site. For that reason I'd probably still err towards jjaphoto.co.uk as it's unambiguous.
 
THIRTYFIVEMILL said:
You're welcome, Jay. I quite like jjpix.co.uk but you'll find yourself always having to reiterate that it's "pix" and not "pics" and if someone forgets they're suddenly at someone else's site. For that reason I'd probably still err towards jjaphoto.co.uk as it's unambiguous.
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thank you. Sometimes the more simple things work better and overthinking things seems to make matters worse!!

yeah I get what you mean about pix, much like my surname you will always need to make sure you spell it out.
 
JJ! said:
thank you. Sometimes the more simple things work better and overthinking things seems to make matters worse!!

yeah I get what you mean about pix, much like my surname you will always need to make sure you spell it out.
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Yeah and it gets really tiring really quick. With jjaphoto.co.uk there's no messing, no need to spell it out or make sure someone has heard you right.
 
THIRTYFIVEMILL said:
Yeah and it gets really tiring really quick. With jjaphoto.co.uk there's no messing, no need to spell it out or make sure someone has heard you right.
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will get that sorted today so it’s all purchased and done.

logo and font next - now that’s going to take a while with the amount of fonts out there!

Is this very bad as a rough idea?! Think I need a logo designer!

logojjaphoto.jpg
 
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Ambiguity is the enemy.
Is that first J a J or part of the camera?

Might seem silly, but...
 
JJ! said:
will get that sorted today so it’s all purchased and done.

logo and font next - now that’s going to take a while with the amount of fonts out there!

Is this very bad as a rough idea?! Think I need a logo designer!

logojjaphoto.jpg
Click to expand...

I like that but as per Simon above, I'd possibly make the JJA either a different colour or different shade to the camera so it's clear it's JJA and not JA. I'd probably just make the JJA a medium to medium/dark grey and leave the rest black.
 
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Valid points. Was just a quick mock up. Logo design not my strong point!! Used that font to get the curve of the camera but sure there are plenty of other fonts to try that will work.
 
If you want photography in the name there are now .photography domains. It looks better than name-photography.co.uk.

To be honest if you aren’t 100% sure you will stay with photography name.co.uk is much more versatile as it can be used for something different.
 
JJ! said:
I’m trying to put a name to my photography and I’m over thinking it so please give honest and blunt opinions!

I started using JayX2A photography. It was a spin on my name and to be honest I now think it’s terrible and I don’t like it.

I have then thought just use my name. Justin Akehurst Photography but I’m not sure. For silly reasons really as it seems quite a long name. Yeah as I said over thinking.

So then I thought Justin Akehurst Images and think I like it more.

Anyone use the word images instead of photography in their brand?

Thoughts? I’m always over thinking everything. Born that way!!
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Yes, I use "images". I sometimes muse about whether I should have gone with "photography" instead, but on balance I'm happy with my decision as it's slightly different to most (and in any event there's no complexity in the URL).

Logo-1 copy_cropped.png
 
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I pretty sure Kipax said years ago that he basically just made up a random word for his business name.

Mine was far too long, I'm now in the shorter the better camp.
 
simon ess said:
Ambiguity is the enemy.
Is that first J a J or part of the camera?

Might seem silly, but...
Click to expand...

What about complete separation from image and text? (colours to be amended)

Camera-Outline-JJA-New.jpg
 
andrewc said:
Justinakehurst.co.uk could be useful for the rest of your life. Personally I dislike the term 'images' and 'captures' and prefer photography or photos.
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Disregarding the photography v images issue (which is purely subjective) you make a good point about a name-only domain!
 
learningtofly said:
That's quite a dated font. Why not ditch the serifs?
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Yeah the more I look at it the worse the font looks!!!

Your font looks so much more modern! Will go through my photoshop fonts
 
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Better?

Camera-Outline-JJA-New.jpg


Camera-Outline-JJA-New-New.jpg
 
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JJ! said:
logo and font next - now that’s going to take a while with the amount of fonts out there!
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Can't go wrong with Comic Sans. :exit:
JJ! said:
Better?

Camera-Outline-JJA-New.jpg


Camera-Outline-JJA-New-New.jpg
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No. It's still got the camera. The font's too 'skinny and the JJA being bold makes it look as if it's separate from the photo.co.uk

IMO
 
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