I hate poetry.
Why do I hate poetry? Because every poet tries to use words to make artsy sentences that could otherwise be clear (including yours truly). “A dog walks through flowers” turns into “The petit dog frolicked through the dandelions with a crisp spring air chasing after him”
The meaning is the same but the language is completely different.
What I noticed about some creatives (including yours truly) is that they try to use a different language to communicate their work (maybe it makes them sound smarter). They use language that often fails to speak to an audience.
The biggest culprit is made-up project names. Over some time of looking at other people’s design portfolios, I’ve come to realize that nobody knows what your artsy, obscure project name means. Yet it sits on your website with so much prominence.
Examples of artsy, obscure project names:
- ICEFUL
- Singpass
- Nu-Tone
- Slumbr
- Nau
- Yema
- Yana
(Did I just scan through the homepage of Behance? Yes)
The names are poetic. They’re made up. They don’t hold any meaning. The names don’t help anybody understand what they’re looking to see.
Perhaps instead, we can use slogans or catchphrases. Or even short sentences that describe the project as a whole.
Anything to help your reader understand what your project is about, because I’m 99.9999% sure nobody knows what an “ICEFUL” is. They might get an understanding if the name was “ICEFUL: An ice-cream branding project”
Nobody knows what your artsy, obscure design project name means. Don’t be afraid to use everyday language in your creative work.
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