Ford is bringing back the name of one its most iconic cars, the Capri. However, this is not going to be a car that Bodie and Doyle will leap out of in a remake of The Professionals. This is an electric vehicle and at first view lacks the personality of the long nosed, mostly under powered and suspect handling of its predecessor. In the 70s and 80s that did not matter. The Capri was the working man’s action car, the coupe that people aspired to own, furry dice an option. The name, however, will undoubtedly ensure that this car gets more attention than a more anodyne moniker might produce.
Heidelberg’s first Speedmaster dates from the same era and has become the most iconic product name in print. This is not so hard as most products carry numbers rather than names: the international nature of print makes finding resonant names that work in Asia, America and Europe hard to find. It is so much easier to use numbers, but so many manufacturers now do this that distinguishing one company’s model 10000 from another’s is a challenge. And the churn in new products makes it hard to establish a name when the product is replaced after a couple of years. In the decades before the millennium names held sway, not only for presses. There were plates named after signs of the zodiac for instance, and prepress products after mythical heroes.
Now 25 years later, some are trying to reintroduce names, notably Ricoh with the Harpy Eagle, Dragon and Jaguar presses. They have yet to catch on, but it is early days. Maybe printers in coming years will aspire to own a Harpy Eagle or operate an Agfa Grizzly. Xeikon managed the naming process with Cheetah for what was then its fastest press and it has continued the big cats theme for products since. Kama will name its digital embellishment machine after the hammerhead shark, perhaps creating the first product in a fishy dynasty to come. SwissQPrint’s products carry names that seem natural because they have never been numbers. During development, well before marketing departments get their say, project names prevail. Perhaps this should be attached to the released machine – who wouldn’t want a press called Shrek?
Are the numbers up for the naming game?
Ford is bringing back the name of one its most iconic cars, the Capri. However, this is not going to be a car that Bodie and Doyle will leap out of in a remake of The Professionals. This is an electric vehicle and at first view lacks the personality of the long nosed, mostly under powered and suspect handling of its predecessor. In the 70s and 80s that did not matter. The Capri was the working man’s action car, the coupe that people aspired to own, furry dice an option. The name, however, will undoubtedly ensure that this car gets more attention than a more anodyne moniker might produce.
Heidelberg’s first Speedmaster dates from the same era and has become the most iconic product name in print. This is not so hard as most products carry numbers rather than names: the international nature of print makes finding resonant names that work in Asia, America and Europe hard to find. It is so much easier to use numbers, but so many manufacturers now do this that distinguishing one company’s model 10000 from another’s is a challenge. And the churn in new products makes it hard to establish a name when the product is replaced after a couple of years. In the decades before the millennium names held sway, not only for presses. There were plates named after signs of the zodiac for instance, and prepress products after mythical heroes.
Now 25 years later, some are trying to reintroduce names, notably Ricoh with the Harpy Eagle, Dragon and Jaguar presses. They have yet to catch on, but it is early days. Maybe printers in coming years will aspire to own a Harpy Eagle or operate an Agfa Grizzly. Xeikon managed the naming process with Cheetah for what was then its fastest press and it has continued the big cats theme for products since. Kama will name its digital embellishment machine after the hammerhead shark, perhaps creating the first product in a fishy dynasty to come. SwissQPrint’s products carry names that seem natural because they have never been numbers. During development, well before marketing departments get their say, project names prevail. Perhaps this should be attached to the released machine – who wouldn’t want a press called Shrek?
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Prayers for the future of the print industry
Prayers for the future of the print industry