Company name or your name?

man... IMHO, put whatever you want on your knives. they are your creation, and so is whatever you decide to mark them with. i didn't realize how much people cared about this until just this very thread, but i'm not sure i agree with a lot of what is said. if you want your mark to be a set of balls in a soup bowl, and that's what you feel lets people know you made this, then balls it is. don't let someone elses idea of what a mark should be influence you... they didn't help you make the knife, so don't let em decide what you put on it.
 
You should put whatever you want on anything you create, but if you're trying to sell more knives then you should put your name or a company name on it.

A while ago i saw some neat looking knives but all the pics only showed a circle with a "K" in it. You can't just google "K" and find a knifemaker.
Later I just happened to be browsing bladeforums when I came across the maker of those knives.

That reminds me, I need to get on with making my website. If you google Liv Knives you don't get anything right now...
 
rustyrazor said:
man... IMHO, put whatever you want on your knives. they are your creation, and so is whatever you decide to mark them with. i didn't realize how much people cared about this until just this very thread, but i'm not sure i agree with a lot of what is said. if you want your mark to be a set of balls in a soup bowl, and that's what you feel lets people know you made this, then balls it is. don't let someone elses idea of what a mark should be influence you... they didn't help you make the knife, so don't let em decide what you put on it.
Click to expand...

I agree that it is ultimately up to the maker to decide what their mark is... but I strongly disagree with being close minded to the advice of others with more experience. Ed Caffrey's advice came as a huge benefit for me. My logo was cool but nobody could look me up by it. I have had quite a few customers tell me that the saw my knives in a google image search or at shows and the MARCHAND stamp led them to me. I believe maker's marks should always be run by folks from different groups within the industry. This way you can dodge the avoidable mistakes like duplicating someone else's mark, before you spend money on a stamp or stencil/etcher.
 
It seems like all of you knifemakers have some cool last names or catchy first + last names that just has a ring to it. So it works.... unfortunately not all of us are blessed with nice sounding and unique last names.

If someone's name is Ben Dover or Mike Hawk.... they probably should create a generic company name.
 
The Logical One said:
It seems like all of you knifemakers have some cool last names or catchy first + last names that just has a ring to it. So it works.... unfortunately not all of us are blessed with nice sounding and unique last names.

If someone's name is Ben Dover or Mike Hawk.... they probably should create a generic company name.
Click to expand...

Or you have the same or similar name to other makers, which is my case.
 
Rick Marchand said:
I agree that it is ultimately up to the maker to decide what their mark is... but I strongly disagree with being close minded to the advice of others with more experience. Ed Caffrey's advice came as a huge benefit for me. My logo was cool but nobody could look me up by it. I have had quite a few customers tell me that the saw my knives in a google image search or at shows and the MARCHAND stamp led them to me. I believe maker's marks should always be run by folks from different groups within the industry. This way you can dodge the avoidable mistakes like duplicating someone else's mark, before you spend money on a stamp or stencil/etcher.
Click to expand...

quite right... if the guy is looking to get his name out there, a simple symbol isn't going to cut it. i've marked mine with an etching of a 6 toed foot for a few years now and i'm pretty sure someone seeing this would have a hard time associating that with me.
 
The Logical One said:
It seems like all of you knifemakers have some cool last names or catchy first + last names that just has a ring to it. So it works.... unfortunately not all of us are blessed with nice sounding and unique last names.

If someone's name is Ben Dover or Mike Hawk.... they probably should create a generic company name.
Click to expand...
I get what you are saying but those aren't bad examples at all... lol. "Dover" or "Hawk" knives sound good.

It is not so much about creating something catchy, as it is finding something short, to the point and searchable. Then marketing it well enough that it comes up in search engines with little confusion as to whether it is you.

I think that someone should be able to type in whatever you have etched/stamped on your blade into Google and find you by atleast the second page. Unless, you are purely a hobbyist and it doesn't really matter to you.
 
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