I’m working on a branding/naming project for work right now. I love these kind of projects where my direction right now is “what do we name it and what is it going to look like?” because right now it doesn’t exist. But oh will it after I get done with it.

I have a few methods when trying to think of names. This of course has been complicated by the whole Twitter revolution (since I will be Twittering about it for work quite often and don’t want 50 of my available characters to go to a NAME).

The first thing I do is go through the project specs and pull out all the action verbs.

So now we have project related words. Now what? I write them on a white board.

Now we throw some of the better and more applicable ones (the ones that make it to the whiteboard) into the Visual Thesaurus.

Then I’ll take all the usable words that pop up from there and add those to the whiteboard list.

Then I walk away from all project related materials.

I look in other unexpected places for nice sounding words, workable words, words that fit the scope of the project that don’t appear in the materials I have in front of me.

Today, for fun, I went to iTunes. I know it sounds silly, but there are some amazing title names, and lines from songs that might jump out at me.

I add those words to my list and just start combining them. I take 10-20 of my favorites and present them in a meeting. I have two colleagues doing the same thing. In our meeting we’ll take my favorites, their favorites and start combining those until IT WORKS.

Sometimes we have to have a few of these meetings, with several rounds of edits, but at the end of it, we came up with something that absolutely did not exist before we jumped in.

Pretty cool, huh?

While I was deep in iTunes land I realized I have the weirdest collection of music …. ever. Interest piqued? Take a look at every artist in my library – the good, the bad and the real ugly. (I saved you from listing every single compilation/soundtrack I own and stuck with artists/bands).

So click here to see

A
Abba
AC/DC
Ace of Base
Adele
Aerosmith
Afghan Whigs
Age Rings
Air Supply
Al Green
Alanis Morissette
Alicia Keys
Alkaline Trio
Amber
Amy Winehouse
Andrew Bird
Angelito Villalona
Annie Lenox
Aretha Franklin
Arrested Development
Ashlee Simpson
Astrud Gilberto
Avenue Q sound track
Avril Lavigne

B
B-52s
Bad Company
Bally Sagoo
Band of Horses
The Bangles
Barry White
Basement Jaxx
The Beach Boys
Beastie Boys
The Beatles
Bebel Gilberto
Belle & Sebastian
Ben Folds
Beyonce
Bill Janovitz
Billy Idol
Billy Joel
Bjork
Blondie
Bob Dylan
Bobby Darin
Bon Jovi
Bonnie Tyler
Bonobo
Boston Pops Orchestra
Boy George
Brandy
Britney Spears
Bruce Springsteen
Buffalo Tom
Burt Bacharach
Busta Rymes
Butthole Surfers

C
C+C Music Factory
The Calling
Captain & Tennile
The Cardigans
Carrie Underwood
The Cars
Cascada
Cecilia Noel & The Wild Clams
Celine Dion
Cheap Trick
Cher
Cheryl Lynn
Christina Aguliera
Christopher Cross
Clay Aiken
Coldplay
Colin Hay
Color Me Bad
Craig Armstrong
Culture Club
Cyndi Lauper

D
Damien Jurado
Damone
Danity Kane
Dashboard Confessional
David Bowie
Dead or Alive
Dean Martin
Deborah Cox
Deee-Lite
Depeche Mode
Des’ree
Destiny’s Child
Detroit Cobras
Dexter Gordon
Diane Warren
Dido
Dimitri from Paris
Donna Summer
Donny Osmond
Doobie Brothers
Dreamgirls Soundtrack
Drexel
Dropkick Murphys
Durran Durran

E
Eldridge Rodriguez
Elton John
Elvis Costello
En Vogue
Estelle
Esthero
Etta James
Europe
Eva Cassidy
Everclear
Express Rising

F
Faith Hill
Fantasia
Favorite Atomic Hero
Fergie
A Fine Frenzy
The Flaming Lips
Flo Rida
Flock of Seagulls
The Flying Lizards
Foam & Mesh
Frank Sinatra
Frank Smith
Franz Ferdinand
Freda Payne
Frente!
Further

G
Garbage
Gavin Friday
Girl Talk
Gladys Knight and the Pips
Glee Cast
The Goonies

H
Hairspray soundtrack
Hall & Oates
Hanson
The Hazzards
Heart
Hooray for Earth

I
I Have Ears
Ida Corr
Imogene Heap
Indigo Girls

J
J Lo
J Geils Band
Jamie I’ Neil
Jane’s Addication
Janet Jackson
Jawbreaker
Jay-Z
Jeff Buckley
Jennifer Holliday
Jennifer Hudson
Jessica Simpson
Jimmy Eat World
Joan Jett
Joe Cocker
John Coltrane
John Mayer
John Waite
Johnny Cash
Jonathan Richman
Joni Mitchell
Journey
Juliana Hatfield
Julie London
Justin Timberlake
Juvenile

K
K-Ci and Jojo
K7
Kajagoogoo
Kanye West
Katrina & The Waves
Kelly Clarkson
Kicked in the Head
Kid Rock
Kim Carnes
Kim Wilde
Kimberly Locke
Kylie Minogue
Kym Mazelle

L
Lady Gaga
Led Zeppelin
The Lemonheads
Letters to Cleo
Lionel Richie
Lipps Inc.
Lou Rawls
Lovers Muggers & Theives
Low Red Land
Lucero
Lucinda Williams
Lux
Lynden David Hall

M
Madder Rose
Madonna
Mandy Moore
Marc Shaiman
Mariah Carey
Maroon 5
Marvin Gaye
Mary J. Blige
Mel C.
Men at Work
MGMT
Michael Buble
Michael Jackson
Michael McDonald
Michael Seimbello
Miles Davis
Miley Cyrus
Missy Elliott
Mittens
Moby
The Modern Lovers
Modjo
Mogwai
Monifah
Morrissey
Motley Crue
Mr. Big
Mndy
Musical Youth
My Morning Jacket

N
‘N Sync
Natalie Cole
Naughty By Nature
New Kids on the Block
New Order
Norah Jones
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan

O
Obie Trice
Ol Dirty Bastard
One Inch Punch
Otis Redding

P
Pink
Pat Benetar
Pearl Jam
Phil Collins
Pink Floyd
The Pointer Sisters
Poison
The Police
Portishead
The Presidents of the United States
Pretenders
Prince
The Psychedelic Furs
Pussy Cat Dolls

Q
Queen
Quindon Tarver

R
Radiohead
Random Acts of Violence
Ray Castoldi
Ray Charles
Red House Painters
Reel Big Fish
Regina Spektor
Rick Springfield
Rhianna
Rilo Kiley
Robbie Williams
Robyn
Ryan Adams

S
Sade
Salt ‘n’ Pepa
Sarah McLachlan
Scorpians
Self
The Sharking
Sheena Easton
Sheryl Crow
The Smiths
Sondre Lerche
Sonic Youth
Spandau Ballet
Spice Girls
Spoon
Steely Dan
Stevie Wonder
Stina Nordenstam
Sting
Stu Walker
Sugababes
Sugarcubes
Sun Kil Moon
The Supremes
Survivor
SWV

T
Technotronic
Ted Leo & The Pharmacists
The Teenage Prayers
Texas
The Thermals
They Might Be Giants
Thin Lizzy
The Thompson Twins
Three Degrees
Tim McGraw
Timbaland
TLC
Tom Waits
Tomorrow the Gallows
Toni Basil
Two Gallants

V
Van Halen
Venice Shoreline Chris
The Veronicas
The Village People

W
WG Snuffy Walden
Waltham
The Wannadies
The Weakerthans
Weezer
Where the Land Meets the Sea
Whiskeytown
White Snake
Whiteney Houston
Wildlife
Wilco
Willa Ford
William Elliot Whitmore
Wyclef Jean

X
Xavier Cugat and his Orchestra

Y
Yael Naim
Yes

Z
Zakk Wylde

0-10
98 Degrees