Selling myself !

[James Thomas]

{ Please move if in wrong area, sorry! }

Hi all, i will keep this simple.

Lately ive had identity problems and want to sell myself as an artist.
A website, Facebook etc etc

But im having problems, i dont know whether to sell myself as my
Birth-name
An alias "ie. A Faux"
or a company "ie. UltimateArt and designs" <- Example.

would love to hear about some personal stories
or just your opinion will be a HUGE HUGE help.

Thankyou!

[bcarman]

Do you feel you have a product that you're proud to sell? I wouldn't worry about an alias an just stick with your name until you are ready to attack a market.

[James Thomas]

True, well i was thinking game dev/ art for games. as is what i am studying.
Read an article saying you should keep your own name, so that people know "you" as an artist, and not a company name, which is less personal.
I am kinda leaning toward that now, selling myself as a freelancer rather than a company. (which i would own). Or an alias, which tends to change as Fad's (hobbies, etc) change. But obviously, my real name wont change.

Please if anyone else has any opinions, keep this thread open- im sure it will benefit more people :)

[SmallPoly]

True, well i was thinking game dev/ art for games. as is what i am studying.
Read an article saying you should keep your own name, so that people know "you" as an artist, and not a company name, which is less personal.

IMHO, your work matters a lot more than the name you go by.

Some well known people are:
- Craig Mullins
- Feng zhu
- "Android" (Andrew) Jones
- Sparth, aka Nicolas Bouvier
- PoopInMyMouth aka Ben Mathias

What you should notice here is that you can be successful with your real name, a nickname, or a screenname. If your work is good enough, people will remember you either way. Still, it probably couldn't hurt to make your name a little easier to remember.

You might use a pseudonym if your name is:
- Super common (john smith)
- Difficult to spell/pronounce (in my case Michael Nicolayeff)

Things I'd avoid with screennames:
- Screennames someone else claimed first (JohnDoe38283)
- Racism ([email protected])
- Things no one will remember how to spell (illliliiiilililiiiiiiiiiiiiillililii)
- Based on pop culture that you were into when you first started using the internet ([email protected])

[James Thomas]

Awesome response mate! very helpful :):)


Well for anyone who wants to know, my name is 'James Thomas'
Very plain. but at the same time, very easy to remember?

I was talking to a mate and wonder if perhaps having James "nickname/alias" Thomas.
and have my alias shown on most sites, but always make sure my real name is linked to it.
but i was fearing wanting to change my Alias name, thus ruining any progress made by recognition.

I do agree however that if your work is good enough u will be remembered, but at the same time, its always sensible business to take names very seriously.

any ideas?

[TinyBird]

any ideas?

Keep on improving your art.