So for the past few days I’ve been trawling through popular phrases and words in Scottish Gaelic. I’ve unearthed some pretty interesting translations and now know such useful phrases as ‘”My hovercraft is full of eels” and “Who was that sheep I saw you with last night.” And as invaluable as those phrases might be I kept on searching, finding out that really very common English words derive from Gaelic, such as trousers, pet, shindig and slogan, derived from the Gaelic word for battlecry. But nontheless, I’m going to have to keep searching.
Why? Well, I’m currently still developing my whisky brand and, as per usual with my projects, I’m struggling with finding a name for the damn thing. But I’ll rewind and tell you all of the progress I do have, which may prove useful considering I need to summarise my brand concept into 300, then 30 and finally 3 words by next week. So no pressure. So here’s the 300 words I’m gonna try and pitch to Good Creative next week.
Courtesy of Triposo.com
[This brand] seeks to make honest whisky. From our hands to yours, cutting out the myths and fairy-tales that make whisky so misunderstood. This is real, honest whisky, produced on the shores of Lochindorb. In the middle of the loch sits Lochindorb Castle, a fort built on a man-made island. An island made too precise and perfectly to be anything other than handmade, a testament to what we can do with our own two hands. Our people’s hands built a castle. Our people’s hands built the island it sits on. So think what they can do with whisky.
With a smooth and fruity taste distinctive to the water around Lochindorb [this brand] is easy drinking enough for newcomers to whisky yet rich and complex enough for the most passionate whisky drinker. This isn’t just a drink for the connoisseur. It’s a drink for celebrating, a drink for achieving, a drink for applause. So let’s put our hands together and raise a glass – with [this brand]
Lamh is the Gaelic word for hand, and laidir means strong. Laidir-Lamh (strong-hand) might sound nice, or even Lom-Lamh (bare-hand).
Mas means arse, but let’s nevermind that.
Caisteal means castle, dun means fort, balla means wall. Dun-Balla might be nice, meaning fort wall.
Those are just a couple of suggestions. None of them are particularly clever really, but I guess they do have much more of a ring to them and plain old Lochindorb. Next step is to try and pin down the central and most essential ideas of the brand, being honesty, celebrationg and handcrafting, and then find a way to marry these. I really feel it’s through the hand imagery, playing on it for that handmade element for artisan distilling, handshakes for honesty and trust and finally applause for celebration. It’s a flexible image indeed, and one that could be applied to any product really, it’s universal and completely flexible. But how to phrase it and justify it? That’s the trick.
Listening to: Heavy Feet by Local Natives
Andrew Golden Design 