The brief

As an established global architecture and interior design practice with offices across three continents, Househam Henderson specialised in co-creating luxury retail stores.

But their name didn’t feel up to the job. Long, easily forgettable, often mispronounced or misspelled, it had the feel of a traditional legal practice – not a slick architectural firm.  

They wanted a new name that worked internationally, was credible and creative. One that could stand for forward-thinking ideas made real in genuine partnership, with quality and attention to detail.

The process

As with every naming project, a close client relationship was crucial. Firstly, we mapped out the competitor landscape, explaining the trends and conventions to discover where they saw themselves both strategically and aesthetically.

Next, we identified a series of naming territories – from heritage to architecture, luxury and so on. Using a series of creative techniques, we generated a range of names for each territory. Each was carefully trademark checked to assess risk.

We reduced this to a shortlist of five, crafting a succinct rationale for each. The client’s three favourites were worked into visuals, resulting in the chosen name ‘Hyphen.’

The final name

Best known as a punctuation symbol, a hyphen is also an architectural device linking two elements. This also highlights the key partnership aspect of the brand, bridging design and build.

The client loved that the prominent H and –hen ending gave a subtle nod to the old name and heritage.

Aesthetically, it’s telegraphic with a balanced, constructed feel. A perfect fit.