The naming game has to be more original

I have been intrigued and somewhat sympathetic to the Terence Conran/David Worthington correspondence about the use of peoples’ names on the mastheads of companies when that particular person has left the organisation.

It comes as a surprise to many that there is no legal entitlement to your name and it is up to the individual companies to decide whether to leave it there, or to remove it. This ludicrous legality entitles a rather surprising number of designers to belong to an exclusive club. Count them up.

Rodney Fitch (Fitch), Michael Wolff (Wolff Olins), Stewart McColl (BDG/McColl), Michael Peters (MPL) Simon Rhind-Tutt (Wickens Tutt Southgate), Terence Conran (RSCG Conran/

Conran Design Group) and yours truly (Tilney Lumsden Shane).

I am sure there are more examples, but as far as I am concerned, design is about communication. How can design companies possibly advise their clients on subjects like brand integrity if they are unable to concoct a name which reflects their own business credentials rather than somebody else’s?

I cordially invite the afore-mentioned messrs to dinner to discuss the formation of the “I want my name back” club.

Callum Lumsden

Lumsden Design Partnership

London EC1