Creative writing begets creative thinking, and designers staring at a blank screen (or page) can fire up their neurons by playing around with the nuance of language.
To naming, branding and corporate positioning specialists like Daniel Moneypenny, wordplay can lead to serious business. His favorite forms are the pun, a phrase that deliberately exploits confusion between similar-sounding words for humorous effect, and the double entendre, a figure of speech in which a phrase can be understood in either of two ways.
But Moneypenny’s wordplay arsenal extends beyond ones you might remember from high school English. Here’s a list of other language tools that can help fire your creative spark:
Antanaclasis—repeating a single word, but with a different meaning each time (“If you aren’t fired with enthusiasm, you will be fired with enthusiasm.”)
Paronomasia—using a word with a different sense or with a change in letter or sound (“A pun is its own reword.”)
Alliteration—a series of words that begin with the same letter or that sound alike (Steak n Shake)
Heteronyms—words that are spelled the same but with different pronunciations (“Live in Arizona. Don’t desert the desert!”)
Tmesis—division of the elements of a compound word (“ Fan-bloody-tastic!”)
Antithesis—juxtaposition of two ideas that oppose or contradict each other (“In the battle, you’ll tremble.”)
Assonance—like alliteration, only specifically concerning the repetition of certain vowel sounds (“It’s hot and monotonous.”)
On the yellow pad, Moneypenny has just jotted down a possible new slogan for a billion-dollar global technology firm, which he renamed a few weeks ago. He’s sitting in a suburban Cleveland coffee shop, but this is the kind of guy who really shouldn’t be downing too much caffeine.
His revved-up right temporal lobe seems to be in constant overdrive. No exaggeration: He goes through a box of five felt-tip pens a week. His right middle finger has a hardened callous near the tip from clutching the instruments time and time again since beginning his business in 1977.
COMPETING FOR IDEAS
Moneypenny is president and chief creative officer of emaginit ( www.justemaginit.com), a Silver Lake, OH-based firm offering naming, branding, positioning and ad campaign services for businesses and their prod-
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