Naming this company was one of toughest challenges we’ve faced so far. Every time we thought we had the perfect name, the domain was taken, or it was too long, or it was only applicable to a desk space or an office atmosphere. At some point or another, we have been called: Flavor Desk, Studio Splash, Color Junkie, Works Well/Work Swell. Finally we picked what we thought was a winner, domain was available and everything. We were 5 minutes away from from being called “Colorque” pronounced like “barbeque.” It was when I was on the phone with the domain company that Colorque was a BAD idea. “Hi there, I’d like to purchase the domain Colorcue dot com.” “okay, is that c-o-l-o-r-Q or c-o-l-o-r-q-u-e or …” And that was enough for me: Colorcue was too horizontal, too confusing when telling someone your email address, and just didn’t fit the bill. Back to the drawing board.
We have a little saying in our office for when people don’t seem to want to do their best work, or comply with a new rule, or complete a new task. We always kinda mumble to each other… “well, we’ve upped our standard… soo… up yours.” What started out as a little sarcastic joke to explain us “upping our standards” as it relates to our work ethic would make for a great name for our new adventure! And so UP Your Standard was born. With the ability to abbreviate to just “UP” it created a super square logo when needed, a horizontal option when needed, the domain was available, and it doesn’t bind us to any particular products or colors– for future growth purposes!