What’s in a name?

Naming a business can be a daunting task. The ideas start to flow, you think you’ve found the perfect name, and then you discover that it’s already taken. Back to the drawing board. The thing is, usually the name you end up with is 10x better anyway.  I can’t even remember the names I first thought were going to be perfect because I’m so incredibly happy with the name I finally landed on.

Nomari Design. This name has so much meaning for me. Let’s start with Nomari. It’s constructed of the first 2 letters from each of my children’s names: Noah, Max, and Riley. They are my inspiration and seeing them learn and play with my toys brings me so much joy.  I design all of my toys for them first. Each one is designed to be fitting for all three of them - for both their current and future ages and stages. It’s only fitting that the name represents all three of them.

After I came up with the name Nomari, I googled to find out the meaning of the word. I learned that the word Nomari means “real and genuine.”

This felt like the perfect fit.

Nomari also had a second meaning: “village.”  I loved this too. My toys are designed to be able to be played with by multiple children - every child in the family or village can play with each piece. I also firmly believe in supporting other makers and lifting up small businesses. It’s all about community over competition. You will see that I often post photos with toys from other small shops in them.  I love and will continue to support the wooden toy community and our “village” of handcrafted toy makers.

Finally, the word “design.”  For me, making toys is about so much more than just creating the toy.  I am a designer at heart - as a child, I would draw clothing and architectural layouts just for fun; as a student, I studied Industrial Design; as a young professional, I designed products that I was able to see go from sketch to physical product.

I truly design each piece.  Each piece is designed for safety, durability, versatility, beauty, and fun. The pieces are open-ended so they can be used in countless ways. They are also designed as part of a system so that they work well with one another and so that combining toys opens even more play and learning potential.

If you haven’t already, please explore my shop and consider which toys the little ones in your life would love most. www.nomaridesign.com