#psuedonyms

[dearartdirector]

Dear Art Director, I've been out of art school for almost two years now... and I still have very little idea on what to do with myself/ get a foot hold into the freelance door. Due to some personal issues I really want to work under a pseudonym, is there any advice you would recommend?

We have several posts about alias and pseudonyms. There is nothing wrong with working under a pseudonym, just make sure it sounds professional. Also, your contracts and invoices will have to be under your legal name unless you register a business with the new name. Here are some tags to help you find past posts about alias and pseudonyms:http://dearartdirector.tumblr.com/tagged/aliaseshttp://dearartdirector.tumblr.com/tagged/nicknameshttp://dearartdirector.tumblr.com/tagged/psuedonyms—Agent Cmd+Z

[halloweenvalentine1997]

love cemetery

Madison Grimmer

[halloweenvalentine1997]

Amberly Willis

[rantsintechnicolor]

What’s in a name

Hal is not his name. So. Why do I call him that?

He has a favorite movie. It’s called The Days of Being Wild. It’s Wong Kar Wai, his favorite director. I haven’t seen it. It’s actually very difficult to get. The title makes me think of one of Shakespeare’s histories, Henry V. Prince Hal is destined to become king but before he assumes his responsibilities, he is wild and debaucherous.

Sure, I could have used Hal’s real name. It’s common enough. But I don’t think I'm wrong in saying he’s a little paranoid about his identity in the world. He works in the media sphere and seems very protective of his personal life and how it connects to others. Secretive is another word I would use to describe it (Is he being protective of others or of himself? Is he hiding something he is a shamed of? I wonder if his reputation would be in danger if he started running for president and what a reporter might be able to dig up about him?). So, using a pseudonym seems like an extra layer of protection for him.

Why do I still feel so protective of him? I dunno, but I have respect for strangers, so… and if some of these things I’ve said about him could be truly damaging to people, I don’t want to cause harm… That’s not who I want to be.

I suppose, if he does find this tumblr, I want it to be more difficult for him to recognize himself. I always meant to ask him how he felt about nicknames, and if he ever heard this one. But I never got around to it.

[carabeancomics]

Here is a comics that I made for the Women’s Review of Books by Wellesley University Press in July/August 2015. 

[wrathofsweetsourdough]

Roo

Psuedonyms. I want one. I'll never, and never should, have enough children to quell my addiction to naming. Already, I have five names created for five children who've not been conceived... I have two pets and a dozen name ideas for future pets. Why not publish under another name? That way, I can be the sole sacrificial victim and my husband can be spared a life of endless progeny and pets. One would think that, being a writer, naming characters for the rest of my life would satisfy me, but strangely it's not enough. I want to work under different names like foxes and tanuki shapeshift in Japanese myths. That's the kind of trickster I am, I guess. If that's what I want to do, however, I must face the dilemma of building a body of work. I can't betray the trust of my readers by playing some sort of phantom-of-the-opera game with them. If they like my stories then I can't in good conscience make them work that hard to find another of my books to read. (That's bad business; it would drive a publisher crazy.) If I stick to one psuedonym, that's a moot point. The problem is, I don't trust myself to stick to just one. Knowing me, I could publish every work under a different alias. That's my delimma. For now, at least I know that I want to reserve my name for my friends and let my spirit play under a guise. Your humble author, Roo Franks

[fritfilter]

>I was finding myself on the Internet, but I was also learning skills that would be useful both as a professional and a human offline. My ability to be an effective creator was hugely shaped by writing popular fan fiction and running side-project businesses in virtual worlds. Researchers have also found pseudonymous games to be great environments for training leadership skills. “Individuals you’d never expect to identify—and who’d never expect to be identified—as ‘high potentials’ for real-world management training end up taking on significant leadership roles in games,” wrote a trio of professors in the Harvard Business Review.

[othernotebooksareavailable]

Match

  I am unflinching

With small spaces

Still, the flare goes

And I see over thrown dark

To the place where limits may flow

Back amplified and I

incline my head

like this is a nod.

-ES Morar