Lamplight Books
// Naming //

An independent bookstore was opening in Parnell, Tāmaki Makaurau, and needed a name to match its chic identity.

A bookstore needs a name and a feeling, and this project was a true collision of the two.

Nestled at the bottom of Parnell’s lamp-lined main street with a focus on art, architecture and non-fiction, I wanted to come up with a name that felt truly resonant with the space it occupied.

The owner of a business often comes to you with a dizzy list of visions and thoughts and the process is to find what they love — and hate — about it all and go from there.

We liked the idea of a name that interacted with the whole design of the space without feeling pretentious or too conceptual.

Courtney, the owner of the store, said to me, “we need a name we’re not going to hate. You basically have to imagine picking up the phone all day and saying the store name over and over again. This is what it must feel like naming a baby.”

Lamplight Books has gone on to win New Zealand’s 2023 Bookshop of the Year.

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