I know I’ve had a couple other false starts lately, but I’ve finally settled on a new name for this journal: Pop Occulture. I may still tweak the logo a little bit, but I’m pretty much solid on this one as the name from here on out. I know it still has the word “occult” in it and I made a big fuss about that before, but hey, I’m allowed to change my mind. In any event, I like this better than “occult investigator” as a title because it gives me more room to play in, while still maintaining the same basic identity that I’ve carved out. It’s nice because it’s got the word occult in it, but it’s nestled inside of a friendlier concept that people are already comfortable with. So yeah, that’s all I have to say about that - for now!
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25 Comments
Don’t let them change your title!
Don’t let them define you!
Keep the “Occult Investigator”title!
We’re Gnostics and Seeker of the Truth!
We are friggin rebels, bro!
Screw them, Ignore them!
P.S.
Also keep the Pop Occulture logo, it looks cool!
Hmm, if you say it real fast, it sounds like “Papa Culture.”
Well, I don’t know about all that other stuff Stephen, but I’m definitely keeping the logo. This just feels like a much more appropriate direction for where I want to take my work. I’m not throwing a way being an occult investigator - after all, who could be a better writer on Pop Occulture than that?
the hidden meaning and significance of popular culture. from madonna to madonna in one stroke. the issue of the right name is one of branding. you have worked to push the occult investigator brand into the consciousness of the net. give it time for the echo to return. my view is that any changes now will dilute your position and diminish your exposure. do you see a reflection in your hit rate as a result, or do you monitor your webstats?
My hits have gone up an average of about 500 people per day since dropping the “occult investigator” name. The proof is in the pudding!
well, yes, you can`t argue with a shift like that!
My ad rate has also shot up which means that people are reading through, or at least scrolling down to the bottom of the page. Both excellent results.
i need a good source of information on how to increase web traffic. all of the seaches i do lead my to hyperbolic web sales pages promising 10,000 hits per day. any ideas?
Shoot me an email. I have lots of ideas. Let me know where it is you’re trying to increase traffic to.
just get rid of that home page. make timboucher.com redirect to timboucher.com/journal or something.
also I might suggest hyphenating pop-occulture thusly. tool around with the logo a bit, too–seems kinda clunky, and kind of “nickelodeon.”
Yeah Nickelodeon is what I’m going for, although I’d maybe substitute the term “comic book”. I like to ride that almost cheesy edge to establish a sort of “safe zone” for the more serious stuff that goes on within these pages.
Yeah, I’m going to swap out the home page, FAQ and update some other stuff, so sit tight. I’m on top of it
i think the logo is rad. it’s totally comic-book-y. my only aesthetic comment might be that it clashes a little with st. peter’s hand, there. i like ‘em both, but they look slightly odd next to one another. but that’s just my ‘pinion.
I was actually quite fond of the plain, black, roman Tim Boucher print header. heh I’m a real minimalist, I guess.
That’s great, but I have much bigger plans in store.
Wow, the new logo and title are perfect.
Well I’m glad SOMEBODY likes it! Jeesh!
I like that the new name sounds or associates well with “popular culture.” Say “Pop Occulture” ten times fast–it could pass as a slang phrase or contraction for popular culture itself. I like that. I think it’s a cool effect.
Ooh! The skull is a great logo! I can see how it also resonates with that disinfo logo you’re talkin’ about in the newest post. Was that inspiration?
I second the thing about the st. peter’s hand clashing with the new logo/header. I love it, but it doesn’t quite go. Perhaps, if you have a separate section for something, you could still use it and the name Conclave as well; like, if you start a message board off of your main site: it could be Pop Occulture presents The Conclave and have that good ol’ familiar spooky saint hand.
Just a thought.
Excellent choice for a new name, and I’m not just saying that. People respond to clever angles and takes on what is already out there. You are re-defining this blog on your own terms and “owning” it. Run with it– especially if you are achieving instant results.
As for the logo: it’s good, but something about using that magnificent capital O in the word “occulture” is at odds with the lower-case O in ‘pop’, which has no corresponding skull. I’m looking at it composition-wise, symmetrically perhaps… but, it IS readable, and that counts for more than anything. Only a dumbass will not be able to make the connection between ‘occult’ and ‘culture’…
Congrats!
Yeah, I’m working on that whole thing. Thinking of changing the hand to more of a personal logo, and let the skull etc stand on its own. Yeah, the skull was inspired by disinfo’s little character
Thanks James! I thought maybe about putting a star inside the O in pop. let me try that
Damn, that looks even better! Bad-ass.
Seriously, I just want to stare at that logo. It’s inspiring. It would look great on a book. If I were you, I’d trademark it ASAP.
yeah it looks frickin’ killer with the star in the o! brilliant!
I might be delurking here, but I’ve been reading and linking to you for a while. I like the new logo a lot. “Occult investigator” was too stodgy and didn’t give a clear idea of what you do, in my opinion. It sounded like you spend your weekends hunting for ghosts with special electronic equipment. “Pop occulture” is catchy, hip. Good.
I’ve been thinking a bit since you posted about why so few women comment here. I don’t have a great explanation for you yet, but it struck me following links to Disinfo and attendant blogs that there is something very macho and “hipper than thou” about those sites. They lose my interest quickly. It doesn’t help that one of the bloggers described his interview subject as interesting “and a total babe to boot.” But I need to think more about what’s going on there. I don’t feel the same off-putting vibe from your site, btw.
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[...] Eventually, I outgrew the “Occult Investigator” name and character image. My writing was changing a lot, though I can’t for the life of me remember exactly how, and it felt like it was time to move on. I settled on “Pop Occulture” because it sounded more cerebral or something, and my writing was definitely reflecting that approach. I was attempting to modernize and streamline what I was doing, and trying to promote a more marketable face to the world. How successful I was in that, I have no idea. [...]