The client came to Emajõe Disain looking for a brand name for a wide range of barbeque and charcoal products; it should be pan-european yet concentrating on French and English markets. The solution was based on finding some fairly language neutral words: “grill” and “bbq” are widely used, yet already used in brand names.

During research, I found that the word “grillon” contained what was needed but also (with spelling variations) meant “cricket” in many European Mediterranean languages. The cricket is not only one of the few loveable insects but also carries a positive association with long summer evenings. An extra is that, in French, “nous grillons” can mean “we are having a barbecue”. Grillon works well in English too – “keep on grilling”.