I've told clients similar things before. You need to be able to tell someone your website name and be able to have them find it very easily. Unless you're one of the only ones in your space and people will find your site searching for key terms, it's very important that your site is easy to find, pronounce and spell.
With all that said, I'm curious as to why you went with a logo that, to me, is hard to read? Before I even got to the body of your post, I was looking at the background on the header image and struggled with:
Leai ndot...
Why did I have problems with this? The dot is often used as a syllable spacer when you are looking at pronunciation guides. For example: mis·take.
I don't know if you considered this but I thought I'd mention it because I can't be the only one. It seemed appropriate to mention since having a logo that is easy to read and understand should go along with having a name that is easy to pronounce and understand.
[meta: HN is a great critic, the two biggest issues we had before pulling the trigger was this one and what pud pointed out :)]
This was a tough call. We thought it was a clever design that tied together the name mark and the logo. In the post I mentioned I printed it out and got people on the street to read it – that was specifically because some people found the 'r' hard to read!
If it turns out to be an issue for a lot of people, we'll revisit.
Also had the same initial read of the logo. Thought it said "Leai·ndot". Other than that: Paul, "thanks" for sharing your story. Interesting and well written.
I've told clients similar things before. You need to be able to tell someone your website name and be able to have them find it very easily. Unless you're one of the only ones in your space and people will find your site searching for key terms, it's very important that your site is easy to find, pronounce and spell.
With all that said, I'm curious as to why you went with a logo that, to me, is hard to read? Before I even got to the body of your post, I was looking at the background on the header image and struggled with:
Leai ndot...
Why did I have problems with this? The dot is often used as a syllable spacer when you are looking at pronunciation guides. For example: mis·take.
I don't know if you considered this but I thought I'd mention it because I can't be the only one. It seemed appropriate to mention since having a logo that is easy to read and understand should go along with having a name that is easy to pronounce and understand.