Software 32: text or wordmark?

[geoff-h -at- MTL -dot- FERIC -dot- CA]

 Tom Herme posed a problem about a product named "Software
 32": <<My marketing manager wants to format every instance
 of the product name in Brush Script and give a superscript
 appearance to the 32.>>

 If memory serves, Brush Script is one of the more readable
 scripty typefaces, but it's still going to look odd and be
 less readable than using your standard text font. I think
 the problem is that your manager is confusing the use of a
 trademarked name with the use of a wordmark. The wordmark
 is a graphic representation of your company's name, and to
 present a consistent corporate identity you've got to use
 the same typography (color, size, typeface, position, etc.)
 on all your corporate communications. In text, this is
 wholly unnecessary. Check out any IBM, Microsoft, Adobe,
 Corel, or other large-company software manual and you'll
 see how this works: as a graphic on the cover of the
 manual, the wordmark is always consistent; in the text,
 it's simply body text, and rarely carries so much as a (TM)
 or (R) symbol.

 Your question raises another concern, however. Just how
 often do you repeat the product's name in your text?
 Without seeing the text itself, I can't comment on this,
 but it's worth having a second look: the users have already
 bought your software, so you don't have to remind them of
 its name on every page. Use the software's name primarily
 where it's not otherwise obvious which of several pieces of
 software that are running simultaneously (e.g., your
 product, Netscape, plus Win95) you're referring to.

 --Geoff Hart     @8^{)}     geoff-h -at- mtl -dot- feric -dot- ca
 Disclaimer: Speaking for myself, not FERIC.