Brought To You By The Letter K
Blogger: Jen, Head Honcho
Even after almost seven years, I still love the name Knock Knock, and people still ask about it. During a pre–Knock Knock bout of work avoidance, I glued plastic letters to my front door: KNOCK KNOCK on the outside and WHO’S THERE on the inside, then painted over them so they were visible only in shadow. As the idea for the company was coming about, I wondered what I might name it, and my eye caught the front door. After the fact, I came up with an explanation for why I liked the name:
• “Knock Knock” is a command that invites a question. With “Who’s There,” it constitutes a universal American call-and-response.
• Because the name relates not at all to the company’s actual activities, “Knock Knock” provides a link to the noble legacy of surrealism, while the phrase’s role in jokes conveys an emphasis on humor.
• “Knock Knock” evokes childhood—glee, curiosity, open-mindedness, play, and purity of purpose.
• Because Knock Knock is one word repeated twice, it lends itself nicely to the design of letterforms. Graphically it’s a palindrome, with consonants flanking a center O, the odd K at either side, and the N and C tweaking what might otherwise degenerate into cloying symmetry.
• It’s fun to answer the phone “Knock Knock.”
The name has proved fruitful on a few fronts. Because a defunct law firm in the San Fernando Valley had already incorporated in the state of California under the name Knock Knock (yes, a law firm), we had to settle for incorporating under Who’s There, Inc. (DBA Knock Knock). Our mass-market brand is Ding Dong. We call ourselves Knock Knockers and joke about getting knock-knocked up. And whenever we see another silent K, we always feel a deep sense of solidarity.
Imagine, then, my delight today when our managing editor, Megan Carey, forwarded "Krazy About K" a loving ode published on the American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) website. Author Phil Patton writes, “Certain letters seem rare, like precious metals or noble gases. Such letters act as catalysts and have special properties—they may glow when ‘excited’ by electricity, say, like neon and fluorine, the aptly named ‘lighter’ elements.” Patton mentions the silent K, but doesn’t wax enthusastic enough for my taste: “And what of the silent K, as Steven Guarnaccia reminded me? I had nearly forgotten! Knight, knee, knowledge and similar words are a silent killer for those trying to learn our crazy English orthography.” In the end, however, Patton redeems himself, and I could not agree with him more: “Here’s hoping 2009 marks the return of the incomparable K.”
Image: Phil Patton, Kodak Logos from 1987, Branding for Kwik Fill gas station, Krystal fast food and Kellogg’s Special K, and Krispy Kreme Logo, on AIGA
What Do You Do?
Blogger: Meredith, Editorial Assistant
When people ask me what I do—perhaps the most frequently posed question in Los Angeles—I’m at a loss. If I simply state that I’m an editorial assistant, people living under the shadow of these particular palm trees nearly always ask me which film studio. When I explain that there are words involved, they become even more confused. Add to this the fact that I work at Knock Knock, a company not easily summarized and I’m at a total loss.
While attempting to describe my job over Thanksgiving, I told my family that I primarily spend my workday trying to reign in my love of the em-dash and consult the thesaurus and the Chicago Manual of Style—a lot. I then switched tactics and made vague comments about writing and editing witty content. This also struck out, eliciting my brother’s choice comment, “But you’re not funny.”
Because I’m still relatively new at editing, my job often feels like a crash course in attention to detail. Fact-checking requires more rigorous verification than I could have ever imagined, and the facts themselves are often difficult to find—after all, there are only so many ways to procrastinate, have sex, and make excuses. Writing copy in the Knock Knock voice apparently requires more than merely tossing around a dry line or two. Proofing—don’t even get me started on the specifics of proofing. I’m even taking a copyediting course at UCLA to ensure that I never spell stationery with an “a” again as well as cement in my mind when exactly a semi-colon is appropriate.
When it comes down to it, I suppose the fact that I actually have a job—let alone one I like, one that involves words, and one that is just blocks from the beach—should be good enough. As my dad always says, “Enough is sufficient.”
Image: The Knock Knock Library ( . . . and my office)
Change To Spare
Blogger: Brad, Junior Art Director
Change is in the air—can you smell it? It’s kind of citrusy, with a just hint of fear? Regardless of your olfactory faculties, the pervasiveness of transformation these days is as hard to ignore as the colors of autumnal leaves.
Change has been ubiquitous lately thanks to the recent presidential election in which both candidates campaigned on the message. Our resulting President-elect has since created a website specifically for the transition of power at change.gov.
In the creative development process, changes are part and parcel. For many, however, change can be a fairly scary prospect, taking them out of their comfort zone. Case in point: we use the QWERTY keyboard layout because that arrangement of letters was designed to prevent typewriter keys from jamming. Yet this composition persists in the age of unjammable word processors, despite the existence of viable alternatives such as the Dvorak Simplified Keyboard—partially because change is challenging.
For the changeaholics among us, I’d like to take the opportunity to pimp one of my favorite websites, ChangeThis. Their mission is to produce “rational and thoughtful arguments that help people change their minds to a more productive point of view.” These take the form of PDF files encompassing an impressive range of topics free for the sharing.
I want to make my inaugural KK blog contribution chock-full of value-additives, so before I sign off, I’m leaving you with the song, “A Change Is Gonna Come,” covered by the relatively new artist Ben Sollee. The song was originally written and performed by soul great Sam Cooke. But in a move apropos to our theme, Sollee changed some of the lyrics—specifically those lyrics that are so associated with the African-American Civil Rights Movement that he felt it would be disingenuous for a white boy from Kentucky to sing. His change neither diminishes the result nor detracts from the original. Enjoy the change.
Productive Procrastination
Blogger: Megan, Managing Editor
Currently, I’m working on a 2010 calendar on procrastination. The irony is clear. It’s counterintuitive to be “working” on procrastination, and even more so to be writing pro-tarrying tips for over a year from now. And with every bit of research, I discover yet another reason to delay finishing the project.
One of my favorite recent research finds is “Dirt Genius” Scott Wade. He has turned procrastination into artistic fame. By not washing his car, he creates elaborate works of art on the dusty, grimy windshield. His temporary car canvas has been graced by masterpieces such as Mona Lisa and The Starry Night and one-of-a-kind wonders. I’m most drawn to Impermanent Albert featured below. I love this mentality of turning vice into virtue.
I’m a bait-and-switch procrastinator. That means I always find something else to do rather than what I’m supposed to be doing—usually something less urgent but generally productive so I don’t feel guilty. This is in line with the Knock Knock editorial way. In fact, “research” is our favorite procrastination technique. We transform our hours and hours on the Internet into humorous nonfiction works from books to notepads. It’s “Productive Procrastination.”
Now it’s time to get back to work.
Image: Impermanent Albert, work and photo by Scott Wade.
Welcome To Our Electronic Soapbox!
Blogger: Jen, Head Honcho
We are Knock Knock, and now we are blogging—for real this time! On the occasion of this, the launch of our new and improved website, we have renewed faith in our ability to communicate regularly with the outside world through the use of this newfangled thing they call a “blog” (a contraction of “web log” that just happens to sound like it should mean “moron” or “unspecified bodily secretion”).
If you weren’t a devotee of our brief first attempt at blogging, you won’t know that for a long time we resisted the practice, feeling that our navels were adequately gazed. By “we” I mean “me,” Jen Bilik, owner and founder of Knock Knock, overall somewhat of a curmudgeon and specifically a cynic about compulsive and/or exhibitionistic bloggers. Not to mention that we already do a lot of writing for our website and our product, and there are only so many hours in the day.
But despite the prodigious output, we’ve got more to say and show, and fortunately for us (and by “us” I mean “me”), the new Knock Knock blog will be a true reflection of the Knock Knock sensibility and team ethos, with our editorial and design folks, good eggs all, taking turns writing about what intrigues, delights, tickles, irritates, and captivates them. The Knock Knock persona can be defined as so many things—gadfly, design aficionado, wordsmith, observational humorist, wit, omnivore—and with all of us contributing, our hope is that a full picture will emerge.
If you’re new to Knock Knock, we invite you to explore About Us, and, even more important, just to buy lots of our funny, affordable stuff, sight (not site) unseen. Really—that’s the best way to get to know Knock Knock, and it makes us money.
Then there’s the free stuff. We’ve long promised to create neato web-only content, and now we’re finally doing it! Not only can you throw away all your books and magazines and devote yourself exclusively to our blog, we’re also delighted to introduce our Stuff for You section. Send an e-card, post a comment, peruse a novelty, enjoy being part of a hip, witty community. And then buy more stuff.
To those of you aren’t new to Knock Knock, we thank you for your support over these last six years. And we urge you also to buy more stuff.
