Art Basel’s Paris fair, which launches at the Grand Palais Éphémère in October, will not be called ‘Art Basel Paris’.
During a public competition organised by the Réunion des musées nationaux to host the contemporary and modern art fair, they were told that such a name wouldn’t fly. The city had to come first.
Instead, it will be called ‘Paris+, par Art Basel’. …
The addition of a ‘+’ to brand names is trendy, especially among streaming services such as Apple TV+, Disney+, and ESPN+.
‘The value of + is that it implies more, better, premium, without being specific as to content, scale, or degree of premium-ness,’ explained Maria Cypher, creative director at naming company Catchword, speaking to Time in 2020.
But its vagueness is also a downside, as Catchword’s co-founder Laurel Sutton told Fortune in 2019.
‘It doesn’t tell you what you’re getting; it doesn’t say why it’s different,’ Sutton said. ‘It’s just adding a superlative on the end—like saying “ultra” or “supreme” or “better”.’ …
