Yulan Studio blog » yulan http://yulanstudio.com/blog from paste-up to mashup Tue, 03 Jan 2012 23:56:57 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 Meaningful Anniversary Coming Up http://yulanstudio.com/blog/about-us/meaningful-anniversary-coming-up/ http://yulanstudio.com/blog/about-us/meaningful-anniversary-coming-up/#comments Thu, 06 Jan 2011 17:25:42 +0000 John Vincent http://yulanstudio.com/blog/?p=453 Yulan Studio 12th Anniversary
In February of this year, Yulan Studio will be celebrating its 12th anniversary of being in business. This is a very significant event for us, and not just because it means we weathered our country’s recent economic woes. It actually runs much deeper.

For those who don’t know, Yulan Studio is named after the yulan magnolia tree, which is of Chinese origin. Wikipedia describes it thusly:

Magnolia denudata, known as the Yulan magnolia, is native to central and eastern China. It has been cultivated in Chinese Buddhist temple gardens since 600 AD. Its flowers were regarded as a symbol of purity in the Tang Dynasty and it was planted in the grounds of the Emperor’s palace. It is the official city flower of Shanghai.

We selected this name because we wanted a name that reflected our strong interests in gardening and in the cultures of Asia. In addition to choosing a Chinese-related name, we (without realizing it) started our business in February 1999 on the first day of the Year of the Rabbit… this is based on the 12-year cycle of the Chinese zodiac. This in itself is somewhat auspicious, but there’s more. It just so happens that both of us were born in the Year of the Rabbit.

So there we were, two Rabbits beginning a venture on the first day of the Year of the Rabbit. Call me superstitious, but I feel good about that. And now, 12 years later, we’re approaching our 12th anniversary, and beginning another Year of the Rabbit. So expect a celebration during this year’s Chinese New Year!

Plus, I can’t write a post like this without giving credit to our clients. We think of you as our very good friends, and we’ll always try our very best to come through for you. Thanks for making this possible!

]]> http://yulanstudio.com/blog/about-us/meaningful-anniversary-coming-up/feed/ 6 Yulan… the story behind the name http://yulanstudio.com/blog/marketing/yulan-the-story-behind-the-name/ http://yulanstudio.com/blog/marketing/yulan-the-story-behind-the-name/#comments Thu, 28 Jan 2010 17:50:06 +0000 John Vincent http://yulanstudio.com/blog/?p=192 We occasionally are asked the meaning of our company name, Yulan Studio. We’ve had the explanation on our site off and on over the years, but after being asked several times in the past week, I decided to re-tell the story in a blog post.

Yulan is a type of magnolia tree (Magnolia denudata) which originated in China. The literal translation of the word in Chinese means jade orchid… Yu (jade) Lan (orchid).

Why did we choose it for a company name? Two main reasons. First, we have a genuine interest in Asian culture… language, art, literature, philosophy, history, gardens, food… the list is long. So we liked the fact that the name had an Asian origin. We also liked that it was a type of tree. We love gardening, both ornamental and agricultural. So the connection to nature and gardening was significant.

One last variable in our quest for a company name is the fact that we were using the dictionary to find words we liked, and we had reached the letter Y without finding a name we could agree on. So the discovery of Yulan was an exciting moment for us, and for the marketing communications industry. :-)

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