| Pages in topic: [1 2] > | cosmetics and bilingual marketing Thread poster: Susana Galilea
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Susana Galilea 
United States
Local time: 20:57
English to Spanish
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Dear all,
I have been doing a fair amount of work in the field of cosmetics, and I am curious as to how fellow translators handle the names of colors/shades (e.g. for a lipstick or eyeshadow). Most of the work I do is for the Spanish-speaking market in the U.S., and looking at products in stores I have noticed often the name of the color will be left in English followed by the name translated in French and/or Spanish. This would make sense to me, as often the name in English will no... See more Dear all,
I have been doing a fair amount of work in the field of cosmetics, and I am curious as to how fellow translators handle the names of colors/shades (e.g. for a lipstick or eyeshadow). Most of the work I do is for the Spanish-speaking market in the U.S., and looking at products in stores I have noticed often the name of the color will be left in English followed by the name translated in French and/or Spanish. This would make sense to me, as often the name in English will not have a straight translation, and keeping the original name is a way to avoid confusion as to the specific color being referred to. By that I mean there is only one way to translate "blue", but many ways to translate something like "prairie bliss" (name made up). In order to keep names translated consistently, a glossary of names seems very much in order.
I am curious as to how others handle this specific issue.
Thanks much!
Susana Galilea
Accredited Translator, EUTI
[email protected]
www.accentonspanish.com
[Edited at 2003-12-08 19:27] ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Not much cosmetics tranx | Dec 8, 2003 |
But in some cases (cars and PC hardware, for ex.) I have translated color names literally (at client's request, of course).
I usually buy a cosmetics brand here in Argentina which does not have any translation at all for colors (R.vl.n).
I have seen some 'descriptive names' for colors translated, but I have never seen the source and the translation used at the same time.
Hope this helps you.
| | | | Parrot
Spain
Local time: 03:57
Spanish to English
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| That could depend | Dec 8, 2003 |
I handled a French cosmetic line's launching in England, and the French original was very suggestive of its translation. It simply slipped into an "English skin".
Where the French was familiar and sounded so much more chic, anyway, it stayed.
| | | | asun
Spain
Local time: 03:57
Spanish to French
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| IT DEPENDS... | Dec 8, 2003 |
Susana Galilea wrote:
In order to keep names translated consistently, a glossary of names seems very much in order.
I am curious as to how others handle this specific issue.
In cosmetics, it depends of how glamourous the product wants to be.
And as you know, french is the language of glamour, and blue is quite like bleu but so different than AZUL...
I worked for three years on a cosmetic labo and most of the products names were in english, generally for body and face lines,
and in french for coulour lines.
Spanish is passion, but not glamour ( for cosmetics, al least...)
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Hynek Palatin
Czech Republic
Local time: 03:57
Member (2003)
English to Czech
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| 00000000 (X)
English to French
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| Translators giving their blesssing to non-translation | Dec 8, 2003 |
When translating into French for Québec/Canada, everything has to be translated, including color names. Otherwise, it looks like the translation has been botched up and people don't like it. But for France, it's a different matter: they apparently perceive English words as chic and modern.
Increasingly, companies are trying to do away with translations altogether. The most tolerant markets are prime targets for this trend. And the translators that go along with it are the most lik... See more When translating into French for Québec/Canada, everything has to be translated, including color names. Otherwise, it looks like the translation has been botched up and people don't like it. But for France, it's a different matter: they apparently perceive English words as chic and modern.
Increasingly, companies are trying to do away with translations altogether. The most tolerant markets are prime targets for this trend. And the translators that go along with it are the most likely to find themselves destroying their own business by letting on that it doesn't matter if more and more words are left in English. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Magda Dziadosz
Poland
Local time: 03:57
Member (2004)
English to Polish
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| As a consumer.. | Dec 8, 2003 |
I hate to read labels where every second word is in a different language - even if I can understand most of it. I can't help thinking that the translator was just lazy or unqualified and unable to come up with a good expression . It's a real nighmare with cosmetic labels and food product as well - they usually leave names of less popular spices in English, frequently with funny spelling which makes me thinking that manufacturers don... See more I hate to read labels where every second word is in a different language - even if I can understand most of it. I can't help thinking that the translator was just lazy or unqualified and unable to come up with a good expression. It's a real nighmare with cosmetic labels and food product as well - they usually leave names of less popular spices in English, frequently with funny spelling which makes me thinking that manufacturers don't want to tell what's inside!
If you decide to leave anything in English, consider how it will be pronounced in your target language: sometimes the marketing effect is destroyed by the simple fact that people cannot pronounce it (like 'prairie bliss' in Polish
HTH
Magda ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Use RAL numbers wherever possible | Dec 9, 2003 |
Each color has a RAL No. If a given color's RAL number is not known, you can always check in Google. Search for color name +RAL. You are sure to get the detail you want. Suppose you are translating from English to German, after the getting the RAL number for the color mentioned in English, go to google.de and search for the RAL number in question, asking for German sites only. You will get the German color name as well. Hope this helps.
Regards,
N.Ragahvan
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Susana Galilea
United States
Local time: 20:57
English to Spanish
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TOPIC STARTER | interesting viewpoint... | Dec 9, 2003 |
Esther Pfeffer wrote:
And the translators that go along with it are the most likely to find themselves destroying their own business by letting on that it doesn't matter if more and more words are left in English.
Surely this is something to keep in mind
My concern has to do with consistency mostly, as I may be translating promotional brochures where the names of new colors are being announced, and a different translator may be translating the names that actually appear in the packaging of the actual product. It is easy to end up with Spanish names that do not match, which I imagine is why often color names are left untranslated.
It seems to me the translation of colors/shades should be done as a separate step before any of the marketing materials are translated, that way there would be a list to refer to for consistency at every step.
Thanks for all your feedback.
S.G.
[Edited at 2003-12-09 01:55]
| | | | 00000000 (X)
English to French
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| Color Names and Consistency | Dec 9, 2003 |
[quote]Susana Galilea wrote:
My concern has to do with consistency mostly, as I may be translating promotional brochures where the names of new colors are being announced, and a different translator may be translating the names that actually appear in the packaging of the actual product. It is easy to end up with Spanish names that do not match, which I imagine is why often color names are left untranslated.
It seems to me the translation of colors/shades should be done as a separate step before any of the marketing materials are translated, that way there would be a list to refer to for consistency at every step.
I understand the problem because I have one client that has dozens of shades. Moreover, I translate everything for their professional products but someone else does their mass market line (it's apparently a separate division), so they might end up with two different French color names for each English color name. I simply do my best and let the client deal with the consistency problem.
One day, after about 2 years with that client, I was sent an Excel file to edit: it was all their shade names! So, you see, they had come up with a solution... The other lesson in this is that the client is still with me, no matter what color names I choose.
| | | | | Nice glossary | Dec 9, 2003 |
Here you have a nice glossary, maybe not useful, but...interesting.
Color Names in - English - Czech - Hungarian - French - German - Spanish
http://www.main.cz/colors/color_names.htm
| | | | Susana Galilea
United States
Local time: 20:57
English to Spanish
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TOPIC STARTER | interesting indeed... | Dec 9, 2003 |
Claudia Iglesias wrote:
Here you have a nice glossary, maybe not useful, but...interesting.
Funny how Alice Blue becomes Blanco Alicia...
Thanks for the thread, Claudia. I am sure it may come in handy, if only to visualize a wide range of colors.
S.G.
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00000000 (X)
English to French
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| Cuisse de nymphe émue | Dec 9, 2003 |
Claudia Iglesias wrote: Here you have a nice glossary, maybe not useful, but...interesting. Color Names in - English - Czech - Hungarian - French - German - Spanish http://www.main.cz/colors/color_names.htm[/quote] That's the surprising French name they give for hot pink -- rosa cálido in Spanish. | | | | Susana Galilea
United States
Local time: 20:57
English to Spanish
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TOPIC STARTER
Cuisse de nymphe émue? That's pretty racy
Although I doubt it gives anyone the slightest idea of what color they are referring to...
S.G.
[Edited at 2003-12-09 07:30]
| | | | 00000000 (X)
English to French
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| Czech speakers are tolerant | Dec 9, 2003 |
In the Avon Canada - French version, all colors are in French: http://www.avon.ca/html/conseils/conseils.php?lang=fra
If they keep them in English for your market, it's because they have determined that Czech speakers don't mind.
Sometimes I do cultural & linguistic consulting for companies wanting to introduce products in the French-speaking Canadian market. If they propose to keep something in English, I tell them what kind of problems they're likely to encounter -- not that I want to be negative, but that's exactly what they pay me for. I guess when similar consulting is done for the Czech market, the consultants say it's OK, people will just accept it as a fact of life.
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