The Creative Process Behind the VA2TX Logo
The VA2TX logo symbolizes the beginning of a new era for me. As an artist, we constantly grow and this should show up in our music and our visuals. With this growth, I will like to take time to talk about the inspiration behind the creation of the logo. So, allow me a little bit of your time and enjoy the creation of the VA2TX logo.
Time for a Change
This project started off as revamp for the PHZ-Sicks logo. I feel that I’ve outgrown the logo and that logo is pretty synonymous with my last album, The Moment. Since I’m embarking on a new sound, a new logo should accompany it. I gave myself two months to find an artist that will be able to bring my ideas to life. Inspired by the drawings of mandalas, I looked all over Instagram to find the best at creating them. This black and white art style led me to more heavy metal influenced style art which has always been in the back of my head as a particular style I may use one day. Looking at this, I came across one artist and decided that their style was exactly what I was looking for. He became the first and only person I reached out to and in that time, a logo was made.
He’s The One
The colors. The lines. The imagination. I came across Mikey “Boss Dog” McKennedy and knew he was the one. When it comes to hip hop logos/merchandise in the last few years, it has been lacking highly. The only genre of music that seems to do it constantly well is heavy metal. Due to this, I needed to find someone that could incorporate that style as well as bring in the elements that are hip hop and myself.
After I reached out via his site for the commission, he checked out my music and was down. This shifted from just the logo to having him work on the logo/album cover for “Good Day, Greater Tomorrow.” I sent him more of the album and the creative excitement between us was palpable. This all changed one night when the idea for the VA2TX logo popped in my head. I’m always trying to figure out the track list for the album and VA2TX always seemed as something that may not make the album but I really liked the song. I already had a cover for it, but what if I had a logo that matched the vibe that would look good on shirts? The ideas started to flow and Boss Dog and I created something I feel will last a long time.
"Born in Texas, raised up in VA”
The concept of the logo is the Virginia state flag. Due to Boss Dog’s work using skeletons, I knew ahead of time that the avatar for me would be a skeleton. If you look up close, you will notice that the skeleton has a gold tooth which is a shoutout to my Southern roots. The skeleton throws up the “Hook ‘em Horns” to represent Texas.
The “Sic Semper Tyrannis” was going to be replaced by VA2TX but the meaning of the Latin motto (thus always to tyrants) was always going to stay visually. It suggests that bad outcomes will or should befall tyrants. The person under the skeleton will be a metaphor for the corporate oligarchy and racism of America.
Using inspiration from Boss Dog’s “Born to Roam” shirt, I wanted a similar back drop to represent the Mississippi Delta aka Muddy Waters. This would tie in everything where I was born (Texas), where I grew up the majority of my life (Virginia), and where the foundation of my family was laid (Mississippi).
Another main focus was to have something that would look good on a shirt as well as make someone take time to appreciate what their seeing. The turnaround from Boss Dog was immediate due to how clear the vision was and I knew we were in a good spot. After tweaking the font and the circle around the logo, we were good to go.
“We riding clean on that southern lean”
I wanted to give the logo a test run so I had some mockup shirts and stickers made before I went down to Austin, Texas for Fantastic Fest. I knew if I got a good response from strangers than I knew that I did my job. The response was amazing and just off the logo, I was able to gain new fans that wanted to know the music behind the logo.
The response to the shirts were amazing and since we are now in the colder months of the year, I hope the upcoming sweaters and hoodies keep you warm as well.
If you like what you see and you would like to wear the VA2TX logo as well, click the following link: