VALDES ARTS 246: Textbook Reading Chapter 3 and X Fest Logo Design

Chapter three of the textbook talks about everything and anything dealing with covers in editorial layouts. The text talk speaks on the cover as a portal into the content and allows the reader to engage in what they pick up right off the bat. The cover also provides a vital means of establishing the brand message or identity. Things like type, color palette, photography, and illustration define this identity within a brand. However, the text points out that with each issue, the visual identity must be reviewed so that it is kept fresh and vibrant, retaining the values of the core brand without simply adopting a formulaic approach. One of the main points this chapter emphasizes is the idea that the cover is the first part of a publication that a reader interacts with. Therefore, it stands to represent the brand and its identity, as well as capture unique readers in a variety of ways, appealing to a large crowd while also having a distinct style. I found the sections talking about the history of covers to be really interesting as it showed just like physical art in museums and galleries, cover art reflects the time period in when it was made and how the audience it was made for shifts over time. This information will be very useful as I move into creating a book cover design for my X Fest branding using some of the key points in a cover like logo, color, and image and how I can make those interesting and fit my brand.

This past week, we also finished making our 4 Xs out of different materials and techniques, including splattering ink, stamping letterforms, cutting out of paper, and using food to create letterforms. I had a lot of fun being able to let loose and create something physical and just play and be creative in this to create a variety of very different styles to take moving forward to create a logo for my festival. For the logo ideas I have been working on so far, I wanted to go for a more grungy, dark, almost gothic approach or maybe something sci-fi, so I have been working on drawing these out and then moving them into Illustrator to vectorize them.