Since a lot of people have been asking me exactly what the word “Corvink” and my logo means, I decided it was time to explain. So without further ado, let’s start with the name!
THE NAME
Corvink is not a real word, it is something I created based on a something that means a lot to me. It is a combination of two words blended together. Corvine + Ink. So what, you may ask, is “corvine” then?
COR·VINE (adjective)
pertaining to or resembling a crow.
belonging or pertaining to the Corvidae, a family of birds that include crows, ravens, and jays.
So, it’s just a bird? Why does that mean anything to me? This is where it get’s sort of tricky to explain because the Corvidae family, for me, and many other people have a plethora of different symbolisms. Each bird has it’s own line of symbols, which is why I decided to use the word “Corvine” to symbolize a layer of meanings rather than just saying “Crow” or “Raven,” that tend to have more singular symbols.
For instance, several southwestern tribes see the raven as a harbinger of light that escaped from the darkness of the cosmos. They associate this bird with creation because it was what brought light where there was darkness previously. It’s also a known fact that ravens are very intelligent birds, which is why they show up in literature and pop culture as such. Think back to Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven,” or even the Ravenclaw house in Harry Potter.
The other important part of the corvine identity is the crow part. Depending on the culture, a crow can mean different things. For the Celts, they believed that the crow was an omen of death and conflict. For other cultures they are seen as the watchers of the dead. But, in almost all cases, they are associated with some sort of death. In fact pay close attention in movies (this may start spoiling things for you so you may want to skip the next sentence) often writers and directors will place a crow in a scene a bit before a character is about to die to foreshadow their death. It may not always be the character you predict, but its often there for that reason. Random other fact, a group of crows is called “a murder,” seriously. Anyway, I’m sure you’re starting to think, why is this dude being so damn morbid? I know it can be taken as that, but for me it’s not an obsession with death, rather a celebration of life. For me, having death close enough to remind me that life could end at any time, it will happen, no matter what… I think to myself: live, now. Don’t be afraid to enjoy the moment, do the things you want to do and be with the people who are present in your life, because at any moment, any one of us may no longer be here. Don’t let that crow weigh you down, he may be watching over you but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t give him a show. Create, sing, dance, love and live to give him the finger and prove to him that your life was worth living before it all ends.
So that describes the Corvine prefix to my made up word. The second part is simple and plays into what I said about giving the crow the finger. Ink is my way of giving my life meaning, through my art; it gives my life that beauty and purpose, it makes people laugh and smile, and hopefully give complete strangers some sort of connection to something to remind them (as I often need to remind myself), they are not alone. In that, I hope that my art can continue to speak to people and give them a part of that life that the crow wants to take from us.
THE LOGO
Now that you know the meaning of corvines, it’s easy to understand some of the next stuff. Being that the crow represents that of death, using a skull shows that not even the symbol of death can live forever, it can be defeated through us living our lives. That part is more obvious, but the other part isn’t as much.
People keep asking me why it is that I have a target on it’s head. It’s actually not a target. It is a nazar, or evil eye stone. Nazars are amulets meant to protect against the evil. Evil, like the crow watching you ready for your death, surrounds us constantly. When the darkness begins to weigh over your soul, when work gets hard, your love life feels dim, your friends abandon you…it’s easy to be overcome by it. Trust me, this is something that I’ve been currently dealing with a lot in my life. It’s the sort of darkness that unbeknownst to me had take me over these past few years, to a point that I let it flood my decisions, control my fears and threatens to destroy so much of what I love. Because of this, more now than ever, I need that protection… and more so, I need the other symbol of why I put the eye on it’s forehead of all places.
If you know anything about eastern traditions, you may have heard of Chakra? Without going into it too much, Chakra are believed to be centers of the body from which a person can collect energy. Having a healthy flow between these is what allows us to reach spiritual enlightenment and a healthy, happy soul. Knowing that, I can hopefully just jump into saying that the location of the evil eye is because of what is known as the sixth chakra, or “third eye” (aka the mind’s eye). It is located above the eyebrows in the forehead. The sixth chakra involves our mental and reasoning abilities, and our psychological skill at evaluating our beliefs and attitudes. Basically, to seek only the truth. (Remember how the raven is considered a symbol of intelligence? This is another reason I used the vague word of corvine, because if I said just crow, this part wouldn’t be incorporated into it.) In my life right now, reasoning is what feels the most important to me. So many changes are happening within and around me, and it’s easy to feel lost. There has been so much that I have had to reevaluate and think about what it is that I believe and want from my life. In deciding to create this new brand, taking my art in a new direction away from just drawing comics all day, I needed a reminder of that.
Corvink is my celebration of life, through art, a rebirth in myself designed to leave my darkness behind and take charge of my direction from here on out. I will not forget what it took me to get here and what I now have to be because of it. I will move my life forward, through this.