Varo, the Host Publications Creature
When local small press Host Publications approached me about designing their logo, I was so excited and honored to work with them! They publish radical poetry and fiction by emerging LGBTQ+, BIPOC, intersectional feminist, and immigrant voices, and their mission is to historically marginalized writers. We immediately connected over a shared love of surrealist painters like Remedios Varo and Leonora Carrington, made a beautiful Pinterest board, pored over our favorite art books, and had several meetings about creature design. The result? Varo, the celestial lion!
The Process
We started out by coming up with a few different creature ideas and conceptualizing how they might look in various logo situations.
Varo Emerges
Once we decided on a creature design we liked, we finalized the sketch, I hand-carved the lino block and printed the creature. This is the first pull — always exciting! We decided to name them Varo after Remedios Varo.
I designed three Varo in three different postures: one for the main logo, one for the colophon (the small logo on the spine), and one just for fun.
Varo’s First Book Appearance
Varo was first seen in Summer Farah’s beautiful poetry book, “The Hungering Years,” which came out in Feb. 2026. Here’s to many more Varo books!
Varo Merch
Since then, Host has created a beautiful collection of Varo shirts, tote bags, stickers and more! Visit their website to secure your own Varo garb.