Manoj Vijayan
'Exequy on death of Stravinsky' by Dennis Báthory-Kitsz

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I've been interested in visual design as far back as I can remember. Growing up in Dar Es Salaam, East Africa, I was regularly bought a lot of comics by my dad, and I spent many an afternoon diligently trying to copy the various styles of the comic book artists so I could tell my own stories. This, I think, helped me develop a sense of graphic design, storytelling, anatomy, perspective...

I also found I could draw pictures that made people laugh. This was a revelation to me! I found I could use these skills to create new worlds to lose myself in and share with others. Like every artist, I found I enjoyed playing God, if only on a small scale!

When my parents asked me what I would like to study as a career, I was a bit flummoxed. I hadn't really thought about it. A classmate suggested Architecture "because it has both engineering and drawing." Well then! I came to India and earned a bachelor's degree in Architecture, after which I worked for a few years in an architecture and interior design firm. The experience was interesting and useful, however I found myself being inexorably drawn back to creating art in more direct ways. When I quit my last office, the break became an extended one that has lasted over a decade now. I find I am happy working on my own, at my computer or drawing board.

Initially I worked mainly in the field of architectural presentations, creating interior and exterior views of projects. I started out working in watercolor; of course as soon as I acquired my first computer this changed. I still retain a little hand-drawn touch to perspective views though; rather than work exclusively in 3D, as most renderers do, I prefer to draw and ink the view by hand, then scan and color the drawing on the computer.

Apart from perspectives, I have been lucky enough to work in many areas related to visual design; cartooning and illustration, web design, logos and related graphics, murals, character design and storyboarding for animation, store window design, posters, packaging design, and comics, to name some.

The computer and the internet still make me feel like the proverbial kid in the candy store, faced with a giddy wealth of choices!

Currently I have entered into a partnership with Eva Almeida, a Canadian who runs several sites related to eBooks on the Internet. We provide design services for eBook and Print on Demand (POD) covers, logos, web work, cartooning and illustration. Cover design in particular is dear to my heart because I get to work with many interesting writers from all over the world and feel privileged to complement their work with a nice cover design.

Our site can be located at www.marketingedgedesigns/coverart.html --do visit! And I can be contacted directly at my e-mail addresses at the bottom of this page.

As to the future I am working on an idea for a comic book series with a differenceÖ

Here are some samples of the work I have done.

Perspective Views of proposed Architectural projects:

Illustrations for childrenís books, magazine articles:

Comic Strips:

Design of characters for Animated serial:

Logo Design:

Book covers:

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wwweb: www.marketingedgedesigns/coverart.html