Creating art has been a lifelong passion of mine. When I was a little boy in Manila (Philippine Islands), I used every material available to me to record and interpret my surroundings. Bars of soap became small sculptures – soon reduced to mere bubbles in the laundry while I was at school. I industriously scrabbled on scraps of paper with Crayola crayons, especially dear since they came from the United States. (I loved their smell.) I mixed water with crushed colored rocks, flowers and grass for paint – before discovering the joys of watercolors in a tin paint box. Ever the entrepreneur, by age nine I was drawing comics which I allowed my playmates to read for a mere 5 centavos (less than 1 penny at the time) per page. Around the same time, I entered a contest sponsored by a publishing company and was surprised to see my artwork in a book featuring children’s art from around the world. Every school notebook I owned was filled with sketches, drawn with my trusty blue, black and red Bic ballpoint pens. My popularity in school soared when my classmates found out I would illustrate their biology reports for 25 centavos (about 10 cents at the time).
Although I continued to sketch and paint, pursuits such as girls and other adventures took precedence in my teens. After graduating with a Fine Arts degree from the University of the Philippines and attending the School of Visual Arts (NYC), I entered the workplace as a lowly messenger boy for Creative Charts in 1965. I was soon hired by Chartmakers, Inc. to work in the same exciting capacity. (Little did they know they had a tiger by the tail.) I learned everything there was to learn and was quickly promoted to Art Director in 1966. I subsequently moved to Anagraphics, Inc. and was named Creative Director by 1970. At just 24, I supervised a creative staff of 30 and provided design and marketing services to many national and international accounts.
By 1979, I struck out on my own and founded AZtec, Ltd. in Rockland County, New York, a corporate communications expert. My creative muscles were flexed to the max when I created a fun and exciting Rock ’N Roll Time Machine multi-projector extravaganza for Six Flags Great Adventure. Around this time, I also designed a massive multi-image, multi-media exhibit, Enterprise Square, USA, which ran for an impressive twenty years. (Click on Multimedia for more information.) After AZtec, Ltd. came Eagle Graphic Design and A. Zapanta Design & Productions – new names with new addresses, but always with the same dynamic creative force behind them. From creating corporate identities, collateral materials, logo designs, brochures, advertisements, catalogs, newsletters, CD cover designs, web page designs and sales aids to hand-drawn illustrations, cartoons, special effects slides and multi-image presentations – you name it, I’ve done it all and done it well.
Fortunately, I had the foresight (and interest) to be on the forefront as computers burst onto the scene and was able to seamlessly combine my ideas with a mastery of numerous computer applications. I shamelessly endorse Macintosh computers as the only platform for creative individuals, myself included.
Selected Listing of Local, National & International Accounts
Best Foods, Exxon, Texaco, Nabisco, Newsweek, AT&T, Bell Labs, Town & Country Magazine, Swatch Watches, Remy Martin, Congoleum, DDB, Sharp Electronics, Panasonic, Becton Dickinson, Bell Labs, Canon Copiers, Hearst Publications, Hitachi, IBM, Johnson & Johnson, Minolta Cameras, Pfizer, Sharp Electronics, Time-Life Magazine, U.S. Navy, Warner Communications, Rockland Community College, City Theatrical, Inc., Prudential, Konica, Gold’s Horseradish, Sony, Bayer, Reckitt/Benckiser and Bide-A-Wee Home Association, Inc. (a non-profit organization).
At this stage of my life, I am finally able to devote more time to creating fine art.
