Viano, Víctor

Víctor Viano was born in Rio Primero, Córdoba, Argentina in 1939. In Argentina, he studied art, illustration, and other fields of creative production and expression including radio and television. In 1968, Viano moved with his family to Caracas, Venezuela after winning a contest to become the Art Director of the Ricardo de Luca Advertisement agency (a prestigious advertising and marketing firm working for high profile corporate clients such as Gillette). After a year, Viano left his role at the Ricardo de Luca Advertisement agency to focus solely on editorial and book design as a freelancer although he continued to take on additional artistic and corporate projects. During his time in Venezuela, he designed logos, newspaper mastheads, and some album covers. He worked for many Venezuelan publishing houses including Monte Ávila Editores (one of the most prestigious publishing houses in Latin America), Tiempo Nuevo, Letras Nuevas, The Magazine of National Culture, Editorial Arte, Simón Bolívar University, Zulia’s Culture Institute, and the Venezuelan government. Subsequently, Viano moved to Spain and continued his editorial and book design work in Europe. During his time in Spain, Viano designed the branding and book covers of the Ediciones Mandorla (an independent Spanish publishing house), completed artistic and corporate design projects, and contributed his designs to exhibitions. As described by Faride Mereb of Ediciones Letra Muerta, Viano’s editorial work in Venezuela and Spain is noted for its bold designs and visual metaphors, ornamented borders and capitals, and the use of large titles on dust jackets. According to Mereb, Viano’s style was undoubtedly influenced by his experience working in advertising and reflected a new era of bold marketing in the publishing world. Víctor Viano died in Spain in 2000.