'Mickey and Goofy' (F JM 86231). © Disney. French-language version.
Manuel Galdón, also referred to as Manolo Galdón, is a Spanish designer, art director and visual artist, based in Alicante. Besides working extensively in the commercial art field, he has been active as an artist of Disney comics, working through the studios Recreo and Comicup in Barcelona.
Disney comics
Born in 1960 in the Spanish town Alicante, Manuel Galdón first came to notice in the mid-1980s as one of the comic artists working through Studio Recreo and José Canovas's Studio Comicup in Barcelona. Between 1985 and 1991, he did regular work for Comicup on European Disney comics, initially drawing several stories with 'Uncle Scrooge', 'Donald Duck' and 'Mickey Mouse' for the French publisher Hachette and its magazine Le Journal de Mickey. In addition, he drew occasional stories with secondary characters like 'Scamp' and 'Chip 'n' Dale' for the Danish Disney licensee Gutenberghus (the current Egmont), as well as a 1991 'Uncle Scrooge' adventure story for Mondadori in Italy.
Education and further Disney work
After his first run as Disney comic artist, Galdón enrolled at the EASDA Arts & Crafts School in Alicante, where, between 1990 and 1996, he studied Art and Design. Afterwards, he took a course in drawing and animation based on Disney's 'Tarzan' movie at the Walt Disney Europe headquarters in Paris, France. Since then, he has been doing additional Disney work for comics, story books and merchandising, including a 'Tarzan' movie book. In 1996, Galdón briefly returned to Comicup as artist for a couple of short Disney comic stories for the Dutch publisher VNU (currently DPG Media). Since 2023, he has been drawing additional Disney comics for the Dutch Donald Duck weekly, this time starring movie characters such as 'Robin Hood', 'The Seven Dwarfs' and '101 Dalmatians'.
Illustration work by Manuel Galdón.
MAGS Studio
During the 1990s and 2000s, Manuel Galdón branched out by doing work as art director, layout artist and concept creator for art agencies in Valencia, Madrid and Alicante, including Grupo Anaya, Grupo Camaleón Creativos and Contrapunto. In 2007, he joined forces with his brother Antontio Galdón, with whom he launched his own MAGS Studio. Aided by a group of multidisciplinary freelance professionals, the Galdón brothers have worked on many large brand design projects. Besides the creation of unique and differentiating logos and a marketing strategy, they take care of the entire corporate identity, including the tone of voice in advertising and even the clothing of employees.
Important projects have been the redesign of the brand and international image of the Meliá hotel chain, the progressive change of the Café Jurado brand, the change of image of the marble export company Incom Pastor, the redesign of Puntomatic and the creation of the Sensia brand by Mercedes-Benz. Among the other MAGS Studio clients are the City Councils of Madrid, Barcelona and Alicante, TextilHogar in Fira Valencia, Vissum, Puma, Clece, Caja Mediterráneo Bank, the newspaper El País, Canal+, Clickair airlines (Iberia), Renfe, the Ministry of Culture, IFA Alicante Trade Show Institution, Hansa Urbana and Grupotec.
Manuel Galdón at his MAGS Studio (source: manuelgaldon.com).
Other activities
Between 1986 and 1995, Galdón was a volunteer on international visual arts projects of the United Nations as facilitator, visual artist and art director. In addition to his commercial work, he has been working on personal visual art projects. His paintings, sculptures and street art have been part of several solo and group exhibitions in Spain and abroad. In the city center of his hometown Alicante, Galdón designed the 'Mosaico de Miradas', a mural of more than 200 square meters on the wall of the Parking Canalejas, next to the Plaza Doctor Balmis.
Recognition
Over the years, MAGS Studio has been nominated for several important prizes in the commercial art industry. In 2009, the team was awarded with a bronze ED-AWARD (European Design Awards). In 2010, their Galdarica logo was selected in the Wolda (Worldwide Logo Design Award) and nominated for the 2011 Design Award of the Federal Republic of Germany.
'Robin Hood' (H2022-376). © Disney. Dutch-language version.