Talented Musician and Graphic Designer Gains Well-Deserved Recognition from State Government

BY: Michelle Liew

Thanks to his deep interest in the field of underground music, Mohd. Azman Anzaruddin managed to achieve great success as a musician and graphic designer.

The graphic display on the cover of metal music cassettes in the early 1990s sparked the idea for him to venture into creative drawing.

"I took inspiration from the cassette artwork of foreign bands. From there, I fell in love with the art field by producing songs or making creative drawings.

"These two interests move hand in hand from sketching on paper to computer graphics. In the late 1990s, I majored in a Diploma in Graphic Design. Since then, I have continued that interest until now," he said.

Born in Tanjung Rambutan and grew up in Ipoh, he uses the pen name Azmaniac for some of his work shared on Facebook.

Mohd. Azman also produced a book entitled SEN(az)MAN – Documentation of Graphic Artists, Graduates of the Endless World.

Commenting on the graphic artwork, Mohd. Azman stated that he has been involved in the production of creative content for albums or posters of famous music groups in and outside the country, including Sil Khannaz, Infectious Maggots, ACAB, Impiety from Singapore, Trauma and Dewa 19 from Indonesia.

"Currently, in addition to processing the design, I also act as the printer. It means I take charge from the beginning up to the completion in terms of design up to the printing stage. Both in the form of books, compact discs and black discs," he said.

Mohd. Azman, 48, named several painters such as Pushead, Michael Whelan, Dan Seagrave, Edward J. Repka as his inspiration.

"Among the memorable experiences I have include playing gigs or festivals in Indonesia, having the opportunity to record in Ahmad Dhani's studio in Jakarta, being brought by the Dewa 19 crew to see the behind-the-scenes process of their concert production," he said.

The artwork of Azman even caught the eye of the Perak state government which then channeled the Perak@Port Creative Fund to him.

"This is a very unusual recognition. The fund helps to stimulate the market in addition to strengthening the reputation as a graphic designer and most importantly, raising the work of artists to their rightful position," he said.

The Perak@Port Creative Fund is a systematic arts assistance scheme by giving priority to artists and entrepreneurs in the creative field who are children of Perak.

Port, which is also an acronym for People of Remarkable Talent, is also one of the leading agencies of Perak Sejahtera 2030's tenth flagship, namely Experience Economy, the brainchild of Menteri Besar, Datuk Seri Saarani Mohamad under the Semarak Warisan segment.