Alejandro Ros (born 26 June 1964) is an Argentine graphic designer and occasional music video director. Known for designing the album covers for Argentine singers and musicians, including Luis Alberto Spinetta, Gustavo Cerati, Juana Molina, Babasónicos, Fito Páez and Miranda!, amongst others, as well as for Latin American artists like Julieta Venegas and Javiera Mena.

Alejandro Ros
Born
Alejandro Rosetti

(1964-06-26) 26 June 1964 (age 60)
Alma materUniversity of Buenos Aires
Occupations
Years active1985-present
Websitealejandroros.com.ar

His work has earned him nine Gardel Awards (Argentina's main music awards) and three Latin Grammy Awards, all for Best Recording Package, receiving the award for Mercedes Sosa's Cantora 1 (2009), Vicentico's Solo un Momento (2011) and Juana Molina's Wed 21 (2014). He currently holds the records for most wins and most nominations (seven) in the category.

Career

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Born in San Miguel de Tucumán in Argentina, he showed interest in music from an early age, later moving to Buenos Aires to study Graphic Design at the University of Buenos Aires during his early twenties. He was one of the students from the first promotion of his career.[1] During the nineties, Ros worked as an assistant at the studio of Sergio Perez Fernandez, Fito Páez's art director at the time. While working at the studio, he met Daniel Melero, producer for Soda Stéreo, who introduced him to various artists from the Argentine music scene for whom he would design album covers in later years.[1] In 1998, he founded the music collective Agencia de Viajes alongside Pablo Schanton, for DJs, musicians, and assistant directors.[2]

Some of his first prominent designs were his album covers for Soda Stéreo's last two studio albums: Dynamo (1992) and Sueño Stereo (1995).[3] His design for Gustavo Cerati's Bocanada (1999) earned him his first Gardel Award for Best Cover Design. Ros would receive the award multiple times over the years, becoming the most awarded and nominated designer in the category.[4] In 2002, he received the Konex Award for Graphic Design, for his work during the decade.[5]

Since then, Ros has collaborated with various artists such as Bersuit Vergarabat's Hijos del Culo (2000) and Testosterona (2005); Juana Molina's Segundo (2000), Un día (2008) and Wed 21 (2013); Luis Alberto Spinetta's Un Mañana (2008) and his posthumous album Los Amigo (2015); Babasónicos' Jessico (2001), Infame (2003) and A Propósito (2011); Javiera Mena's debut Esquemas juveniles (2006), Mena (2010) and Otra Era (2014); and Miranda!'s Magistral (2011) and Souvenir (2021), among many others.[6] At the 10th Annual Latin Grammy Awards in 2009, Ros won his first Latin Grammy Award for Best Recording Package for Mercedes Sosa's double album Cantora 1 (2009). He won the award two more times, in 2011, for Vicentico's Solo un Momento (2011), tying with Spanish artist Javier Mariscal for the soundtrack album Chico & Rita, and in 2014 for Juana Molina's Wed 21 (2014).[7][8][9] Ros has continuously been nominated in the category, namely in 2023, he received three nominations in the same year, for Miranda!'s Hotel Miranda!, Javiera Mena's Nocturna and Babasónicos' Trinchera.[10]

Exhibitions

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In 2017, he presented the exhibition Ros sin Receta as a part of 220 Cultura Contemporánea at the cultural venue Plaza de la Música in Córdoba, Argentina. The exhibition included his body of work as well as videos showcasing his collaborative work with Juana Molina for her album Halo.[11] Also that year, he presented Perfumancia, an audio-olfactory installation that "privileges smell and hearing over sight, generating an experience that questions space and turns environmental participation into an introspective matter". The work was created by Ros and Pablo Schanton, and premiered at the Spanish art fair ARCOMadrid in Madrid.[12]

From 21 November 2023 to 20 January 2024, a retrospective exhibition titled ROS was launched at the Museo de la Ciudad Altillo Beni in Santa Cruz de la Sierra in Bolivia, presenting both his album covers and his work for magazines.[13]

Editorial work

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From the early 90s until 2000, Ros designed covers for weekly supplements (Radar, Las/12, Soy and Página/30) for the Argentine newspaper Página 12.[1] He has worked for various other magazines such as Revista Ramona, Revista Tokonoma, and Revista Big.[2] Additionally, he designed the artwork for books by Nicola Costantino, Maitena, Cambre and Roberto Jacoby.[5]

Artworks

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Taken from Discogs and Alejandro Ros's website.[14][15]

Videography

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As director

Awards and nominations

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Award Year Category Nominated work Performing artist Result Ref.
Latin Grammy Awards 2009 Best Recording Package Cantora 1 Mercedes Sosa Won [10]
2011 Solo un Momento Vicentico Won
2012 Canciones Para Aliens Fito Páez Nominated
2014 Wed 21 Juana Molina Won
2023 Hotel Miranda! Miranda! Nominated
Nocturna Javiera Mena Nominated
Trinchera Avanzada Babasonicos Nominated
Premios Gardel Best Cover Design Bocanada Gustavo Cerati Won [4]
2001 Hijos del Culo Bersuit Vergarabat Nominated [16]
Narigón del Siglo Divididos Nominated
Rey Sol Fito Páez Nominated
2003 Bajofondo Tango Club Bajofondo Nominated [17]
2004 Para los Árboles Luis Alberto Spinetta Won [18]
Infame Babasónicos Nominated
2005 Los Rayos Vicentico Won [19]
La Argentinidad al Palo Bersuit Vergarabat Nominated
Mi Vida con Ellas Fito Páez Nominated
Camalotus Luis Alberto Spinetta Nominated
2006 Testosterona Bersuit Vergarabat Nominated [20]
2006 El Mundo Cabe en Una Canción Fito Páez Nominated [21]
Son Juana Molina Nominated
2009 Un Mañana Luis Alberto Spinetta Won [22]
Un día Juana Molina Nominated
2012 A Propósito Babasónicos Won [23]
Magistral Miranda! Nominated
2016 Los Amigo Luis Alberto Spinetta Won
2017 Impuesto de Fe Babasónicos Won [24]
2018 La Ciudad Liberada Fito Páez Nominated [25]
Fuerte Miranda! Nominated
2019 Satélite Cerati Gustavo Cerati Nominated [26]
2020 Utopía Pedro Aznar & Ramiro Gallo Nominated [27]
Precoz Miranda! Nominated
2022 La Dirección Conociendo Rusia Won [28]
Oscuro Éxtasis Wos Nominated
2023 Cabeza Negra Julieta Laso Won [29]
Trinchera Avanzada Babasónicos Nominated

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c Althabe, Lihueel (31 July 2003). "No pudo ser músico, pero se convirtió en el diseñador de las tapas de los discos más famosos del rock". Infobae (in Spanish). Retrieved 27 September 2024.
  2. ^ a b "Alejandro Ros". Foro Alfa (in Spanish). Retrieved 27 September 2024.
  3. ^ Bertolami, Alejandra. "Alejandro Ros: "Mi manera de hacer música es el diseño"". Bacap (in Spanish). Retrieved 27 September 2024.
  4. ^ a b "Los ganadores en cada rubro". La Nación (in Spanish). 26 April 2000. Retrieved 27 September 2024.
  5. ^ a b Figueroa, Jorge (2 July 2023). "Alejandro Ros, el gran creador del diseño de tapas de disco". La Gaceta (in Spanish). Retrieved 27 September 2024.
  6. ^ Piedra, Rodrigo (7 June 2017). "10 tapas de discos por Alejandro Ros". Indie Hoy (in Spanish). Retrieved 27 September 2024.
  7. ^ "Conoce a los nominados a los Grammy Latinos" (in Spanish). Terra Networks México. September 19, 2009. Archived from the original on June 19, 2012. Retrieved January 28, 2011.
  8. ^ "Calle 13 leads Latin Grammy nominations". Today. MSNBC. September 14, 2011. Archived from the original on October 5, 2012. Retrieved September 14, 2011.
  9. ^ "Nominados al Latin Grammy 2014". Terra Networks (in Spanish). Chilango. September 24, 2014. Archived from the original on July 16, 2017. Retrieved September 24, 2014.
  10. ^ a b "Alejandro Ros". Latin Grammys (in Spanish). Retrieved 27 September 2024.
  11. ^ Mattio, Javier (13 May 2017). "Alejandro Ros, diseñador gráfico del rock argentino, en Córdoba: "Cada artista tiene su mambo"". La Voz del Interior (in Spanish). Retrieved 27 September 2024.
  12. ^ "Ros sin receta en el 220cc". AY Mag (in Spanish). Retrieved 27 September 2024.
  13. ^ Escobar, Andrés (26 November 2023). "Alejandro Ros, 30 años de diseño gráfico". El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 27 September 2024.
  14. ^ "Alejandro Ros". Discogs. Retrieved 27 September 2024.
  15. ^ "Alejandro Ros - Música". Alejandro Ros. Retrieved 27 September 2024.
  16. ^ "Las cartas están tiradas". Clarín (in Spanish). 8 March 2001. Retrieved 17 June 2022.
  17. ^ "Charly García, el más nominado para los premios Gardel". El día. 20 February 2003. Retrieved 13 February 2022.
  18. ^ "Nominaciones y Ganadores - Premios Gardel 2004". Cámara Argentina de Productores de Fonogramas y Videogramas. Archived from the original on 14 September 2004. Retrieved 23 May 2023.
  19. ^ "Nominaciones y Ganadores - Premios Gardel 2005". Cámara Argentina de Productores de Fonogramas y Videogramas. Archived from the original on 23 November 2005. Retrieved 24 May 2023.
  20. ^ "Nominaciones y Ganadores - Premios Gardel 2006". Cámara Argentina de Productores de Fonogramas y Videogramas. Archived from the original on 21 June 2006. Retrieved 24 May 2023.
  21. ^ "Nominaciones y Ganadores - Premios Gardel 2007". Cámara Argentina de Productores de Fonogramas y Videogramas. Archived from the original on 13 October 2007. Retrieved 2023-05-24.
  22. ^ "Luis Alberto Spinetta ganó el Gardel de Oro". Infobae. 22 July 2009. Retrieved 24 May 2023.
  23. ^ "Todos los nominados de los Premios Gardel 2012". Teleshow. Retrieved May 15, 2015.
  24. ^ "Premios Gardel 2017: todos los ganadores". La Nación. 2017-06-07. Retrieved 2022-03-13.
  25. ^ "Premios Gardel 2018: todos los ganadores de la fiesta de la música". Todo Noticias. 2018-05-30. Retrieved 2022-03-13.
  26. ^ "Premios Gardel | CAPIF | GANADORES & NOMINADOS 2019". Premios Gardel a la Música. Retrieved 2022-03-13.
  27. ^ "Premios Gardel 2020: todos los nominados". La Nación. 2 July 2020. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
  28. ^ "Premios Gardel 2022: anunciaron las nominaciones y lidera Wos en ocho rubros". Clarín. 2022-06-30. Retrieved 2022-06-30.
  29. ^ "Premios Gardel 2023: Trueno, Dante Spinetta y Babasónicos son los artistas más nominados". Clarín (in Spanish). April 11, 2023. Retrieved April 20, 2023.
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