Encontrar tu propia voz toma más tiempo que hacerse viral

Encontrar tu propia voz toma más tiempo que hacerse viral, pero merece la pena, afirma el diseñador Guillermo Flores Pacheco.

Guillermo Flores Pacheco tiene un estilo de ilustración inconfundible: colores vivos, aves, plantas exuberantes y personajes surreales. Es un estilo que le ha permitido conseguir proyectos con grandes empresas como Adobe, Apple, Nike, Sephora, Burning Man, Marc Jacobs, Citi Private Bank, and Cirque du Soleil.

Flores Pacheco cuenta con una trayectoria de 20 años como director artístico, diseñador gráfico, artista de técnicas mixtas y conferencista. Pero, según él, el tipo de estilo que te hace destacar no se consigue de la noche a la mañana.

«Mucha gente de todo el mundo piensa que mi estilo es muy “mexicano” y les encanta», afirma.

Su obra se inspira en su infancia en Guadalajara (México), rodeado de flores, su familia, pájaros de colores y libros ilustrados. Su enfoque se vio protegido, en parte, por las circunstancias.

«No teníamos Internet», explica Flores Pacheco, «así que, en su lugar, teníamos una enorme colección de discos, instrumentos musicales y muchos libros». Ese fue su primer contacto con el diseño editorial; su favorito entre ellos era una edición ilustrada de The Birds of America, de John James Audubon.

Flores Pacheco señala que a menudo es la única persona de México en los entornos profesionales a los que acude, y representa su identidad a través de su trabajo, su estilo de ilustración y, más recientemente, en el circuito de conferencias. En esos momentos, siente la responsabilidad de decirle a la gente: «Aquí tenemos mucha gente con talento, ustedes deberían trabajar con nosotros».

Aceptar su cultura le ayudó a descubrir su voz, una decisión que, en su opinión, es la clave para tener una carrera de la que pueda sentirse orgulloso. «Hay muchos diseñadores que intentan hacerse virales, pero desarrollar tu propia voz lleva tiempo, ensayo y error, y lecciones aprendidas a base de esfuerzo». Ahora, tras dos décadas, afirma: «Cuando miro atrás, pienso: Vaya, tengo una carrera».

Su consejo: trabaja con disciplina para encontrar tu voz, incluso a costa de la validación inmediata o el reconocimiento público. Recuerda: «Somos nosotros quienes hacemos que un proyecto especial sea especial», afirma.

Design Observer charló con Guillermo Flores Pacheco sobre cómo es trabajar con grandes marcas, preservar su voz artística, la cultura, la IA y sus periquitos.

Lee la entrevista completa — en inglés o español ->

Read the full interview — in English or Spanish ->

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Esta edición de The Observatory fue editada por Ellen McGirt.

This is the web version of The Observatory, our weekly dispatch from the editors and contributors at Design Observer. Want it in your inbox? Sign up here. While you’re at it, come say hi on YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn, or TikTok — and don’t miss the latest gigs on our Job Board.

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Hear the voices and see the faces behind the latest and greatest on our site, including designer Guillermo Flores Pacheco. Find bonus content with Design Juice guests and behind-the-scenes conversations with the writers of our expert business commentary.

Draw the Line

Episode one of Draw the Line out now.

The Supreme Court case Louisiana v. Callais gutted the Voting Rights Act and rewrote the rules of American democracy. Design Observer’s brand new audio documentary, Draw the Line, is telling the inside story of Louisiana’s fight over power, maps, and who gets left off them.

Every district line is a design decision — and every decision is about who gets power.

Observed

Gary, Indiana, remains dark nearly two weeks after powerful storms ripped through Northwest Indiana. Currently, some 20,000 residents are without power and increasingly, without hope. NIPSCO, the power provider, is the subject of a new class action suit, alleging the company failed to keep power lines clear of potentially disruptive vegetation.

What’s happening in Gary could happen everywhere, thanks to an aging power grid, more vulnerable to vandalism and weather damage than most people realize, writes Christopher Cox. “If enough fail, the blackout could last for years.”  

Data centers are rapidly becoming the hot-button issue of the U.S. midterm elections. “It’s very much a bottom up, organic movement,” a veteran Democratic pollster tells the New York Times.“Billionaires are building them, and it feeds into all of the big tech skepticism that is there. It’s very symbolic of everybody’s issues with A.I.”

Inside Finland’s quest to end homelessness. A lot went right with the “Housing First” policy, which cut the number of unhoused by more than half since 2008, reports Miranda Bryant for the Guardian. The model, which treats housing as a fundamental human right rather than a reward, builds social support, safety, and community into its projects. But as the number of unhoused has started to creep up, researchers are asking important questions about what might come next.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art has returned the oldest preserved fragment of The Odyssey to one of its galleries, reports Art News.  The description: “Dating from around 285–250 BCE and made in Egypt, this fragment is beautifully inscribed using a combination of charcoal and water via a stylus on papyrus—one of the most popular materials for writing in antiquity—and contains three lines that do not exist in today’s standard text.”⁠

The ‘Hunger Games’ for art dealing? The BBC has launched an art dealing competition series featuring 14 hapless art world novices, aiming to offer “a fresh insight into how art is discovered, bought, and sold.” The Big Deal with Steph McGovern debuted in August. “This sounds super gross!” says artgrl321a on Instagram. “Thanks for making the artists feel even more like a commodity and less like a human being.”

Ad agency gets first-ever chief design officer. Special US has tapped designer and artist Adhemas Batista for the role, “bringing one of the industry’s most distinctive design talents into the agency to lead and expand its design practice across Los Angeles and New York.” More here.

Read more at designobserver.com or in your Substack feed.

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Senior Interior Designer at Semmelmann Interiors, Fort Worth, TX.

Lead Industrial Designer – Soft Goods (Wearable Medical Devices) Sun Scientific | R & D Division at Sun Scientific, Dobbs Ferry, NY.

Designer, Hard Home-Textiles at VCNY Home, NJ.

End marks

Speaking of Mexico, dive back into Wayne Suiter Matamoros’s essay, “Looking to Latin America for the future of design innovation” for Latin and South American innovators, including companies like Linklado, Nequi, Bridgefy, and Someone Somewhere.

“Someone Somewhere out of Mexico works with 300+ artisans in 7 of Mexico’s most vulnerable states to apply traditional handcrafts on clothing and accessories to create quality, on-trend products, which are then distributed globally through partnerships with companies like Delta Airlines.”

This is the web version of The Observatory, our weekly dispatch from the editors and contributors at Design Observer. Want it in your inbox? Sign up here. While you’re at it, come say hi on YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn, or TikTok — and don’t miss the latest gigs on our Job Board.