On the occasion of Digital Design Days, scheduled to take place from May 7 to 9, we had the chance to have a brief conversation with Guillermo Flores Pacheco, a Mexican designer and illustrator who for over twenty years has been creating layered images that move between collage, art direction, and contemporary visual culture. This interview was produced in collaboration with Digital Design Days, where Guillermo will lead a workshop that brings the manual gesture back to the heart of the creative process.
Visualizza questo post su Instagram
With a career that has led him to collaborate with brands such as Adobe, Apple, Nike, and Wired Magazine, Flores Pacheco has developed a visual language that blends cultural heritage with contemporary imagery, always maintaining a strong material quality even in digital work. So we asked him to start right from here.
At Digital Design Days you will lead a workshop that brings manual work back to the center. In such a strongly digital context, this might seem almost counterintuitive: where does this need come from?
«In my journey to find a creative voice, I discovered a path that had been built over time without me even realizing it. This led me to explore my roots, to accept my background, and to embrace the cultural heritage that is part of my identity. Reconnecting with the essentials reminded me how, in the beginning, collage was the spark that ignited a career I have dedicated myself to for more than twenty years. In an era where everything is so digital, I think it is necessary to remind ourselves where we come from in order to understand where we are going».
Your approach creates a dialogue between analog and digital rather than separating them. Why do you think this distinction is still so ingrained?
«I come from a generation that grew up without digital tools: when I was a child there was no internet, and today we are surrounded by AI. I think the analog is extremely valuable right now. Craft and handmade work feel more interesting than something created purely digitally. For younger generations, who have grown up with technology always at their fingertips, it is fascinating to discover and experiment with analog processes».
In your workshop, error, texture, and gesture become part of the process. What value do these elements hold compared to the precision of digital tools?
«They make everything human and unique. “Mistakes” are a sign that you are experimenting, that you are searching until you find what you are really looking for. In a time when perfection is valued above all else, it is precisely imperfection that makes the difference and gives authenticity».
In an increasingly polished and automated visual landscape, Guillermo Flores Pacheco’s work stands as a necessary friction: an invitation to slow down, get your hands dirty, and bring the process—along with all its imperfections—back to the center of the image.
