Interview with Guillermo Flores Pacheco, Art Director and Illustrator
The artist behind the Photoshop splash screen shares his process and perspective on crafting designs for global brands.
Guillermo Flores Pacheco is a Mexican designer and illustrator based in Guadalajara. He has collaborated with global brands such as Apple, Adobe, Sephora, Cirque du Soleil, Nike, Xfinity, and many others. His imagery has shaped advertising campaigns and enriched the publishing world through magazine covers, editorial illustrations, and books.
Guillermo is speaking at CreativePro Week 2026, which takes place June 29–July 3, 2026 in Nashville, Tennessee. We thought it would be fun to get to know him better with some Q&A.
CreativePro Week 2026 will be your first. What excites you the most about attending and speaking?
I had always wanted to attend the conferences, but I thought it would never happen—it seemed so far out of reach to me. However, I’m really excited that not only will I get to hear from great graphic artists, but I’ll also have the chance to share my professional experience!
Your session, “From Brief to Finished: The Process Behind the Project” shares the behind-the-scenes process of creating the Photoshop 2025 splash screen. What went through your mind when you got that opportunity?
I’m really excited to share my process for this project with the community—in fact, this will be the first time I’ve done so. It’s definitely one of the most beautiful projects I’ve ever had the chance to work on, especially with a brand I admire and respect so much. Honestly, when I received the invitation from Adobe, I couldn’t believe it; it felt like a dream come true—definitely an amazing experience!
Your illustrative work is playful, detailed, and full of color. In what ways has your cultural background shaped your style?
Flowers are everywhere in my city—bougainvilleas and jacarandas pop up everywhere you look. They’ve definitely had a huge influence on me; they’ve always been there. The sky at sunset is bursting with color, and the handmade crafts from “magical towns” like Tlaquepaque, with their thousands of intricate details, are everywhere—it’s impossible to miss them.
However, my biggest influence has been my parents, who were professional musicians (very popular in the 70s and 80s) in Mexico and the United States, playing cumbia and mariachi music—which has always been synonymous with a big party and celebration, I think. My way of interpreting this is by creating fun, colorful images.
Recently, you’ve been exploring how to create illustrated, animated videos. Where does the inspiration come from?
During college, I took stop-motion animation classes with Rigo Mora, who was a partner and pioneer of animation in Mexico alongside the award-winning film director Guillermo del Toro (who is also from my hometown). For a long time, I have focused on advertising illustration, but I’ve wanted to return to it for a while, and in hand-drawn frame-by-frame animation, I found a way to explore it again.
Music is a big part of your life—you’re a multi-instrumentalist, singer, and composer. How does that part of you show up in your design and illustration work?
Absolutely, music has had a huge influence on me—that’s because of my parents’ profession, so since I was little I’ve always been surrounded by it (musical diversity, musical instruments, going on tour with my mother, and being backstage at theaters, etc.). There was always so much going on at once, and I think that’s perhaps why I like to create illustrations that tell many stories at the same time (Bosch’s influence is definitely significant). Music has also helped me pay attention to dynamics, movement, and storytelling, all of which are essential for creating great songs.
On the other hand, I’ve discovered that many creative people are also musicians, and at some point they find themselves at a crossroads, choosing between continuing with music or design. But the truth is, we don’t have to choose one or the other; rather, we should learn to bring together the different parts of ourselves to become more well-rounded and complete artists.
This article was last modified on April 29, 2026
This article was first published on April 29, 2026
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