Luis Prado
Luis Prado is an Argentine-born graphic designer and illustrator. His visually engaging icons and colorful designs communicate powerful sentiments around politics and social issues, as well as playful expressions. We spoke with Luis to learn more about his path to a career in design, his creative process, and his perspective on the importance of using design and visual language to drive meaningful change.
Hi Luis! Tell us about yourself - how did you get to where you are today and what first sparked your interest in design?
I’ve liked drawing since I was a little kid. Now that I’m older, I can see how being true to my dreams has helped me achieve some things and hopefully will continue to direct my learning and creating.
I’m originally from Tucumán, a northern city in Argentina. While in college, I did editorial illustrations and political cartoons for the city newspaper when Argentina was going through troubled times. My degree is in architecture and I think that training has helped me to look at things more carefully and to make sure that that all elements in a design come together coherently. I had work in Argentina before immigrating to the USA, but at some point I realized that communicating ideas and emotions visually was much more meaningful to me than designing buildings. I changed gears and focused on finding work in advertising and graphic design.
It hasn’t been easy, but I managed. I did some freelance work in San Francisco — even got a drawing of mine published in the Chronicle once. Truthfully though, in my first years as an immigrant the artwork wasn’t enough to pay the bills, so I found restaurant work as a dishwasher and barback. When I first moved to Washington State, I was delivering pizza to make ends meet — in a borrowed car.
Eventually, I got a steady job as a graphic designer with the communications team at the Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR). Within my job at DNR and with freelance work, I’ve had artistic and other creative opportunities that have been amazing. The people I work with are great.
Designer Luis Prado
How would you describe your aesthetic and how has your design style changed over time?
Modern, clean, bold, minimalist. Less is more. I try to keep the design style flexible, adapting to the project needs. In illustration, I can see style changes over time. In design, I always try to keep improving. In visual communications, clarity of message is a must.
What is your creative process like and how do you approach collaboration?
After research, I look at the design challenge from all angles. Then, I flip it on its head. You will be surprised at the things that fall from its pockets. When collaborating, I listen to the the team’s concerns and ideas. We agree, disagree, compromise, and find the best outcome.
Between the practical, the topical, and the whimsical, how do you decide what icons you want to create? What subjects interest you the most?
I find inspiration everywhere. I keep a list of icons on my phone that I would like to make. They could be anything — shapes, concepts, or ideas that I haven’t seen before are what interest me the most, and if I can add some whimsy and fun to them, all the better (see the “Cheating” icon). The challenge is to fit those ideas and tell a story inside a 100x100-pixel area. Symbols that can help communicate about safety, health care, or that relate to the things I care about are the ones I’m most motivated to spend time on. But I like the nonsensical silly joke also.
Recently, you’ve shared many icons that focus on trending and often political themes — protests, statue removal, even Colin Kaepernick kneeling. What issues are you the most passionate about and why do you create icons depicting these ideas?
I cannot be silent with issues that matter to me like climate change, racial injustice, women’s rights, immigrants’ rights, gun violence, nuclear disarmament, minimum wage, and political issues. I remember a moment in Tucumán when things started to become clear to me. I was 23 years old and a particular editorial illustration of mine was rejected by the newspaper I had created it for. It was of the current military dictator represented as an empty-headed doll. The editor knew better than I did then. Publishing the illustration was risky.
I often contribute to The Creative Action Network, a community of artists that advocates making art with purpose. This network helped me expand my design work by allowing me to contribute posters for their good-causes campaigns. With each new campaign, I get a new challenge. They recently published “Posters For A Green New Deal: 50 Removable Posters To Inspire Change,” a wonderful large-format book that includes three of my posters.
How do you think graphic design and visual communication can help shape culture?
Visual communication transcends language. Art, including visual design, can speak in ways that spoken words can’t and can move us to action. My hope is that my designs move people to make this a more equal, peaceful, better world.
What are some of your favorite design resources?
I like the work of Christoph Niemann, very creative. I could name a few others that see the ridiculousness of our existence, like Quino, Gary Larson, Ann Telnaes, Hermenegildo Sábat, David Sipress, Christopher Weyant, and all the The New Yorker cartoonists. Then you have great designers like Chip Kidd, Paula Scher, Massimo Vignelli, Mads Berg, The New York Times, with a great team of staff designers and illustration freelancers.
I like these publications and blogs: Communication Arts (CA), Print, Graphis, Eye, Lürzer’s Archive. Blogs: itsnicethat.com, eyeondesign.aiga.org, Muse by Clio, and all magazines in general.
What are you working on now and what's up next for you?
I’m now working on interpretive sign designs for Point Doughty Natural Area Preserve in the San Juan Islands, Washington state, a logo for a drone/adventure company, and new t-shirt designs among other projects. Also, finishing up an update of my graphic novel “Julioh, a Visual Trip.” Stay tuned. And of course, cranking up new icons for the Noun Project.
Thank you for sharing with us Luis! To see more of Luis’s work, find him on Noun Project and check out his work for Creative Action Network.
All images courtesy of Luis Prado.