
Johanna Villareal
B.F.A. Graphic Design
I am an illustrator that focuses on character illustrations with vibrant colors and backgrounds. Growing up in the 2000s, cartoons, video games, anime, and manga played a major role in my artistic development. Everything was creative, fun, expressive and colorful. Unfortunately, as we grow older and become adults, curiosity is squashed, playing is replaced with adulting, and imagination becomes secondary to the pressures of life. Not for me!
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My design work and illustration reflect my colorful, expressive, creative, and fun nature. I love to play, imagine, and explore my curiosities and remain deeply influenced by my memories of childhood. My preferred pastel color palette is inspired by the 1980s and 1990s music genre which bridges that nostalgia with the aesthetics of the pop art and culture of that time. It is my hope that I can translate the aesthetics of the 80’s, 90’s and 2000’s pop culture into my current work allowing my audience access to the feelings they provoke but in a way that honors a more contemporary placement in the design and illustration world.
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As I continue to grow, I remain committed to celebrating imagination, blending past inspirations with new ideas. My work invites others to reconnect with their own sense of playfulness, while also offering a refreshing perspective on contemporary design.



