Hidden Gems: Meet Elvis Torres of Pixel n Pencil

Today we’d like to introduce you to Elvis Torres. 

Elvis, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I started my graphic design career in 2008, while I was serving in the US Army in Afghanistan. I came across a copy of adobe photoshop at a local Afghan market. The program was printed on a blank CD-R disk, I was skeptical whether or not the program would work on my computer, but decided risk was low as the selling price was approximately $1.50 and purchased it. To my surprise, the program worked and I began making designs for fun while not on missions. By the end of my deployment, I was taking design requests from fellow soldiers for random projects and saw a potential career for myself in the graphic design industry. After my time in the Army, I worked many dead-end jobs. I never viewed myself as much of a good employee, I knew I would prefer to work for myself and didn’t like taking orders from a “boss” or “supervisor” Finally in 2015 I quit my final dead-end job (kitchen help at an upscale Chinese restaurant) and took the jump to work for myself. Since then, I have worked with thousands of brands varying in size from 1-man start-ups to large corporations. I have expanded my business to include offering print products at any scale as well as a crew of designers, and illustrators under me all working remotely. 

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has been anything but a smooth road to where I am now. When I started, I had no formal design or business training, I found myself at times literally chasing clients at their places of business for payment. Through networking, training, and lessons learned I got a handle on my business and now am growing and working at a more efficient pace than ever. As a graphic designer half of the job is to read the clients mind and deliver a product that works for the client AND the target consumer. In today’s business climate things move a high speed and trends change quickly, finding the voice of each brand and delivering content that produces results has been my number one skill, strategy, and at times struggle. 

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Pixel n Pencil is my creative design firm. We have been in business since 2015 and have helped thousands of brands grow at all stages. We specialize in creating the branding for new companies and helping established businesses reach their target consumer more effectively with high-quality branding and marketing design. We are unique because of our versatility and ability to communicate through marketing with any target audience. We work with brands of all kinds without discretion in our quality or effectiveness. As a company we are most proud of our work from 2018-2022, we have been working with several well-run brands and have witnessed their growth along with our own. To readers, I would tell them that Pixel n Pencil is the design firm to work with if you are looking for smart branding and marketing for your company that is focused on results for your business specifically. We adapt to your strategy, offer our insight, and get your business where it wants to be. 

What were you like growing up?
In my youth, I was always creative and outgoing. I played sports throughout my school years and was always getting involved in projects the utilized creativity to bring people together. I played baseball, basketball, and football through grade school and middle. Then was an amateur boxer in high school, I still train and compete in boxing currently. I wasn’t especially studious. I graduated high school with a 2.0 GPA, not due to lack of intelligence but more lack of interest. I did turn it around later in life earning my degree with a 3.79 GPA with Magna Cum Laude distinction. 

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: pixelnpencil.com
• Instagram: pixelnpencil