For Adrián Hernández, culture has always been a visual language, one shaped by rhythm, color, and community. The Mexican-American creative director founded Need Pastel as a platform for stories that reflect the lives, dreams, and creative expressions of Latinos. Long before brands caught on, he was already doing what they now call “cultural marketing”: turning lived experience into aesthetic truth.
The Los Angeles–based artist, known online as Ugly Primo, first made waves in 2018 by reimagining Latin icons through a blend of pop art, humor, and nostalgia. His digital alter ego—a bald puppet with thick eyebrows and a mustache—became an emblem of Latino internet culture. But behind the satire was a serious creative mind reshaping the visual identity of a generation.
That instinct caught the attention of Bad Bunny, who reached out in 2021 to collaborate on what would become the Un Verano Sin Ti album cover. “He reached out to me with the idea of the cover and how he wanted it to look,” Hernández said in an interview. “He pretty much had it laid out for me, and I helped execute that idea and turn it into an art piece.” The now-iconic image—a sad heart on a tropical beach—defined an era and cemented Hernández’s role as one of the most influential creative voices working today.
For Adrián, the wave he’s riding is about momentum, building spaces where Latino creators lead the conversation instead of waiting to be invited. “A wave is a movement that can’t be contained,” he says. “It starts small, but once it gets the right momentum, nothing can stop it.” His advice for the next generation: build with what you have, create with your people, and trust your vision. That’s where real impact begins.
