Mélange Travel & Lifestyle Magazine October 2019 | Page 58

My education had only just begun. White in a West Indian world is an experience which is both humbling and strengthening. You recognise the fear in Caucasian society; the them and us-ness and the huge loss that those cultures suffer when they do not embrace the best of difference. remember reading an article written by a salesman who had been sent to introduce new products to the islands. His opening line was “So you want to sell in the Caribbean? Then book your travel to all the islands you want to visit and if you sell something, look at it as a benefit”. Yes, it’s food and dance and music and all the cultural nuances, but more than that, it’s the directness and clarity, simplicity and common sense that you see clearly evident. The trust given and received and the reverence and spirituality, as a daily tincture given freely. No matter whether Chinese, Indian, Negro, European, Latin, Carib or Arawak, we in the Caribbean are people of colour. Sadly, when I look back, he had it all wrong. You can’t rush ahead here and apply city techniques to people who are wary of change. Patience and truth begin the process. Reliability and trust come with time. From clothes and song to expression and the walls of homes. The stand pipe laughs and genuine sympathy and empathy. The sense that we are all our brother’s keeper is what pulls us together. I discovered the phrase ‘A we’, all of us, in Trinidad, and recognised that ‘Trinidadian first’ was a simple solution to ethnic tensions, influenced originally by colonialism. On my arrival I was handed a copy of the Barclays Caribbean Handbook. I And so we built a screen printing workshop in old arrowroot drying sheds, up country and I travelled the eastern Caribbean in my role as salesman. In those moments, devoid of the internet, when T-shirt was king, we worked tirelessly through carnivals, general elections, local promos and the eternal tourist prints to become a force to be reckoned with. Designs and colour ways were endless and everyone wanted a piece of what 35 employees could do on an up-country farm yard, at the tail of the Eastern Caribbean. But where there is interest, there are always those whose intentions are dishonest. After five years and some bad investment, we wound down. I developed a penchant for the design of branding and packaging, travelled from Guyana to Antigua looking for work. I bought my first computer, sat with those famous manuals for a week of nights and days. And relearned the whole process of graphics and printing in a digital age. The speed and accuracy, access to information and ease of use evolved my perception of what had been so difficult in the Caribbean before. Now it seemed tenable. It polarised my own style and image building. The possibilities were now real, in a world ready to advance on its own terms. Within five years I had developed an excellent reputation for design and prompt delivery and business was on the rise. During this time, I was asked by a prominent regional technical assistance program, to take up 15 day contracts, assisting small and medium sized businesses in the OECS with identity, brand, packaging and promotion solutions. I felt it was now time to move on. So, when I was offered a job as Creative Director with an Ad Agency in St. Lucia, I knew this was my next life. Choices and change When you asked for a beer in a bar in St. Lucia, you St. Lucia in 1995 was were offered a Heineken. fashioned by the father of its independence. John Compton The brewery wished to push was a social architect who had this to a premium position led his country to be the envy and replace the regular slot of the islands of the OECS. He with Piton Beer, which had just won two gold medals was a strong leader with an enormous vision and an astute at an international beer competition. sense of how to get anything done to further the creation of his jewel in the regions crown. It seemed an opportune moment to thank the people Creativity was easing itself out of St Lucia for their support in making Piton the beer of of the trappings of analogue St. Lucia. This was done in a video and print and media simple, low cost black and houses were searching for white press ad and overnight new ways to sell old songs. Fine art was limited, materials Piton became our indigenous brand. scarce and yet we somehow rolled on with fresh ideas. Riding on this success, I took over the image and I was asked to redevelop advertising of this national the image of a failing beer product and developed line product by Windward and extensions of Piton Malta, Leeward Brewery. Shandy, 2000 and Piton Lite. At that time, our media and production houses were poorly managed and financed, with minimal exposure to emerging industry standards. Regional organisations were advanced and we were not. The media sector was covetous, rigid, terrified of change, with poor business models and no will to evolve. Not so, other areas of design and the arts. Our islands have always been purveyors of music and carnival. These two distinctive and yet interlinked art forms have fed the world music industry with unique and immensely talented performers, and the international runways of the