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