Necessity is the mother of invention. I was recently on the hunt for a birthday present for a friend and wanted to give something useful that he’d like. Kriston Chen (the friend), collects and blogs about Trinidadian hand-lettered signs and already has a strong collection so giving him another sign probably wouldn’t matter much. Inspired by his fascination with hand-lettered signs and in keeping with my current trend of giving handmade books as birthday presents, I decided to make him a sign book, featuring the work of local hand-letterer and sign-painter, Bruce Cayonne.
That decision began an adventure in collaboration and learning which has developed my views on our evolving Caribbean aesthetic, design, collaboration, business and innovation.
Lesson 1: To Duplicate or To Create
There are two popular views of Caribbean culture: there is the the packaged tourist experience, complete with idyllic sunsets, steel pans, carnival and traditionally handcrafted leather slippers. Then there is the everyday life experience which differs greatly in every island and parish. My life in Trinidad would be incomplete without Curepe on a Saturday night: bright lights and busy roads, the sounds of Trini, Syrian, Venezuelan and other Caribbean accents along with the scent of oysters, doubles, gyros, exhaust and stagnant gutter water. Bliss.