ARTS
Hobby evolves into an enterprise
By ROBINSON LEKA
USING social media to network and turn a hobby into a product has become a reality for 28-year-old Clyde Pohory.
Clyde’s passion for tattooing and designing has led him into the world of graphic designing and screen printing which has seen him collaborate with a designer in Australia to launch Ace Breed, a range of custom designed t-shirts with tattoo design themes.
From Moveave in Gulf and Kubalia East Sepik, Clyde is employed as a records clerk with financial institution Moni Plus in Port Moresby and while his career has got off to a good start, he has found time outside his day job to turn Ace Breed into a reality.
Clyde is the fourth child of Joseph and Stella Pohory and was raised in Port Moresby.
He completed high school at Gordon Secondary School in 2012 and was selected to attend the University of Papua New Guinea’s School of Natural and Physical Sciences in 2013.
His stay at the university was not long as he was unable to continue studies due to financial constraints, however continued to pursue his work in designing before he started work at Moni Plus in 2018.
As a first-timer in the business, Clyde faced a few challenges in getting his designs completed and later being printed onto t-shirts.
While the process involved in getting his first batch of t-shirts printed was overwhelming, Clyde has learnt a lot in the business and he is keen on expanding his range of products moving forward.
“This is my first time working and trying to run a business/clothing brand,” he said.
“Doing it myself is quite challenging because I have to learn most of the stuff and do them by myself.
“There’s a lot of things involved reaching your targeted customers and I had to learn how to manage Facebook and Instagram business pages, the sales skills, customer service, branding, marketing and advertising etc.
“For designing it started with me drafting the design on paper and once I was satisfied with my draft I needed an actual graphic designer to create the graphic for the t-shirt.
“I went online through Instagram and got in touch with Joe Iava, a graphic designer based in Australia who is known as Sir Vekta and he helped to do the graphics for me.
“Once Joe completed the graphic, he emailed them back and I took it over to Graffiti Signs and they did the printing on the t-shirts for me.”
Clyde’s journey into realising his dream goes back to 2012 during his time in secondary school when his designs got noticed and was eventually turned into a tattoo for a friend.
His interest in tattooing grew from there with Clyde becoming more acquainted with the craft and its accessories.
Apart from his work in tattooing and designing, Clyde has delved into the market of tattoo accessories and themed products which was the basis of him starting Ace Breed t-shirts.
“I still had love for tattoos and I had the idea to start a business in the tattoo niche so in 2020 I searched online for a tattoo supplies shop and started ordering and selling tattoo supplies.
“I do deliveries during my lunch breaks as a side-hustle at the same time and I’m currently planning to register it as a business soon with the help of fellow tattoo enthusiast Jay Shawn.
“At the same time being tattooed, I always look for tattoo themed t-shirts in shops and second-hands.
“I wanted to wear something that represented the part of me that loves tattoos, but I never manage to find any.
“Since there wasn’t much I could pick from, I decided to make it my mission to start a clothing brand dedicated to tattoo themes and intricate designs.
“It all started because of my love for printed t-shirts and tattoos.
“When I’m in shops or second-hand outlets, I usually search for t-shirts that matched me.
“I also wanted to find a t-shirt that would make me feel proud of something that I am.
“I love tattoos and being tattooed, I wanted a t-shirt that would match that part of me but I couldn’t find any so why not create something for myself and the other tattooed people.”
One of his main goals now is to move further into graphic designing and explore the varying styles and designs unique to Papua New Guinean culture.
“This is just the first batch of designs that I’ve been working on; I’m planning to collaborate with other Papua New Guinean artists and graphic designers for a different art style for next designs and I’d also like to print on tank tops and hoodies.
“I have the design concepts in my head and I’ve been doing them all on hand as drafts.
“Since I’m still trying to teach myself graphic designing, I had to find a graphic design to do the graphic for me.
“I’m also learning screen printing, I’m currently taking my designs over to Graffiti Signs and showing them how I want them laid out for me.”
Bibao mentors youths to use music for good
By ISAAC LIRI
THER is power in music to influence society to be either good or bad, says Solomon Islands musician Lester Bibao Kisina.
Bibao made mention of this when interviewed on a local radio station in PNG recently.
All the way from White River in West Honiara, and confined by the Covid-19 restrictions affecting music artistes in the Solomons just like in PNG, Bibao and the rest are affected due to limited gigs. But from time to time, local gigs pop up and they make something for the pocket.
Despite the negative impacts of Covid, the situation has also given Bibao the opportunity to stay put and mentor young artistes, to use music for positive change in their respective communities.
Bibao describes it as youth work, and is confident that what his doing will make a difference in the long run.
Some of the youth groups he had mentored include Dreamcast and Side by Side.
He teaches young artists to write poetry or lyrics, and encourages them to write about issues affecting them, their homes, their communities and their nation in general.
Reflecting on life in the Solomon Islands today, Bibao spoke of the high number of rape cases and gender-based violence as issues affecting many communities, thus he strongly believes that music can help address and minimise these issues.
“I believe music can play a part on what is happening, because most times we sing about is drinking, dancing and partying, and that affects our society,” he said.
“Writing and singing about dancing and partying takes us away from writing and singing about real issues that we need to talk about.
“That is why I am helping youths so they can use their music talents to make a change in society by writing and singing about the real issues like violence, poverty and others.”
Spending most of his time working with youths as a mentor, Bibao says doing an album is out of the picture for now but he might work on something next year.
In the meantime, he has completed a new single titled Island Time and will be uploading it on Spotify soon.
He says the song Island Time will also be featured in a video clip.
Meanwhile Bibao also took the opportunity to acknowledge his supporters. He says he doesn’t like the word fans so he refers to them as supporters.
He also appeals to music listeners in the Solomon Islands and PNG to support artistes by downloading platforms such as Spotify, ITunes and others.
- Isaac Liri is a freelance writer.