Clive was born in Jamaica in January of 1983. The tropical island remained his home until the age of 10 when the time had finally come to move to London to be reunited with his mum Sarah, who had made the move a fews years earlier and had by that time sufficiently established herself here in the capital.
It must have felt very strange leaving what was his only home to go to a brand new land. Thankfully, being able to see his mother again mitigated the homesickness, although he certainly did miss being able to roam around much more freely. “I remember getting up to no good with a few other kids in a nearby forest. We were stupidly messing around with a hornets nest and everyone got bit but me, that’s probably why I remember it so well...”
We worked together for nearly a decade during my time at Paperchase and joined the company roughly around the same period in 2004. At the beginning the recipe of people was perfect, it was a truly lovely place to work. Back in those days, the shop was so quiet sometimes, that we somehow got away with playing chess with one of the travel sets that they sold on the mezzanine.
Games would last for hours, not because we were really good but because we took ages between moves as we tried to be discreet, neatly tucking away our ongoing games behind one of the till monitors.
The family atmosphere back then, fostered lifelong friendships that made us stay loyal to the business, perhaps longer than we should have. Led by horrendously uninspiring management, things changed dramatically in the years that followed, completely losing that priceless spirit of togetherness. Fear not however, for the energy of that era continues to live in us.
Coincidentally, we also found ourselves at the same university. He arrived there thanks to an opportune conversation with a workmate during his time at JD Sport. It is ultimately thanks to that chance collision with a clued up Claudia, that Clive went onto attend the London College of Communication.
Formerly known as The London College of Printing, the campus is one of the six colleges that make up the University of the Arts. As some of you may have spotted already, this is the same Uni that last months special feature attended. The Californian native and fellow Paper Chaser Gidon Shikler, showing us just what a small world it can be sometimes.
On reflection, the choice was clearly a no-brainer. Inspired by the world of graphic novels, Clive’s digital illustrations are often a blend of this animated style with a retro twist. “Somehow I ended up filling my notebooks at school with designs for new superhero’s I’d invent rather than actual school work...”
These days Clive’s workflow seems pretty cool and wise at the same time. “To get myself in the zone I like listening to music, preferably something laidback like Jay Dilla or Flying Lotus. I find the more relaxed I am the more creative I can be...”
I know first hand how Clive gets his designs off the ground since he has been my flatmate for many years. He normally starts off by getting a few different ideas down in his sketchbook, which oftentimes involves being surrounded by a mountain of Post-It notes as well. “I like to have about 5 or 6 different ideas going at the same time and then after a couple of days of trial and error, narrow it down to one...”
We don’t need to look forward to working together as we have been collaborating for years. Thanks to my initial attempt to start a t-shirt business from scratch, I already own the rights to 5 of his designs. Many lessons were learned, non more so than the realisation that professional liberation takes time, hard work and perseverance coupled with the necessary patience to succeed.
As and when my long term aim of founding Arty Apparel materialises, I will be well placed to succeed thanks to Clive’s initial injection of designs. For now though, it’s one step at a time, the next major milestone being the launch of an online shop at Sir Real Words. Currently pencilled in for spring “19”. After everything goes to plan as it surely will, we’ll be certain to continue to help each other get paid for doing what we love most. To create, after all, it’s what the soul dictates.
“Clive is one hell of a Londoner,
A Red Devil from far away Jamaica,
He came all this way to take his place,
And remained the ace of spades,
From JD to Paperchase,
Oh but how those days have changed,
So forget slaving away,
For an age and a day,
Now his fate is,
Making waves with haste,
Until he shores up his fate,
With a place by the seaside,
Best believe Clive,
Can’t wait ‘til he seas this scenery,
Me neither mate!
Both trying to be illest we can dream,
Feeding the daily need to breathe easy,
I’m a decent MC,
Never running on empty,
While C Morgan more than illustrates,
What it takes,
To be the greatest he can be...”
Posted (28/09/18)