1. Artistic discovery

It all started at the age of seven. Mother, aunt, younger sister and I, were holidaying in Bournmouth, Sussex. What to do on a rainy afternoon except open my new set of wax crayons and explore the medium.

Alfred Hichcock Poster by Shane Collens 1967
Alfred Hitchcock, acrylic on board, 400x400mm, 1967

My work was neither appreciated nor understood. The staff were able to restore the painted walls of the bedroom but not the wallpaper. Mother paid for my intellectual property, not the hotel. I was not deterred. My mother, who was an artist painter, encouraged me to pursue my talent despite its unpopular debut. She recognised the genetic strain.

2. Design development

Drawing and painting were my love throughout school where I often collected the annual art prize. Thanks to my father, who was an engineer, I had also inherited the 'maths' gene. Operating on both sides of the brain was useful in pursuing a career in what was then called 'commercial art'.

I chose fashion as my first design discipline in college at Ravensbourne, near London. I revelled the challenge of drafting a pattern from a sketch, to realize the 3D, and of course, to illustrate and make my own clothes!

Fashion Drawings by Shane Collens 1974
Fashion Drawings, water pencil on paper, A4, 1974

I never pursued fashion as a career in UK but one thing led to another and I returned to Trinidad, my birth place, where I founded 'Cupboard Love' in 1986, a furniture design collection from my scale drawings, made by craftsmen in local woods.

3. Digital media

The transition from fashion to furniture was easy - art, craft, maths, 3D and "style".

Cupboard Love Furniture Design by Shane Collens 1986-2001
Caribbean Café, automotive finish, batik seats, 1989

By the the mid 1990's, the furniture practice was fully digital, from design drawings to admin. I had to explore the new medium of the World Wide Web, and I had tons of photos (film) documenting my work.

I developed a web site for Cupboard Love. Though no longer in operation (hand crafted furniture was not economic by the turn of the Millenium), the site is still up retrospectively complete with all its images, small as they are for the then slow internet speeds.

Again, one thing led to another. What meant to promote my furniture design ended promoting my web and graphic design. CARIBSCAPE was born 1997.

4. Identity full circle

The web was taking off and still is. Early web sites were nothing like you see today, very easy for anyone with a background in art and mathematics to develop.

The commissions kept coming, every one wanted an internet presence. And, just like the oldest registered trademark in the world, the Bass triangle of 1875, most clients recognised the need for the same - the icon, the logo, the brand!

CARIBSCAPE Logo by Shane Collens 2007
CARIBSCAPE, Photoshop, 1997 and 2007

I found my niche in a new specialised industry. CARIBSCAPE had to either evolve technologically in the high programming structure of web development, or evolve intellectually as a specialist in 'image development' for all media visibility.

The choice was easy, I was better at 'art' than 'maths' and embraced the mind challenge of 'branding' and the collaboration with partners in technology for its application. LogoJobo is born 2017.