This is a Fonts Account Now

I kicked off my career 18 years ago, dead set on becoming a designer. Or an inventor. Or just someone who made things. And that’s what I did. Twelve years in graphic design, opening doors for myself and others, working with the Caribbean’s biggest brands. Then, a loan from my girlfriend, some courage, and about a year of applications got me into studying typeface design.

Making fonts changed everything. It felt timeless, removed from the fleeting trends that define most of design culture. It also felt like the first time all my curiosity as a designer could be put to use. The community was full of sharp, similarly curious people, mostly obsessed with detail (and, if we’re honest, just generally obsessed). In type, problems kept evolving, and solutions always felt within reach. That constant challenge made me fall in love with the work. It still does.

In 2019, convinced that I should turn my positive momentum into something meaningful back home, I launched a tech company in Trinidad & Tobago called Unqueue. It was my attempt to prove that innovation could thrive locally, to build a company that solved real problems and gave young talent a platform to shine. With some arrogance, a lot of optimism, and my first million dollars, I jumped in.

Unqueue helped more than 30,000 people buy and sell what they needed during COVID. It taught me leadership, negotiation, and the art of compromise—things design school never covered. But when it wrapped, I was left with big lessons. Building at home is hard, not because of a lack of ideas or talent, but because of how systems and incentives work. I learned the value of persistence, and also of letting go.

Since then, I’ve led creative and digital work for public-sector projects, initiatives meant to improve how things run. Most recently, in building publicly accessible infrastructure to help achieve local development goals around agriculture. With this, I saw firsthand how politics and culture can shape outcomes, and how even great ideas can go a little bit shitward when accountability and collaboration don’t align. That experience was humbling. It taught me where my energy creates the most impact, and where it doesn’t. The second part is important, and instructive.

So now, I’m resting. And when I’m not, I’m focusing on what I love most: type design and typography. I’m still at TypeTogether, where I spend my days working with people who care deeply about craft, excellence, and community (S/O to soft skills 🥳). I’ll design things, but with my friends, for reasons and on terms that make sense to me. I’m after the kind of work that brings joy, balance, and a sense of purpose back into my life. Compared to 2023, that’s progress: mostly resting.

I’ve also created some distance between me and home. Trinidad & Tobago shaped my eye, my attitude, my sense of humor, and much that makes me who I am. But for now, I’m traveling, stepping back to explore new horizons and ask myself some important questions. It’s time to nurture new growth, personally and professionally, and to see what’s possible when I focus fully on the work I love. Trinidad is also changing in ways I can’t control, and it’s taken me long enough to come to terms with that.