Creative technologist Paul Thompson reimagining J’can uniforms
Published:Friday | January 13, 2023 | 5:58 PMAaliyah Cunningham/Gleaner Writer
Jamaica-born entrepreneur and creative technologist Paul Thompson, through the use of artificial intelligence (AI), is giving Jamaicans a peek into uniform designs of the future. Hoping to spark conversation around nation pride and an overt display of patriotism, Thompson used his Twitter platform to help Jamaican imagine what the ‘Republic of Jamaica’ could look like.
“Picture August 5, 1962, the day before Independence Day in Jamaica. You have a nation that has spent years and years under colonial rule and them tomorrow is the day when we are saying we will be an independent nation. Imagine with me if you will, the feeling people would have in the country. We are going to lower the Union Jack and raise the Jamaican Flag for the first time and we wanted people to feel good the country and the future they have in front of them,” he said while speaking to The Gleaner.
“Now picture that same feeling, sixty-plus years forward and we wanting to become a republic. How would one evoke that feeling of Jamaica being this new republic. The idea is one way we could look at it, how our various institutions carry themselves. That would be an easy way to do that. The way our police officers dress, the way our nurses and court magistrates dress and even our uniforms because of uniforms are still representative of colonialism. So we reimagined the way our uniforms are designed and presented. Perhaps we could make them look more like us (Jamaican),” Thompson continued.
Toiling over the creations in what he described as a “very intense week” Thompson produced possible garments for several sectors and institutions that exist on the island. All the designs of course donning the black, green and gold as well as bold choices in the cut, hem and style. There are all quite modern and elevated, akin to what one might think of futuristic fashion, but according to him, even after seeing the commentary on the feasibility of the garments given the Jamaican climate, it is less about the clothes and more so about the dialogue.
“The designs really are not here nor there. The point is not the designs but the conversation. Can we imagine a future that looks different? Even beyond that, what if the taxi man dem did wear the national colours when dem go out a day time? Would it evoke a greater sense of patriotism when people go out to their jobs. ‘I am not just playing for myself but for the team’. Just like the athletes and musicians. Every two or four years we feel good about being Jamaican then the next week we gone back to our normal selves. What if there was a way to stimulate this kind of patriotism every single day all year round?” he questioned.
Thompson has a background in marketing and this knowledge in the space is what fuels him in the creation of his company HelloScribe. Ensuring to note that he does not consider himself as a designer but more so a creative technologist, he believes that there are many opportunities for AI to be used in the advancement of Brand Jamaica.
“Prior to leaving Jamaica, I spent over a decade at one of the leading ad agents at the time and I had the great privilege of working with some of the greatest brand managers and PR people, designers and creative thinkers in the country and what I recognise is that as the technology begins to change and shift, there is a way to make processes simpler within that industry. There is an opportunity to create new ways of presenting our brand and our messages across small businesses and brand and so on. Artificial intelligence gives us this humongous opportunity to put these kinds of tools of the trade not only in the hands professionals but anybody who has that desire to create different kinds of communication,” he shared.
“If we look at the way or where a lot of designs that we call Jamaican designs come from, a lot of them come from Europe. So, Puma will do a Jamaican collection and Clarks will do a Jamaican collection or some random guy in China will just print off some Jamaica t-shirts. So, in Jamaica you have local designers who have been doing their thing for many years. The opportunity to create products are immense and endless in terms of what is available to us in artificial intelligence. Generally, I think from a creative standpoint, all of a sudden, I think we will start seeing some fresh new kinds of things that can be Brand Jamaica, from architecture to design of public space, to everyday items, it is unlimited,” he continued.
Artificial intelligence is the theory and development of computer systems able to perform tasks normally requiring human intelligence, such as visual perception, speech recognition, decision-making, and translation between languages.
As for Thompson the designs do not stop here, and people can look out for several other concepts.