Meticulously designed and crafted with precision, Bespoke Barbados pieces make a strikingly gorgeous statement — one that inspires intense pride of nationhood. In fact, the owner of the custom decor business, Karla Dawn, is intentional about its patriotic intricacies.
“I like to highlight what is special about Barbados,” she enthused, “So, my first commercial product was the coaster that looks like a dollar. I started with a dollar because I wanted to have a product that a lot of Barbadians would instantly see and recognise as distinctively Barbadian and connect with it culturally and that’s what I do with most of my products.”
Karla’s extraordinary skill set had been nurtured in her formative years, as she was actively entered into various art competitions, a passion prompted by her primary school teacher and supported by her mom, Carol Nicholls. Her interest in the arts, however, was expansive, and also encompassed a love for literature and music. Karla’s artistic gift coupled with proficiency in mathematics led her to pursue a double major in Architecture and Art History at the University of Toronto. There, she remained diligent and eager to excel, and less expectantly, experienced a life-altering ‘ah ha’ moment.
“I started university in 2010 right after I graduated from Harrison College. I went there from my undergrad and I also did some work in my graduate degree towards Masters of Architecture. During that time, I would have had to make models for my classes. That’s when I learned about digital fabrication, which is using machines to aid in design and the manufacturing process.
“When I was using some of the machines and equipment, I thought that it could be used for more than architecture models, because it tells you more about how things are made and when you start to see things around you, you can start to ask how they’re manufactured,” she said, referring to machines like the 3D printer, laser cutter, and CNC (computer numerical control) machine, which create designs in accordance with input from a computer.
Karla was able to leverage this know-how after graduating university, when she was faced with the tough realities of the highly competitive architectural field in Canada; she said most work opportunities were unpaid internships and landing a big break proved challenging, especially as a non-citizen. So, what began as a means to create architectural models evolved into a technique for making small-scale, functional objects.
“I find working at the human scale to be a little bit more satisfying than the building scale, because you can serve more than one person. When you’re building a house, it’s only going to be enjoyed by the people who live there or people who work at the building, it’s a fairly private thing. But when you design an object, it’s much lower stakes and you can do a lot more in terms of creativity and experimentation. You can connect to someone on a personal level and provide something useful but also incorporate design elements. You have the opportunity to show personality or something special about the object,” she said.
While the 31-year-old would never limit herself creatively, Karla happily adheres to one self-imposed rule: i.e. Bespoke Barbados must be eco-friendly.
“Right now, I mostly use laser cutting. I decided not to go into 3D printing here because sustainability is really important to me. So I didn’t want to be using the plastic that 3D printing requires because it doesn’t degrade and it would always be something that needs to be imported. I wanted to work with materials we have here.
“A laser cutter cuts wood, it cuts cloth, it cuts leather — anything that really is natural, so I prefer to use that. I use plywood, usually pine or birch. Hopefully, I can start to use more natural woods soon like coconut,” she explained.
Outside of formal study, Karla also taught herself additional techniques, such as sublimation printing. She discovered this creative approach, which involves transferring an image onto another material using heated ink, while exploring a Facebook group. She quickly learned all she could from an e-Book she bought on Amazon, until she eventually tried and mastered it.
With her scholastic training, natural talent and resilience, Karla does justice to her business name, as ‘Bespoke’ means custom-made. Her vision is to facilitate B2B transactions, in which she helps other businesses satisfy their need for exclusive custom design items, such as a unique sign or special order. She also caters to individuals, as her diverse portfolio includes lights, Christmas ornaments, wall art, cups, magnets, and even shirts. This impressive collection, which has a ‘Barbadiana’ or tropical theme, has garnered praise for its originality:
“Clients find my work unique. It’s different from some of the things that we’re used to seeing, just because it uses a lot of technology that has really only just started being developed. So it’s different and I think people really like when they want to make something, like a gift for a teacher at the end of the year, and they can make something customisable.”
Karla’s entrepreneurial journey has seen significant milestones, including features in prominent publications and support from the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which have purchased her pieces for functions, and from Nudge, which is an incubator program by Massy that helps entrepreneurs through workshops and grants.
Despite its “ups and downs,” Karla finds her unforeseen leap into entrepreneurship rewarding. This positive attitude is reflected in her impeccable work ethic, which is necessary for managing her custom projects. As a one-woman operation, she ensures adequate time (typically, a “two-week window”) is allocated for delivering each masterpiece. That way, there is never any need to rush orders or become overwhelmed, despite its labour-intensivity.
For Karla, Bespoke Barbados creations are more than art, they are emblems of national pride and unfaltering strides: “It makes me feel very happy to design something, figure out how to make it, make it, test it, perfect it and then put it out into the world.”
