PS: Remember this? Go ahead and download our puakenikeni trio as clip art!
Is there such thing as too much Puakenikeni? Iʻm not sure but Iʻm certain if thereʻs anytime in my life that Iʻd find out - itʻd be somewhere around now. Iʻm still in disbelief that we have a washi design in our shop and that we came out with a vinyl sticker and printables.
Over time, I realized that no matter what I did, at the end of the day, the decisions were theirs to make (not a bad thing). In total, I worked for three local businesses and successfully helped them to grow, however I was unhappy the entire time. There were so many projects that they approved (vehicle wraps were by far my most favorite), but so many other projects and marketing projects that they didnʻt because they were old school. Deciding to freelance in 2016 was the best decision ever (and they all became clients of mine).
Since then, Iʻve increased the amount of artwork we license to other small businesses (fulfilling my want to support other local businesses) and added some fun stuff of our own to our online shop (which opened in April of 2020). We still do design work for some of our favorite clients, and some logo work for friends but Iʻm not gonna lie - I have no plans of going back in that direction.
Needless to say, this puakenikeni collection means so much to me. It will forever be a marker in Kakou Collectives journey that Iʻll look back on with pride. I look forward to bringing so much more of this place we call home into the stationery game. Iʻm not sure how people not from here (or with ties here) will receive our work (because its not your typical “HAWAIʻI - say it like HAWAYEEEE to get what Iʻm putting down here). But no matter - I think local people deserve to be represented in the stationery world as they should be. Real Hawaiʻi, you know?
Anywho. Enough of my rant. Have fun with this one. And know that youʻre going to see more from me.
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