Creating a manually made ‘automatic’

A STORY of “handmade world domination”—as the brand’s tagline would simply put it.

Louie Nicolo Nimor, an advertising major in his mid 20s, is turning a lot of young heads around the world towards Cebu. This time, it’s not mangoes, guitars or furniture the young man is brandishing in the face of the world market.

Nicolo is the mastermind behind the shirt brand, Nick Automatic (NA). It’s a brand that has infiltrated Filipino pop-culture in its own right, offering young people with tops that more often than not, display images of large doodles done often with cartoon themes or styles.

“All of our shirts are purely, manually printed over silk screen hence the term handmade,” he said.

As for domination? The brand’s success may be able to speak for itself.

Young people may already be accustomed to seeing NA shirts all over town. In fact, notable clients of Nicolo who have availed of his designs include bands like Chicosci, Urbandub, Greyhoundz, Typecast, Jejaview, Blue Boy Bites Back and more. International clients include bands like A Day To Remember, New Found Glory, Pierce the Veil, pop star Nicki Minaj and more.

It’s quite an accomplishment for someone who’s confessed about serving staple meals during a school fair.

“During my advertising class’ Student’s Fair, I sold humba, puso and boiled eggs,” Nicolo shared. “But I have a teammate now who works in Marketing and PR so he does stuff and helps me in fields I have zero experience with, and another teammate who is more knowledgeable about printing and production,” he added about what’s the team of NA more like today.

What started as a simple venture back in 2010, has enormously become a fashion force per se. NA’s official Facebook page has gathering over more than 170,000 likes at present, and they now have two shops in Cebu, The Doodle Store in at Borromeo Arcade. F. Ramos St., Cebu City and one at J Centre Mall, Mandaue City, Cebu.

His secret to success? “Be original and do it with passion.”

“I’m really fond of screen printing when I was younger, so I decided to try them on my own. Plus it’s also a great way to showcase the things I draw.”

Who knew a logo with a little boy sticking his tongue out would hit it real big? Even Nicolo himself admits at being clueless how the shirt-business steamrolled its way to prominence.

“I don’t know really. Determination I guess.”

Fast forward three years since the brand’s launching, there is a dangerous fact for trends that quickly rise, and that is the probability of when the demand starts to fall. But for Nicolo, he follows a mantra that’s just focused on getting things done.

“If I’m thinking of the fear then it might just hinder me from being successful. Plus I have a solid team I work with so as of now, I’m not afraid,” he said.

Quite a success indeed, this clothing company led a business venture from the garage to parts of the globe in just a couple of years. For a trade that manually prints shirts, its success is pretty “automatic” to say the least.