The Brand that is Venom III

CEBU, Philippines - In verbatim, no one can distinctly remember how the brainstorming session dedicated to Venom III’s inception went, but the brand remains to do well in living up to the drives which inspired its birth.

The brainchild of Nicolo Nimor of Nick Automatic fame, Venom III was established in 2006 in the Queen City of the South, made to extend punk and goth music sensibilities into an available shirt apparel medium for Cebuanos.

Six years later and now with a new frontman (frontwoman, to be precise), January of 2012 marked a milestone in Venom III’s history, celebrating its relaunch as a brand inspired by real life elements of music, graffiti art and wit.

Though far from being an actual industry game changer, Venom III’s new run has been solid for a brand of its caliber, a star-in-the-making that is set on offering only the best it do-ably and possibly can.

“I wanted a shirt label with designs which evaded the predicable, at the same time defied old irrelevant definitions and cliques,” shares Jessie Boquiren, Venom III’s new head honcho.

“But then I realized I was thinking about nice sounding but vague terms, of thematic words which had a lot of drama in them but didn’t exactly say much about what I wanted to produce. Being active in growth of the brand, I realized that staying true to its music-inspired roots was what I really wanted, as a label which grows with movements and names in the local music industry.”

With minimal experience in the rudiments of running a t-shirt brand, Boquiren was flying blind in steering Venom III towards its renewed direction.

That blindness, however, hasn’t led the 27 year old in aimless traction with Venom III’s newfound goals, eventually getting to lead it in inspiring a number of niche followers keen enough to note the brand’s presence in various organized band concerts and gigs.

Gaining the support of local music industry players – with bands Curbside, Imbue No Kudos, Jejaview and Save The Queen, among others – Venom III got to tread on the path Boquiren intended it to be on, at a pace that is realistic and tuned to the times.

To date, Venom III features a total of 8 designs since its relaunch, with three more feature designs to come.

The figures may not impress those who equate numbers with success, but as Boquiren puts it, it has been enough in associating Venom III with on-the-rise music players and their followers – a goal which she has accomplished well within her expectations.

“There’s an old saying which talks about how the brightest light burns out the quickest. I want that saying to be a match with the new Venom III, to see it endure a continued existence over time, to grow as the original source of its inspiration – music – grows.”

In these grim economic times, the whole do what you love best and what you love will take care of the rest mantra has faced a lot of opposing views, with most questioning how much loves and passions can realistically translate into keeping bill collectors at bay.

For Jessie Boquiren and Venom III, as relatively small as the brand is, the mantra continues to remain true to its form.

Venom III shirts are available at Nick’s Doodle Store, D12, Borromeo Arcade Bldg, F. Ramos St, Cebu City, and in 6Twelve Indie South, 16th/9th Street, Nazareth, Cagayan de Oro City 9000. For more details and updates, drop by venomthree.tumblr.com (FREEMAN)