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May I, 2013
photo by
D onovan M. S mith /T he P ortland O bserver
After studying graphic design and architecture at Portland State, Hussein Al-Baiaty has his own screen business and T-shirt shop, H&S Screen Printing in Beaverton. His
company brand Almaic is a juxtaposition o f hip-hop culture, modern design and his heritage as a young man who was a refugee from Iraq as a young child before his
family migrated to the United States.
American Dreamer
Young entrepreneur answers life challenges
B y D onovan M. S mith
w ith m y p eers,” he said. “It w as hum bling.
T he P ortland O bserver
P erhaps it w as the sum o f his challenging
“T he A m erican D ream ” in today’s A m erica life circu m stan ces that caused him to reject
is not easily defined, but w hen so m eo n e is the pursuit o f sim ple com forts for the m o tiv a­
chasing it, it is easily recognized. People
tion to succeed in a career, sp ecifically w ith
striving to create their ideal reality are a his art. A canvass and piece o f p ap er becam e
co n stan t in the p u rsuit fo r success in the
the first tools o f his trade. T -shirts w ere the
U nited States. P o rtlan d ’s ow n H ussein Al-
next m edium to conquer.
B aiaty is such an exam ple. H e has gone from
W hile studying graphic design and archi-
being a refugee from Iraq to a self-m ade
b u sin essm an .
F rom the ages o f five through eight, Al-
B aiaty and his fam ily sought refuge from the
turm oil in Iraq in the deserts o f Saudi A rabia,
hoping that Sadam H u ssein ’s reign w ould
soon fall. T hough he describes these years
as tortuous, he is quick to m ention “during
these years m y fam ily and I had to m ake the
best o f this bad situation and keep living as
best w e co u ld .”
B ut in the sum m er o f 1994, A l-B aiaty and
tecture at Portland State, he started a T-shirt
his fam ily m igrated to the U nited States w here
line o f his ow n, but ju st as a “side project.” O ver
a w hole new set o f challenges w ould aw ait
tim e his passion for the art and business o f
h im . N ot a w ord o f Engli sh was know n to him
screen-printing began to grow . He took to the
at the tim e. B ut he w as persistent in his quest basem ent o f a friend’s dow ntow n Portland
to balance the tw o w orlds he knew .
barbershop and began printing shirts for vari­
“O nce I got into m iddle school and high
ous cultural groups around the PSU cam pus.
school I learned to m aster both m y cultures
W ith various jo b s in betw een, this b ase­
w hile at the sam e tim e grasping how to fit in
m ent business and “side p ro ject” m anifested
into som ething m uch m ore. H e is now the c o ­
o w n er o f his ow n screen-printing shop in
B eaverton, and his T -shirt line w as revam ped,
renam ed, and given ju s t as m uch attention as
the shop.
H undreds o f shirts are being p rinted each
day at H & S S creen P rinting, located at 4680
S. W. W atson in B eaverton. W h eth er it is for
local high schools, like Jefferso n H igh, local
Once I got into middle school and high
school I learned to master both my cultures
while at the same time grasping how to fit in
with my peers. It was humbling.
- Hussein Al-Baiaty
clothing brands, o r fo r troops o verseas, his
custom ers are w idely varied and are increas­
ingly com ing from w ord o f m outh.
H is co m p an y brand A lm aic sim ply com es
as an exten sio n o f his passion fo r extending
know ledge and love to the m asses. T he brand
is a ju x tap o sitio n o f h ip-hop culture, m odem
design and his h eritag e in com binations that
blend the abstract and the authentic.
T he co n cep t o f the b ran d is m eant to
p ro v o k e th o u g h t an d sp ark c o n v ersatio n
am ong th e p eople that see his designs. M any
o f the prints pay h o m ag e to the c ity o f P o rt­
land. H e attributes m u ch o f that to being able
to ex p ress h im se lf freely here. “ Y ou h ave to
realize, I com e from a place w here this w as not
m u ch o f an o p tio n .”
T h o u g h very you n g in his tim e as a re fu ­
gee in the M iddle E ast, A l-B aiaty said he
rem em b ers the horrors o f it quite clearly and
has not been shy ab o u t sharing his jo u rn e y
as a sp eak er at local schools to inspire kids
to pursue th eir passions.
T h o u g h m isconceptions about him are
still constantly m ade about him b ecause o f
his racial b ackground, he prefers to distance
h im se lf from the ignorance and negativity
and pro m o te positivity, w h eth er it is through
the graphics he produces o r sim ply a price
b reak he gives to ch u rch es and non-profits.
A l-B aiaty and his H & S Screen Printing
b usiness are looking to ex pand to another
location in B eaverton , he said, to “create a
thriving h ub fo r graphics and screen-print­
in g ,” so as to not only prom ote his ow n shop,
but businesses around him .
H is desire for a ch allen g e has yet to be
extinguished.
M ore can be found about H & S Screen
Printing at handsprints.com , o r on the w ebsite
w ith his brand A lm aic at A lm aic.co m .