Kirby Tan was born in a little town in Malacca, Malaysia, the city that was first conquered by the Portuguese in 1511 and even today maintains relics of the colonial past including a Portuguese settlement where the Portuguese language is spoken.

He came from a big and artistic family consisting of 6 brothers and 2 sisters. He is the youngest boy and the second youngest in the whole family.

Life back then was a bit tough, he had to earn a living to support his family during his school years. During his Form 3 school holiday, he was offered a part- time job as a camera man in Fuji Litho in Kuala Lumpur for 2 years and gained good experiences.

At a very young age, Kirby was very ambitious and showed his creative talent side. He started his own company, Graphictone Bhd. a color separation company at nineteen. Three customers that made him a success were Japan Airlines, Toshiba and Oxford University Press. Business was really booming because of his hard work. 

Five years later, in 1984, Tan sold 1/2 of his stake in the company, packed his bags and headed for San Diego to further his studies in the United States. A year later he transferred to New York City Technical College, one the best schools for graphic art.

During his school days, he was employed by PANO DOT Inc. in New Jersey as lithographer. He met Al Raimondi while working as a sub-contractor for Raimond Graphics Inc. A year later, 1990 he was offered to buy 50% of the company. Since then, Raimond Graphics is one of the fastest, most aggressive growing companies in the  Northeast of NJ, grown at an average of 10 percent a year.

On April 8, 2005 Tan officially took over as sole owner of Raimond Graphics Imaging/GRAPHICTONE (DBA). Initially, the company only did black-and-white book production but after Tan joined the firm, it diversified and began offering a range of services including design, color separation and full-color digital print-on-demand.  RGI has come a long way since and toady boasts of clients all over the United States as well as overseas.

Much as Tan is fully committed to his business he strongly feels that people who are in a position to help the community must contribute not just money but their direct involvement in social and community work.

Last year, Tan received the Bergen Community College’s Asian Leadership Award 2004, NJCACC Outstanding Entrepreneur Award in 2005 and listed in the National Register’s WHO’S WHO in 2006 ~ 2007 edition.