“In my second week of teaching college Branding Design, I told a student that the logo concept he was working on would not be suitable as a professional identity design. He asked me, “Why?”
“I answered that I didn’t know why, but that his concept was still a bad idea. I was certain some principle was being vio.... more
“In my second week of teaching college Branding Design, I told a student that the logo concept he was working on would not be suitable as a professional identity design. He asked me, “Why?”
“I answered that I didn’t know why, but that his concept was still a bad idea. I was certain some principle was being violated, but I couldn’t articulate what it was. I also knew that my answer was totally inadequate. I determined then and there that I would discover what those underlying principles were.”
That twenty-five year quest has lead Michael to look deeply at branding design and to seek for those constant, unchanging principles. Fads in art and design come and go. But principles don’t. Principles are enduring; they stand the test of time. We can ignore them for a while, but violating those Core Principles just breaks our designs. Over time, we come back to true principles. Why?
Because they work. They always work.
Michael taught Graphic Design for twenty five years. His courses included Color Theory, Beginning, Intermediate and Advanced Illustration including Computer Illustration, Web Applications, Art History and Branding Design.
In addition to teaching, for more than 45 years Michael has been a graphic designer and commercial illustrator, a conceptualizer and writer, a communicator and motivator.
For the seven years immediately before becoming a teacher, he was Senior Designer/Illustrator for a mid-sized design studio and advertising agency. Michael’s design experience extends to all areas of graphic design including advertising, corporate identity, institutional design, annual reports, display and interpretive center design as well as print and web design. As a stock illustrator with TheImageBank.com, (now under GettyOne.com), Michael’s illustration work has been used all over the work for such clients as British Airways Magazine, Kelly Services, MacMillan McGraw-Hill publishers and Business Week. He is fluent in many illustration styles and in virtually every medium:
oil, acrylic, pastel, pen and ink, watercolor as well as digital media of Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop.
“The first day of teaching any new college students, I tell them to call me Michael, not Professor Shumate or Mr. Shumate. Then I tell them if they forget my name, they can always call me “the Grand Poobah.” That always gets a laugh from them. It establishes a certain rapport. They know that even though I have much to teach them, I don’t take myself too seriously. Their respect for me will be earned and ego games are not something we’ll be playing.”
It’s that kind of self-deprecating humor that has made Michael a popular speaker for youth and adult audiences as well as a guest lecturer on a range of topics including those embodied in his books:
• Success In The Arts: What It Takes to Make It in Creative Fields • 21st Century Book Cover Design
and
• Logo Design Theory: How Branding Design Really Works.
Education
BFA, Brigham Young University Major: Graphic Design
Minor: Advertising
Professional Certification
RGD Emeritus
Registered Graphic Designers of Ontario
Professor Emeritus
St. Lawrence College, Kingston, Ontario
Websites
logodesigntheory.com (branding design)
grand-poobah.com (public speaking)
elfstonepress.com (writing)
visualentity.com (illustration)
handtypes.com (typographic styling)
michaelshumate.com (fine art)
folkstenciloriginals.com (folk art)
