“The best compliment an artist can receive is to touch someone on an emotional level – to create a fond remembrance of days gone by and love they shared along the way.”
-Matthew B. Young
Matthew displayed an early interest in art while growing up in rural Southwest Ohio. Endless hours were spent imitating styles of popular cartoonists like Charles Schultz, George Gately, Jim Davis and Mike Peters. Many school projects featured Matthew’s cast of cartoon characters, but it wasn’t until high school that Matthew realized his true talent. His favorite teacher at East Clinton High School challenged him to stop copying what others do and create art the ways he envisions it. And that is exactly what he did.
Matthew studied Architecture his freshman year at the University of Cincinnati but, came to the realization that graphic design was a more appropriate fit for his abilities. After studying at the University of Florida for one semester, Matthew returned to Ohio to begin his career.
Matthew began his graphic design career as a Paste-Up Artist for three local newspapers. The pay was minimum wage but Matthew gained invaluable experience in typesetting, darkroom, film stripping and even insertion room work. Later that year, Matthew became the commercial artist for the print shop division of the publishing company. The following year, a fellow Christian retreat attendee offered Matthew, at 21 years of age, the position of Sign Shop Manager in Cincinnati. Another great learning experience, the position proved to be a one-man operation and for someone who enjoys human interaction…it was time to move on.
A guiding philosophy for Matthew has been to “Always move forward and don’t take steps back” with regards to his career. With that in mind, Matthew was hired as Assistant Graphic Designer by an advertising agency in Dayton, Ohio. Within his first year with the agency, Matthew was promoted to Art Director, a position he would hold for the five years that followed.
Dreams require action. So, Matthew relocated his family to Altamonte Springs, Florida with a hope that close proximity would prove beneficial in securing a position with Disney. Matthew began working as a Service Bureau Technician generating design, photography, film and proofs for local print companies and advertising agencies. Matthew gained experience with a variety of desktop publishing, illustration and photo editing software on pc and MAC platforms and used his artistic abilities to develop in-house marketing efforts. In May of 1999, a large commercial printer offered Matthew a position on their creative team. During his employment, Matthew served as Night Shift Supervisor; later becoming Creative Director. This marked the first time in his career that Matthew had worked closely with a team of fellow artists.
The saying is true, “It’s not always what you know but who you know”. A former colleague helped Matthew acquire a Contract Designer position with the AAA National Office in Heathrow, FL. Within six months on the job, Matthew was hired full time and promoted to Manager of Traffic Safety Programs, a short time later. While performing a wide array of duties and responsibilities, Matthew serving as AAA representative was elected Vice Chairman of the National Child Passenger Safety Board in 2004. Internal staff reductions across the board at AAA led to dissolution of his department.
Matthew was hired as Marketing Coordinator/Graphic Designer for a quickly growing irrigation supply company. During a two year span, Matthew rebranded the existing company and developed a secondary brand for their new outdoor power equipment business line.
In 2006, Matthew joined the creative team of a local vacation ownership company as the Senior Graphic Designer. After a year on the job, Matthew was promoted to Manager of Creative Services. During his employment, Matthew served dual roles of both Manager and Sr. Graphic Designer, working collaboratively with sales, marketing and resort operations to facilitate projects from concept through the print process. The position provided opportunities to work with area attraction partners and vendors on advertising ventures.
Oil Painting was always a medium that Matthew respected even though his previous schooling and career never required the discipline. The time had come for a new hobby - that would be both challenging and rewarding at the same time. Matthew quickly became enamored with this form of artistic expression and completed close to 20 paintings within eight months. His oil painting instructor complimented him in class by describing him as fearless, not afraid of tackling technically difficult subject matter. Matthew’s passion is to let the creativity flow and capture emotion within the constraints of a canvas.
The key to creating any work of art is to Draw or Paint what you see (not what you perceive). Please enjoy the various works on this site and feel to contact Matthew with feedback or more information about creative services that he can provide.
Thank you.