Geoffrey Michael Goaman (1921–2009) was a

graphic designer A graphic designer is a professional within the graphic design and graphic arts industry who assembles together images, typography, or motion graphics to create a piece of design. A graphic designer creates the graphics primarily for published, ...

and illustrator, who designed a number of British commemorative postage stamps starting with the 4d stamp in the set for the

Coronation of Elizabeth II The coronation of Elizabeth II took place on 2 June 1953 at Westminster Abbey in London. She acceded to the throne at the age of 25 upon the death of her father, George VI, on 6 February 1952, being proclaimed queen by her privy and executive ...

in 1953, and then many in the 1960s. He also designed record sleeves, logos and posters, and illustrated books. In the 1950s, he designed the logo of the

European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations The European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations (CEPT) was established on June 26, 1959, by nineteen European states in Montreux, Switzerland, as a coordinating body for European state telecommunications and postal ...

(CEPT), which later featured on one of his stamp designs.

Personal life

Goaman was born on 14 February 1921 in

East Grinstead East Grinstead is a town in West Sussex, England, near the East Sussex, Surrey, and Kent borders, south of London, northeast of Brighton, and northeast of the county town of Chichester. Situated in the extreme northeast of the county, the civ ...

, West Sussex, England. He was educated at attended

Hereford Cathedral School Hereford Cathedral School is an independent, co-educational day and boarding school for pupils of ages 3 to 18 years, from Nursery to Sixth Form. Its headmaster is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference. The school's premi ...

and

Reading School Reading School is a grammar school for boys with academy status in the English town of Reading, the county of Berkshire. It traces its history back to the school of Reading Abbey and is, thus, one of the oldest schools in England. There are no ...

, and then served in the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, captaining a destroyer in the Mediterranean and Atlantic theatres. After the war, he studied at

Reading University The University of Reading is a public university in Reading, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1892 as University College, Reading, a University of Oxford extension college. The institution received the power to grant its own degrees in 192 ...

's school of art, then at the Central School of Arts in London. He met fellow designer Sylvia Priestley (1924–2006), daughter of the writer

J. B. Priestley John Boynton Priestley (; 13 September 1894 – 14 August 1984) was an English novelist, playwright, screenwriter, broadcaster and social commentator. His Yorkshire background is reflected in much of his fiction, notably in ''The Good Compa ...

, at the Central School; they married in 1950. They had three daughters, and often worked together. In retirement, Sylvia and Michael worked together to design a stained glass window, to commemorate the Millennium, for St Peter's Church, at

Bramshaw Bramshaw is a small village and civil parish in Hampshire, England. It lies just inside the New Forest. The name Bramshaw means Bramble Wood. Until 1895, Bramshaw was divided into two parts, one half in Wiltshire, and one half in Hampshire. The ...

. He died on 13 May 2009.

Stamps

Along with Faith Jacques, Goaman was critical of the Wilding design of monarch's head used on British postage stamps in the 1950s. Their complaint led in part to the Machin design which replaced it. His own stamp designs include these for the United Kingdom's

General Post Office The General Post Office (GPO) was the state postal system and telecommunications carrier of the United Kingdom until 1969. Before the Acts of Union 1707, it was the postal system of the Kingdom of England, established by Charles II in 1660. ...

: * Coronation (3 June 1953; 4d) * Centenary of Post Office Savings Bank (28 August 1961; Growth of Savings; 3d and Thrift Plant; 1s6d) * European Postal and Telecommunications (CEPT) Conference (18 September 1961; C.E.P.T. Emblem; 2d) * Freedom from Hunger Campaign (21 March 1963) * National Nature Week (16 May 1963; Woodland Life; 4½d) * Tenth International Botanical Congress, Edinburgh (5 August 1964; jointly with S. Goaman) * Sir Francis Chichester's World Voyage (24 July 1967; with S. Goaman) * First Flight of Concorde (3 March 1969; Concorde in Flight; 4d.) He also designed stamps, often working with Sylvia, for forty or more other countries and territories, including

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

, Saint Vincent

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierra ...

, the

British Antarctic Territory The British Antarctic Territory (BAT) is a sector of Antarctica claimed by the United Kingdom as one of its 14 British Overseas Territories, of which it is by far the largest by area. It comprises the region south of 60°S latitude and between ...

, and Herm.

Recognition

Michael and Sylvia's work was the subject of a 1968 '' Look at Life'' cinema documentary. An exhibition of their work was held at the

Design Museum The Design Museum in Kensington, London exhibits product, industrial, graphic, fashion, and architectural design. In 2018, the museum won the European Museum of the Year Award. The museum operates as a registered charity, and all funds generat ...

, London, in 1995. Following his death, obituaries were published in

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are popular names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaide, South Australia, publ ...

and

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

. A number of Goaman's original design drafts and preliminary sketches are held by

The Postal Museum The Postal Museum (formerly the British Postal Museum & Archive) is a postal museum run by the Postal Heritage Trust. It began in 2004 as The British Postal Museum & Archive and opened in Central London as The Postal Museum on 28 July 2017. Si ...

in London, and the

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa is New Zealand's national museum and is located in Wellington. ''Te Papa Tongarewa'' translates literally to "container of treasures" or in full "container of treasured things and people that spring fr ...

Publications

Goaman wrote magazine articles, including: *

References

External links

Album sleeve designs by Goaman
at

Discogs Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the la ...