Name: Michael Taylor
Year: Junior
Major: Geography
Hometown: Palm Harbor, FL
Relationship Status: In a relationship
Her Campus (HC): So Michael, tell us a little bit about yourself!
Michael Taylor (MT): I’m a junior geography major from Clearwater and I do graphic design, specialized in sports logos!
HC: Word on the street is that you’re quite creative! How did you first get into designing logos and concepts? Were you self-taught?
MT: I saw a blog that would post hockey concepts and my friend and I were like “we could totally do that,” so we both just started making them! I started on MS Paint, but now I have a more advanced (and free) program now that I’ve been using for around five years. I was pretty much self-taught, like I haven’t taken any classes or anything. Some logos are easier to make; I mean it all depends. Sometimes it takes 30 minutes and sometimes it takes a couple of hours. I have a lot of friends who give me second opinions, which is totally helpful.
HC: Wow, that’s awesome. Have any of your logos been publically used?
MT: Yeah, my first big logo was for a club soccer team in Palm Harbor called West Florida Premier. That was 5 years ago, and since I’ve had a lot of people find my portfolio (https://dribbble.com/MichaelDanger19) and ask me to design stuff for them as well.
HC: Do you have a favorite logo you’ve designed?
MT: That’s really hard because they’re all my babies, but one time I tricked people into thinking one of my logos was a leaked logo for a major league soccer team, so that was really funny. I started getting Twitter notifications and tons of followers, everyone was like “is that the real logo?” I just predicted the name and colors of the new team that had just been announced. I was really going off nothing, but people believed that it was the real deal. People thought mine should be the actual logo!
HC: Is this just more of a hobby, or could you see yourself making this a lasting career?
MT: It started out as a hobby but I’ve been making pretty decent money off of it, not enough to live off though. I tried to enroll in the graphic design program at FSU but they unfortunately cancelled it.
HC: In that case, what would your ideal career be?
MT: Ideally, some sport management career working front office for a team.
HC: What’s your favorite part about being a Florida State Student?
MT: I came here wanting to go to a big school with competitive sports teams and I’ve definitely gotten my money’s worth!
HC: Involvement on campus?
MT: Yeah, I’m in GESSA club, which is a geography/environmental studies club. I play a lot of intramural sports, like Flag football, kickball, soccer, and softball, all within the last year.
HC: What do you like to do in your spare time?
MT: Logos and Tumblr.
HC: Favorite local restaurant?
MT: Mr. Robotos!