{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2020}} {{EngvarB|date=March 2020}} {{Infobox person | honorific_prefix = | name = Michael Goaman | honorific_suffix = | image = | caption = | birth_name = Geoffrey Michael Goaman | birth_date = {{Birth date|df=y|1921|02|14}} | birth_place = East Grinstead, West Sussex, England | death_date = {{Death date and age|df=y|2009|05|13|1921|02|14}} | death_place = | death_cause = | resting_place = | resting_place_coordinates = | monuments = | education = {{Plainlist| * Hereford Cathedral School * Reading School }} | alma_mater = {{Plainlist| * Reading University School of Art * Central School of Arts }} | occupation = {{Plainlist| * Graphic designer * Illustrator }} | known_for = Postage stamp design | notable_works = | style = | spouse = Sylvia, née Priestley | children = 3 }} '''Geoffrey Michael Goaman''' (14 February 1921{{spaced ndash}}13 May 2009) was a graphic designer 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 in 1953, and then many in the 1960s. He also designed record sleeves, logos and posters, and illustrated books.<ref name="Scott" /> In the 1950s, he designed the logo of the European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations (CEPT), which later featured on one of his stamp designs.<ref name="Scott" />
== Personal life ==
Goaman was born on 14 February 1921 in East Grinstead, West Sussex, England.<ref name="Scott">{{cite news |last1=Scott |first1=David |title=Obituary: Michael Goaman |url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2009/jun/16/obituary-michael-goaman |work=The Guardian |accessdate=1 February 2019 |date=15 June 2009}}</ref> He was educated at attended Hereford Cathedral School and Reading School,<ref name="Telegraph" /> and then served in the Royal Navy during World War II,<ref name="Scott" /> captaining a destroyer in the Mediterranean and Atlantic theatres.<ref name="Telegraph" /> After the war, he studied at Reading University's school of art, then at the Central School of Arts in London.<ref name="Scott" />
He met fellow designer Sylvia Priestley (1924–2006), daughter of the writer J. B. Priestley, at the Central School; they married in 1950.<ref name="Scott" /><ref name="Telegraph" /> They had three daughters,<ref name="Scott" /> and often worked together.<ref name="Telegraph" /><ref name="cgbs-63">{{cite web|url=https://www.collectgbstamps.co.uk/explore/issues/?issue=63|title=Tenth International Botanical Congress, Edinburgh (1964) : Collect GB Stamps|website=collectgbstamps.co.uk}}</ref><ref name="Telegraph-Sylvia-Obit">{{cite news |title=Sylvia Goaman |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1527258/Sylvia-Goaman.html |accessdate=1 February 2019 |date=25 August 2006}}</ref>
In retirement, Sylvia and Michael worked together to design a stained glass window, to commemorate the Millennium, for St Peter's Church, at Bramshaw.<ref name="DailyEcho">{{cite news |title=Peter on St Peter's |url=https://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/5629959.Peter_on_St_Peter_s/ |work=Daily Echo |accessdate=1 February 2019 }}</ref>
He died on 13 May 2009.<ref name="Scott" />
== Stamps ==
Along with Faith Jacques, Goaman was critical of the Wilding design of monarch's head used on British postage stamps in the 1950s.<ref>Letter kept in The British Postal Museum & Archive (POST 122/10703) ; quoted by Douglas Muir (2007). ''A Timeless Classic'', chapter 2, "A Portrait with problems", pages 15–17.</ref> Their complaint led in part to the Machin design which replaced it.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Muir |first1=Douglas |year=2007 |title=A Timeless Classic |pages=17–19}}</ref>
His own stamp designs include these for the United Kingdom's General Post Office:
* Coronation (3 June 1953; 4d)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.collectgbstamps.co.uk/explore/issues/?issue=411|title=Coronation (1953) : Collect GB Stamps|website=collectgbstamps.co.uk}}</ref> * Centenary of Post Office Savings Bank (28 August 1961; Growth of Savings; 3d and Thrift Plant; 1s6d)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.collectgbstamps.co.uk/explore/issues/?issue=51|title=Centenary of Post Office Savings Bank (1961) : Collect GB Stamps|website=collectgbstamps.co.uk}}</ref> * European Postal and Telecommunications (CEPT) Conference (18 September 1961; C.E.P.T. Emblem; 2d)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.collectgbstamps.co.uk/explore/issues/?issue=52|title=European Postal and Telecommunications (CEPT) Conference, Torquay (1961) : Collect GB Stamps|website=collectgbstamps.co.uk}}</ref> * Freedom from Hunger Campaign (21 March 1963)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.collectgbstamps.co.uk/explore/issues/?issue=55|title=Freedom from Hunger Campaign (1963) : Collect GB Stamps|website=collectgbstamps.co.uk}}</ref> * National Nature Week (16 May 1963; Woodland Life; 4½d)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.collectgbstamps.co.uk/explore/issues/?issue=57|title=National Nature Week (1963) : Collect GB Stamps|website=collectgbstamps.co.uk}}</ref> * Tenth International Botanical Congress, Edinburgh (5 August 1964; jointly with S. Goaman)<ref name="cgbs-63" /> * Sir Francis Chichester's World Voyage (24 July 1967; with S. Goaman)<ref name="SciMu">{{cite web |title=The epic voyage of Sir Francis Chichester |url=https://collection.sciencemuseum.org.uk/objects/co8001250/the-epic-voyage-of-sir-francis-chichester-postage-stamp-first-day-cover |publisher=Science Museum |accessdate=1 February 2019}}</ref> * First Flight of Concorde (3 March 1969; Concorde in Flight; 4d.)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.collectgbstamps.co.uk/explore/issues/?issue=94|title=First Flight of Concorde (1969) : Collect GB Stamps|website=collectgbstamps.co.uk}}</ref>
He also designed stamps, often working with Sylvia, for forty or more other countries and territories, including Nigeria, Saint Vincent, Sierra Leone,<ref name="Telegraph">{{cite web |title=Michael Goaman |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/culture-obituaries/art-obituaries/5417655/Michael-Goaman.html |work=The Daily Telegraph |accessdate=1 February 2019 |date=31 May 2009}}</ref> the British Antarctic Territory,<ref name="SPRI">{{cite web |title=Delivery by Design |url=https://www.spri.cam.ac.uk/museum/exhibitions/stamps/ |publisher=Scott Polar Research Institute |accessdate=1 February 2019}}</ref> and Herm.<ref name="HermStamps">{{cite web |title=Life Story of a Stamp Part 1 |url=http://www.hermstamps.co.uk/articles/lifestory1.htm |website=Herm Stamps |accessdate=1 February 2019}}</ref>
== Recognition ==
Michael and Sylvia's work was the subject of a 1968 ''Look at Life'' cinema documentary.<ref name="Telegraph" /> An exhibition of their work was held at the Design Museum, London, in 1995.<ref name="Telegraph" />
Following his death, obituaries were published in The Guardian,<ref name="Scott" /> The Telegraph<ref name="Telegraph" /> and The Times.<ref name="Times">{{cite news |title=Michael Goaman: stamp designer |url=https://www.thetimes.com/comment/register/article/michael-goaman-stamp-designer-6m87hb3bdrr |work=The Times |access-date=1 February 2019 |date=13 June 2009}}</ref>
A number of Goaman's original design drafts and preliminary sketches are held by The Postal Museum in London,<ref>{{cite web |title=Search results |url=http://www.postalheritage.org.uk/collections/search?s=Goaman&qa[keyword_reference_type]=0&qa[partner]=&qa[identifier]=&qa[date_from]=&qa[date_to]=&qa[title]=&qa[person]=&qa[place]=&qa[subject]=&qa[format]=&cbpt=0&cbav=2&cbadvsearchquery= |publisher=The Postal Museum }}</ref> and the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.<ref name="NZTPT">{{cite web |title=Collections Online |url=https://collections.tepapa.govt.nz/agent/47372 |publisher=Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa |accessdate=1 February 2019}}</ref>
== Publications ==
Goaman wrote magazine articles, including:
* {{Cite magazine |magazine=Linn's Stamp Weekly |title=Special problems of designing British stamps |last1=Goaman |first1=Michael |author-mask=0 |date=Jan–Jun 1964}}
== References == {{Reflist}}
=== Further reading ===
* ''[https://www.stanleygibbons.com/blog/1964-tenth-international-botanical-congress-edinburgh/ 1964 Tenth International Botanical Congress Edinburgh]'' – illustrated discussion of Goaman's working process, from Stanley Gibbons
== External links ==
* [https://www.discogs.com/artist/5308211-Michael-Goaman Album sleeve designs by Goaman], at Discogs
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Goaman, Michael}} Category:1921 births Category:2009 deaths Category:British graphic designers Category:People from East Grinstead Category:People educated at Hereford Cathedral School Category:People educated at Reading School Category:Royal Navy officers of World War II Category:Alumni of the University of Reading Category:Alumni of the Central School of Art and Design Category:20th-century British illustrators Category:British stamp designers Category:20th-century British male artists