Merging Art with Business: Meet Myles Dumas ’03
One of Providence College’s alums was recently given the opportunity to design the crest for Rhode Island FC, the state’s professional soccer team. Myles Dumas ’03 graduated from Providence College as a marketing major and photography minor. During his time at PC, Helen Caldwell, Ph.D., who was chair of the Department of Marketing at the time, greatly influenced Dumas, as she sparked his interest in marketing with her classes and case studies. Dumas recalls that one of his favorite parts of PC was meeting his wife, Roisin McGettigan ’03, ’07G, who ran track at PC and later competed in the Olympics for Ireland.
Dumas recalls, “The road to my current job began at PC where I built a good foundational understanding of the business side of marketing. It also started a flame in me to pursue a career as a graphic designer.” After graduating from PC, Dumas worked at a photography business for four years, while also attending night classes at RISD to obtain his certificate in graphic design. Upon his graduation from RISD, Dumas applied to marketing agencies. He landed an internship with Providence-based agency Nail. In just 15 years, he has worked his way up from intern to junior designer, designer, senior designer, and now design director.
Dumas said, “The combination of my business marketing background from PC and the design skills I learned at RISD have really helped my career advance. So many schools focus on one or the other and it was the combo of the two that made the difference for me in the long run — even though it took a lot longer!
“I am very grateful for what I learned at PC in my marketing major. It really helped separate me from students who just went to art school.”
One of the highlights of Dumas’ career was designing the crest for Rhode Island FC. Dumas says, “A project like that doesn’t come around every day, so I was very grateful the RIFC ownership group really meant it when they said they wanted to work with a local agency.” The design had all of Rhode Island in mind with the hope of becoming a staple symbol like the Boston “B” or a Yankees hat. Dumas accomplished just that. See Dumas’ work on the RIFC website. Not only was this an exciting opportunity for Dumas, but he was also able to learn from the process.
“The thing I always learn from big projects like this is how to get better at effectively communicating my design decisions, evolve my strategic thinking, and present my ideas in a way that can get a group of people with wildly different opinions on board. There is no secret recipe, but I’d like to think I’m getting better as the years go on!”
Dumas is a great example of the many ways in which business and the arts can mesh cohesively. Integrating different academic disciplines opens so many more doors that concentrating on just one area may not. That is truly the art of business.
