Matt Plummer has had a chance to make his mark on West Texas in many ways artistically and professionally, but the way that’s nearest and dearest to him is having a chance to design the Muscular Dystrophy Association’s (MDA) T-shirt for its St. Patrick’s Day fundraising campaign.
Plummer was diagnosed with Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA), a form of Muscular Dystrophy, when he was 2.
“It was almost a full-circle moment,” said Plummer, who is the University of Texas Permian Basin’s creative director and brand manager. “When I was a kid being involved with MDA after my diagnosis, my family and I would do all sorts of fundraising events for MDA, including anytime we saw the Shamrock campaigns pop up at a gas station or an Albertsons or something like that.”
“We were always excited to see that the MDA name and brand was really strong because that just meant that there was even more ongoing support for families like ours that were living with neuromuscular disease, so to be part of the campaign, to be part of the shirt design, specifically, is just a full-circle moment for me as someone who has benefited from MDA my entire life,” said Plummer who lives in the DFW area.
Devising a design for the T-shirt started in October or November of last year. The shirts are now available with a $35 donation to MDA.
“The MDA Shamrock campaign is ongoing. It really kicks off this spring, but with a donation of $35 you can actually receive one of the shirts now,” Plummer said.
Usually tied to St. Patrick’s Day, the primary element of the campaign is the retail partners.
“You go into the stores of our retail partners for MDA and you can purchase a shamrock, write your name on it, they’ll pin it up right there in their store to get more awareness and eyes on the campaign,” Plummer said.
The umbrella that MDA covers is ever-growing, he added.
“I think it’s over 45, maybe 50 now neuromuscular diseases within the Muscular Dystrophy umbrella, along with ALS. There’s quite a large gamut of neuromuscular disease that MDA helps support,” he said.
Plummer grew up in Wills Point in East Texas. He earned a bachelor’s degree in theater education from Texas A&M-Commerce and took an MFA from Texas Tech University in design.
He worked at Odessa College in graphic design and as creative director.
At UTPB, he was recently promoted to creative services director and brand manager.
He still has a hand in theater, supporting his wife, Bethany, who is a theater teacher.
“I get my fill of theater from supporting her if she needs some design work. I recently helped her with her one-act play doing the set and sound for her and supporting her and her students,” Plummer said. “For a while, I did some work with the Permian Playhouse out in Odessa doing some set designs for them and then did some work out in Lubbock at the Moonlight Musicals … I’ll throw my design hat on for theater every once in a while,” Plummer said.
In addition, he has created designs for traffic boxes around Odessa.
His job at UTPB encompasses the design and creation of things, as well as the overall awareness and integrity of the UTPB brand, “making sure that everything that we produce and everything that we’re about is the best that it can possibly be.”
Plummer said he loves the team he works with at UTPB.
“It’s challenging and something new every single day. That kind of keeps the job interesting. I also get the freedom to try new things and develop new ideas. My favorite thing about this team and the university is it’s very collaborative, so if I have an idea or someone else has an idea we always try to find a way to come together and support each other in making it come to life and make it be the best that it can be,” he said.
“There are a number of examples with our various campaigns from Falcon Free to our current 50th (anniversary) campaign where we have all these ideas floating around. The best thing about this team is they know how to make them come to life and make them the best that they can be for the university, the students and the community. It’s fun every single day to go to work and get to try and do something new.”
He and his wife, Bethany, have a 4-year-old daughter named Charlotte.
He and his family did live in Midland for a while, but he needed to be closer to specialists.
“I’ve definitely had some great opportunities in West Texas and continue to have some. It’s a place that’s very dear to my heart and a place that we love as a family, both professionally and personally. I’ve met some really great people out there and had some really great opportunities to have some work featured in the community,” Plummer said.
