GDES Alum Designs for Escapism

A graduate of the School of Industrial and Graphic Design (SIGD), Carnley is a partner and creative director at Matey, which he runs with his spouse and fellow Auburn alum Shelton Carnley, who graduated from the College of Human Sciences the same year.

Based in Birmingham, Matey is a creative studio specializing in branding systems and campaigns, and Carnley is responsible for hands-on design, ideation and directing other creatives on the team.

“Matey’s mission is to create unique places that provide a respite from life’s difficulties,” Carnley said. “We are committed to creating glimmers of escapism that challenge the mundane and bring joy and freshness to our everyday lives.”

Carnley’s work has been featured in Garden & Gun, Eater, Forbes, Southern Living, Wildsam and more. Brand New named Matey’s Good Sport monogram the best in 2024, beating out designs for the LA Clippers and New York City Football Club. Delish.com also highlighted the studio’s matchbox designs for The Essential and Garden & Gun Club, as the best in Alabama and Georgia, respectively.

Carnley’s favorite projects have been for local brands Pizza Grace and Highlands Smokehouse.

“I love that people have really found their ‘place’ in these two businesses,” he said. “It feels good working on brands that are so close to home.”

Matey also worked with boutique publisher Standards Manual to document vintage Yellow Pages ads in a book entitled “Classified.”

“It started out as a side collection of mine,” Carnley said. “Their team saw it as an opportunity to highlight the great design and quirkiness of advertising before social media and the adoption of digital graphic design.”

Thinking back on his time at Auburn, Carnley remembered the late nights and the camaraderie of the program’s senior studio.

“Auburn provided the confidence I needed to land my first job, and it’s provided a design foundation that I still reference a decade later,” he said.

“I hope to produce high-quality design work that doesn’t contribute to the visual clutter we’re all bombarded with,” he said. “This job demands a lot from me, and it’s only worth it if we’re creating distinctive work that challenges trends and the status quo.”

Carnley offered two pieces of advice for design students that may sound contradictory but benefit designers if managed well. The first piece of advice is to spend lots of time working.

“The projects that get the most attention from peers and new clients are the ones that blew past the allocated hours,” he said. “Don’t let budget keep you from doing high level work. To get to bring good, thoughtful things into the world is a huge honor.”

The second challenges designers to be human.

“Be with your friends. Devote yourself to a spouse. Ask people to coffee out of curiosity about their life. Go on long walks. Travel when you can. Read books. Coach little league. Close your laptop and go do things,” he said.