David Carson
“He changed the public face of Graphic Design” -Newsweek, “The art director of the era” -Creative review London, The AIGA ,in the dec 03 issue of STEP magazine, calls carson “our biggest star”……….: ) Without
what most would consider a traditional art education, Carson has become
highly commercially and critically successful. Through the strong
influences of surf culture and his tendency to break with convention,
Carson’s reputation has earned him numerous design awards and
recognition from his peers.
Aspects
of Carsons design style may be attributed to a blend of the freedoms
associated with surfing and beech culture, but also urban influences and
street art. His use of type for example reflects his understanding of
the minds ability to compensate for lack of continuity or information
and therefore fill in the blanks. This is perhaps better articulated in
the following quote: “THE
PAOMNNEHAL PWEOR OF THE HMUAN MNID.Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at
Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn’t mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a
wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be
in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed
it wouthit porbelm.” Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig huh?He
was born September 8th, 1952 in Corpus Christi, Texas. Carson and his
family moved to New York City four years later. Since then he has
traveled all around the world but has maintained New York as his base of
operations. Carson now owns two studios; one in New York and another in
Charleston, South Carolina. Because of his father, Carson traveled all
over America, Puerto Rico, and the West Indies. These journeys affected
him profoundly and the first signs of his talent were shown at a very
young age; however, his first actual contact with graphic design was
made in 1980 at the University of Arizona on a two week graphics course.
He attended San Diego St. University as well as Oregon College of
Commercial Art. Later on in 1983, Carson was working towards a Bachelor
of Arts in Sociology when he went to Switzerland, where he attended a
three-week workshop in graphic design as part of his degree. This is
where he met his first great influence, who also happened to be the
teacher of this course, Hans-Rudolph Lutz. During the period of
1982–1987, Carson worked as a teacher in Torrey Pines High School in San
Diego, California. In 1983, Carson started to experiment with graphic
design and found himself immersed in the artistic and bohemian culture
of Southern California. By the late eighties he had developed his
signature style, using “dirty” type and non-mainstream photography. He
would later be dubbed the “father of grunge.” Carson went on to become
the art director of Transworld Skateboarding magazine. Among other
things, he was also a professional surfer and in 1989 Carson was
qualified as the 8th best surfer in the world. His career as a surfer
helped him to direct a surfing magazine, called Beach Culture. This
magazine lasted for three years but, through the pages of Beach Culture,
Carson made his first significant impact on the world of graphic design
and typography with ideas that were called innovative even by those
that were not fond of his work. Not afraid to break convention in one
issue he used Dingbat as the font for what he considered a rather dull
interview with Bryan Ferry.[1] From 1991-1992, Carson worked for Surfer
magazine. A
stint at How magazine (a trade magazine aimed at designers) followed,
and soon Carson launched Ray Gun, a magazine of international standards
which had music and lifestyle as its subject. Ray Gun made Carson very
well-known and attracted new admirers to his work. In this period,
journals such as the New York Times (May 1994) and Newsweek (1996)
featured Carson and increased his publicity greatly. In 1995, Carson
founded his own studio, David Carson Design in New York City, and
started to attract major clients from all over the United States. During
the next three years (1995-1998), Carson was doing work for Pepsi Cola,
Ray Ban (orbs project), Nike, Microsoft, Budweiser, Giorgio Armani,
NBC, American Airlines and Levi Strauss Jeans. From 1998 on, DCD started
an international career and worked for a variety of new clients,
including AT&T, British Airways, Kodak, Lycra, Packard Bell, Sony,
Suzuki, Toyota, Warner Bros., CNN, Cuervo Gold, Johnson AIDS Foundation,
MTV Global, Princo, Lotus Software, Fox TV, Nissan, quiksilver, Intel,
Mercedes-Benz, MGM Studios and Nine Inch Nails.In 2000, Carson opened a
new personal studio in Charleston, South Carolina. During this period,
Carson became a father, a fact that affected his design and work. In
2004, Carson became the Creative Director of Gibbes Museum of Art in
Charleston and designed the special “Exploration” edition of Surfing
Magazine and directed a television commercial for UMPQUA Bank in
Seattle, Washington.Carson
became interested in a new school of typography and photography-based
graphic design, which came from the academic explorations of Edward
Fella at Cranbrook Academy of Art and California Institute of the Arts.
Carson is largely responsible for popularizing the style, and was an
inspiration for a generation of young designers coming of age in the
1990’s. His work does not follow “traditional” graphic design standards
(as espoused by an older generation of practitioners such as the late
Paul Rand). Carson has a part of himself in every piece and he is
emotionally attached to his creations. Carson’s work is considered an
exploration in thoughts and ideas that become “lost” in his (and his
target audience’s) subconscious. Every
piece is saturated with visual information that could easily be
considered too heavy for the eye to interpret, but Carson still manages
to communicate both the idea and the feeling behind his design. His
extensive use of combinations of typographic elements and photography
led many designers to completely change their work methods and graphic
designers from all around the world base their style on the new
“standards” that have distinguished Carson’s work. Carson is most famous
for his ability to create spreads that even with little content seem to
be substantive.Carson’s work is familiar among the generation that grew
up with Raygun Magazine and its progeny such as huH and xceler8, and in
general, the visually savvy MTV generation, but his work still receives
criticism from a generation that refuses to engage with his connotative
excesses.
Client List:Addison-Whitney,
Albert Watson, Aldus Corporation, American Airlines, American Express,
Ameritrade, AT&T, Atlanta Olympics Committee, Atlantic Records ,
Autobytel, Beach Culture, Blue Magazine , Big NYC, British Airways, Bank
of Montreal, Budweiser (1995 Superbowl spot), Bush, Citibank , CNN,
Cuervo Gold, David Byrne, Dita watches, Elias Associates NY, Fox TV ,
Gannet Outdoor, Gibbes Museum of Art in Charleston SC, Giorgio Armani ,
Glendale Federal, Idea Magazine (Japan), Individual, Kodak , Leap
Batteries (Canada), Levi’s, LOFT, Lotus Software, Lucent Technologies,
Laguna Beach Contemporary Art Museum, Lycra, Marshall McLuhan Estate,
Magic Johnson AIDS Foundation , MCI, Meg Ryan, Mercedes Benz, Metropolis
magazine , MGM Studios , Microsoft , Motrin Migarine , MTV, Nations
Bank, NBC, Newsweek, Nike , Nine Inch Nails , Nissan, Packard Bell,
Pepsi, Princo, Quiksilver , Ray Ban , Ray Gun Magazine, Ryder Trucks,
Sears, SOL Communications, Sony, Spalding, Speak magazine , Surfer’s
Path, Suzuki, Toyota, TwSkateboarding, twSnowboarding, UMPQUA Bank of
Seattle, US http://www.davidcarsondesign.com/
Awards include: Best
Overall Design, Society of Publication Designers in New York. Cover of
the Year, Society of Publication Designers in New York. Award of Best
Use of Photography in Graphic Design Designer of the Year 1998,
International Center of Photography Designer of the Year 1999,
International Center of Photography Master of Typography, Graphics
magazine (NY) The most famous graphic designer on the planet, April 2004
– London Creative Review magazine (London)
http://www.davidcarsondesign.com/
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