David Carson is an American graphic designer and art
director. He is mostly known for his innovative magazine design and his unique
take on typography. He was also the art director of Ray Gun, in which he used
his typographic knowledge and exceptional layout style. He was born in 1954 in
Texas, and attended San Diego State University, and graduated with a Bachelor
of Arts in Sociology. He got his first taste of graphic design in 1980 at the
University of Arizona during a two week graphics course. In 1982 he became a
teacher and taught at Torrey Pines High School in San Diego, and at the same time
was a professional surfer. He left his
teaching post in 1987 and in 1989 he was ranked the 9th best surfer
in the world. He began to experiment with graphic design in 1983 and found
himself heavily interested in the bohemian culture of Southern California. He
attended the Oregon College of Commercial Art. The same year he went to
Switzerland to attend a three week workshop in graphic design as part of his
degree. His first great influence was Hans-Rudolf Lutz. In 1995 Carson was
hired by Marvin Scott Jarrett, a publisher, to design Ray Gun, an alternative
music and lifestyle magazine that debuted in 1992. Ray Gun is where he became
well known. He used Dingbat, a font that only uses symbols, as the font for
what he thought was a rather dull interview with Bryan Ferry. The interview was
published in a legible font in the back of the magazine, but it was about the
act that mattered so much. He left Ray Gun to create his own studio in 1995,
and named it David Carson Design in New York City. He began to attract many
famous worldwide companies and clients, and for the next three years he worked
for Pepsi Cola, Ray Ban, Nike, Microsoft, Budweiser, Georgio Armani, American
Airlines and a few more. He later worked for a range of clients, such as
AT&T, British Airways, Kodak, Sony, Mercedes-Benz and many more. He is seen
as one of the world’s leading graphic designers of the 20th and 21st
century.
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| Pepsi Cola advert |
This is a design created for Pepsi Cola by David Carson. I
think this is a very eye catching design and looks very effective as an
advertisement even though the text is hard to read. The text is hard to read
because this is David Carson’s style. The way he has written his name on top of
the Pepsi bottle is very interesting, and is made up of thin and thick chunks
of text, and is made up of different weights. This stands out very well against
the white background, apart from the “o” on the bottle. It has a collage feel
to it, as if he cut out and stuck the letters on. The only colour on the poster
is on the Pepsi bottle and can, which draws attention. He also out his clients
in the top left corner, but put all of them overlapping each other, which
demonstrates his style of work.
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| "Don't Mistake Legibility for Communication" |
This is also a piece created by Carson and he used it as an example
during a talk in 2003. He used this to explain that communication and
legibility were separate elements of type. This is a very interesting and
confusing piece of art, as the words are split in half and jumbled around so
you cannot read it in normal order. It allows the viewer to interact with the
design, as they actually have to use their brain to understand the message
rather than have it easy to read. The words say, when in order, “Don’t Mistake
Legibility for Communication.” This was to prove his message that “Just because
something is legible doesn’t mean it communicates.” I really like the way Carson
creates art and how he tries to interact with the viewer, creating a link
between himself and the viewer.
