Designs of David Carson

Carson David Car-sonDavid Carson David Carson David Carson David Carson David Carson David CarsonDavid Carson David Carson David Carson

David Carson David Carson David Carson David Carson

born September 8, 1954 became best known in the 90’s for his grunge graphic design and typography. He started to break the rules and punched his way through the design world shocking the world with never before seen designs. During the early 90’s it was a time of rebellion, breaking the rules and having a voice. The X generation wanted something new and original. Graffiti art was showing up on every block, subway car and bridge, skateboarding was becoming cool, surfing and the surf life was on the rise, Gun’s and Roses, Pearl Jam, and Nirvana rocked radios and filled the airwaves. All these forms of expression had the same message and the X generation was beginning to speak out finding its voice. Graphic design and typography was needing someone to capture that voice and bring it into the world. David Carson took the challenge and the grunge style was born.

David Carson

1

Carson David Car-sonDavid Carson David Carson David Carson David Carson David Carson David CarsonDavid Carson David Carson David Carson

David Carson David Carson David Carson David Carson

Carson a surfer himself took notice to the changes around him and began to find his own voice in design and typography. He started with using his surfing to fuel his work and one might feel the surf lifestyle feel to his designs. He often still uses surfing as a means to inspire new ideas even today. Then he started to use the voice of the generation around him to help fuel his designs. Carson then started to play with type and design which was bounded by rules used for years. His exploration of type was thought to be messy, chaotic and blurred but it connected with its audience and they praised him for it. It was during this time that David Carson began to lead the way in graphic design and typography. He was pushing design and type to its limits breaking boundaries and changing the visual voice of design

David Carson

2

"It's not about knowing all the gimmicks and photo tricks. If you haven't got the eye, no program will give it to you."

~DAVID CARSON.

David Carson started out at Ray Gun magazine and his method of design was rooted in getting your attention by any form necessary “you don’t have to know the rules before breaking them, and never mistake legibility for communication.” Carson began ripping, shredding and redesigning type making it often bold and disorienting. (Ray Gun article Bryan Ferry) Grunge typography seems to be rooted in disorientation and discontent very much like the music and voice of the X generation of that time. He often took words out, spread them apart in such a fashion that the reader may have to slow down to read the message he was trying to get across. In a way he is controlling the way the reader read, viewed, and experienced the message he was getting across. Often he would add layers of images behind the type which would only distract to the message or rather lead the viewer to search for the true meaning of the design. Or he would manipulate the type in such a way it was unreadable and confusing. Is it the message or the picture that is important? He was ripping through the prehistoric methods of design and

4

In conjunction with the rise of grunge a rise in technology helped fuel the designers movement. Macintosh, introduced in 1984 altered the landscape of graphic design and typography that the old masters of the craft would not see coming. The art of designing by hand was not the only option and designers became freer wwith their work, it was a unrestrained scream against the widely used and accepted way of doing things, rejecting the rules, and so grunge took to the design world in full force flooding the world on news stands, advertisements and the like. e during this time was due to the fact that it was an experimental design of letters and how they were placed on a page. There were no boundaries, anything was game and Carson was punching his way to the top. It was new and from a viewers perspective new was good, it was something never seen before, it was exciting and original, so its appeal was refreshing. Grunge type and design was rooted in moments of pure spur of the moment ideas and inspiration rather then the precision and a thought out purpose of prehistoric design and type. The ways of design began to change and rules were being broken. Carson began to react to life in the 90’s and his designs were a directly influenced by it. The appeal of grungDavid Carson began designing based on what he was feeling, and how the world was expressing itself around him. He often found his voice through the culture or movement, taking fragments of it and bringing it into his work. His designs were a reflection of the world around him and how he was interpreting it. His designs at times may seem unreadable and confusing but his target audience was often drawn to them. They were as rebellious and unique as the X generation and he was making that connection, celebrating it, using it to fuel his work.

5

Grapic design will save the world right after rock and roll does.

—= DAVID CARSON

6

cover and cd design,, “I was standing in my kitchen in Del Mar, at the sink, talking on the phone and I was telling a guy from the band Future Primitive that it was a really bad name. Then later when I am designing the sleeve he tells me that we have to mention his dog somewhere on the sleeve… and the dog is called Bush. So I suggested: there’s your name.” There are a few other meanings to the word. “One of my bigger mistakes was later turning down directing the Bush video…” ~David Carson

Its a unique way of design and expression that David Carson had that separated him from the rest in the field of designers. Carson often searches for his design by experiencing his environment either by when he surfs or what he discovers using his experiences in life to fuel the creative process. It is a freedom of expression that he was using which was not the normal methods of graphic design. Graphic design had its rules but David Carson started into graphic design when it began to loosen up and he for fronted the movement of what is called grunge graphic design in becoming more expressive and experimental. Though since the 90’s graphic design started to head back into the stone age of rules in an interview with “Speak UP” in 2003 David Carson thinks its starting to begin to loosen up again. It is a cycle of design that we are experiencing today and now his work is beginning to fuel the voice of a new generation or might even be reigniting the X generations voice in todays world. Today computers and the software available has only loosened things up even more and now with digital photography its only become easier to express our selves.

7

David Carson has forever helped change the design and typography world by pushing the limits, finding that danger zone, break-ing barriers and fueling the creative pro-cess of design to new highest. Inspiring new designers to explore their craft, express the feelings of your world through design and not letting the rules hold you back.

It’s not about knowing all the gimmicks and photo tricks. If you haven’t got the eye, no program will give it to you.

“DAVID CARSON”.

8

What matters is that you have

an intuitive design sense, listen to

it and explore your uniqueness

through your work. Create rules

that work for you

and the type of work you’re doing.

I never learned all the things in

school I wasn’t supposed to do,

so I just did, and still do, what

makes sense to me. David Carson”

9

10

^Bryan Ferry 1994. All type Zapf Dingbat

Bose Design Fall, 2010

“It

’s p

ar

tly

wh

y w

e se

e so

ma

ny

soli

d, w

ell-

des

ign

ed m

ag

az

ines

to

da

y, b

ut

alm

ost

no

ne

tha

t st

an

d o

ut.

Des

ign

ers

get

la

zy

an

d l

et w

ho

ever

ma

de

thei

r s

oft

wa

re

ma

ke

dec

isio

ns

for

th

em. Y

ou

r c

om

pute

r s

ho

uld

n’t

tel

l yo

u t

he

pro

per

dis

tan

ce

betw

een

co

lum

ns

of

type

- y

ou

nee

d t

o b

e m

ak

ing

th

ose

dec

isio

ns.

”

12