David Carson

I love art since primary school. I love to sketch and draw or we used to called it ‘conteng-conteng’ whenever I had chance to do during classes, but I don’t have any idea what ‘design’ was all about.

When the times pass by, I begin to understand and appreciate the importance of design and its elements. One thing for sure, I got attracted with the uniqueness of David Carson’s graphic work, which valued as one of the world’s renowed vogue, marketable and commercially recognised graphic design.

David Carson: Design that communicates

David Carson’s Commercial Arts

David Carson is an American graphic designer, art director and also a professional surfer. He is agruably known as the most innovative and influental graphic designer for his innovative magazine and commercial outdoor design, and use of experimental typography.

He was a guy who succesfully changed the public face of graphic design and was dubbed a ‘master of typography’ by commercially renowed Graphic magazines.

Born in 1954 in Texas and graduated with Bachelor of Art in Sociology from San Diego State University. His first contact with graphic design was in 1980 and first became the art director of Transworld Skateboarding in 1984, helping to give the magazine a distinctive look. By the end of his tenure there, he had developed his signature style, using “dirty” type and non-mainstream photographic technique.

In 1995 after almost 15 years in his career, he founded his own studio in New York and started to attract major clients in the advertising and design industry. He was doing work for Pepsi-Cola, Ray Ban, Levis, Nike, Quicksilver, Microsoft, British Airways, Kodak, Intel, Sony, Mercedes, MTV Global and also responsible in designing ‘crowfiti’ typeface used in the film The Crow : City of Angels.

David Carson: Design That Communicates

Understanding Carson’s Graphic Design

For me, his work is always eye catching, subjective, superb but personal, very self-indulgent and widely imitated aesthetic defined the so-called ‘grunge typography’ era.

A lot will be made of David Carson’s work being the perfect example of ‘theory of sprung life’, that when a means of communication has outlived its relevance, it becomes a total highly defined work of art.

Print medium such as book, magazines, newspapers, billboards and such will become icons, sculptures, textures, that they will be a means of communication of a different order, and that simple information transfer will be effected by some other electronic means and digital channels.

Print will no longer be obliged to simply carry the news. It will have been given or will have taken its freedom and there is no going back. Print is reborn, resurrected as something initially unrecognizable. It’s not really dead, it simply mutated into something else.

David Carson Designs

David Carson graphic design and typography communicates persuasively on a level beyond words, that by passes the logical, rational centers of the brains and goes straight to the part that understands without thinking.

His arts works just like music does.. slipping in there before anyone has a chance to stop it at the border and ask for papers.

Read more; Skateboarders Are Just Like Entrepreneurs

22 Thoughts to “David Carson: Graphic Design That Communicates”

  1. Nampaknya begitu dikenali oleh para peminat designer je kan..

  2. orang seni memang suka benda nie..

  3. Nurul Hidayah

    Salam Ramadhan Khir..

  4. Cheq Eem

    cantik-cantik grafik design yang dihasilkan…

  5. Kagum dengan orang seni macam beliau

  6. CONTIANNG-CONTIANG BERSENI MENJADI GRAFIK YG DIMINATI…CONTIANG TU KATA ORG UTARA FOR CONTENG HEH..HEH..

    1. Betul tu, contiang yang berharga…

  7. Anonymous

    wah..jiwa seni..

  8. saya penah dengar nama dia ni
    tapi memang cantik tau, saya suka =)

  9. Uncle Zuan

    orang orang yang suka sukan ni mesti kreative

  10. Cantik designnya, penuh dengan kesenian yang hanya difahami oleh mereka yang berseni sahaja

  11. Walaupun tak pandai melukis dan bukan juga orang seni, saya suka hasil2 yang unik dan kreatif…

  12. Walaupun tak pandai melukis dan bukan juga orang seni, saya suka hasil2 yang unik dan kreatif…

  13. Lya jenis tangan keras hahha tak pandai bab bab melukis ..Nak lukis orang lidi boleh la kot hahaha..Tapi diakui beliau ni mmg orang yang berjiwa seni..Nice sharing KK

  14. Memang kreatif dan berseni..

  15. 'conteng-conteng' but its nice to see

  16. […] Read more: David Carson: Graphic Design That Communicates […]

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