David Carson (born September 8, 1955)
is an American
graphic designer
A graphic designer is a practitioner who follows the discipline of graphic design, either within companies or organizations or independently. They are professionals in design and visual communication, with their primary focus on transforming ...
and design director.
Early life and career
Carson was born on September 8, 1955, in
Corpus Christi, Texas.
Graduating from
Rolling Hills High School,
he continued his education and graduated from
San Diego State University
San Diego State University (SDSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Diego, California, United States. Founded in 1897, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CS ...
with a Bachelor of Arts in
Sociology
Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociol ...
.
Carson attending the Oregon College of Commercial Art studying graphic design and went to Switzerland for a workshop as a part of his degree.
Carson surfed professionally before finding employment with magazine ''Self and Musician''.
He then moved on to work at
Transworld Skateboarding for four years. During those four years, he became the art director of the magazine and edited their magazine layouts. His 'dirty' photographic techniques emerged during his time there.
Carson was then hired as an art director at ''Beach Culture'' in 1989.
Though the magazine ended after six issues, he still established a reputation for himself.
Three years later Carson was hired by
''Ray Gun'', where he stayed for three years. Carson's style was chaotic and collage like, throughout his pieces there were layering of photos and messy typography. Most of his work was shown in his covers; they were eye-catching with the purpose to visually communicate to everyone, especially to young readers and big corporations.
He later created his own design firm (''David Carson Design'').
While working in his own design firm, he signed contracts with ''Nike, Pepsi Cola, Ray Bans, Levi Strauss,'' and ''MTC Global''. He published a collection of his own graphic works in his books: ''The End of Print: The Graphic Design of David Carson'', ''2nd Sight, Trek and Fotografiks.''
Notable awards
Carson received the
AIGA medal in 2014:
During the early 1990s, digital media started to get impacted with Modernism. Carson took advantage of this and stated, "It’s the basic decisions—images, cropping and appropriate font and design choices—that make design work, not having the ability to overlap or play with opacity." Ray Gun was the platform that Carson's visual concepts made famous. Looking back into that time Carson explains, "Graphic design seems a bit stagnant now, and a lot of people and ideas have gone to other areas of expression." Carson received this award for forging graphic design into a cultural form with his own shape and direction.
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Carson, David
1955 births
Living people
American graphic designers
American typographers and type designers
AIGA medalists
San Diego State University alumni