Thursday, April 25, 2024

David Carson's genius (NEVER USE GUIDELINES!)




why david carson

he's an innovator typographer and designer! 

the art director for Ray Gun, carson was perhaps the most influential graphic designer of the nineties. in particular, his widely-imitated aesthetic defined the so-called "grunge" era. carson became interested in a new school of typography and photography-based graphic design and is largely responsible for popularizing the style; he inspired many young designers of the 1990's.  



what do we see? 

1- saturation, 
2- extensive use of combinations of typographic elements and photography,
3- compelling visuals,
4- deconstruction of old grid, headlines, etc, (by old, meaning 1960's-1980's conventions),
5- ripping, shredding, remaking,


Carson has been one of the greatest influences on modern graphic design in the last twenty five years.

Recent Carson's designs:


2009,
or,
2010,

Carson's tools?  

QuarkXPress and PageMaker, which compelled him to work faster and to try more things in a shorter time. The new tools enabled the iterations and accidents that became crucial to his experimental work.