David Carson

During the eighties an art movement that initially evolved from music and eventually graphic design was called Grunge surfaced gaining much popularity.

Grunge is described as sloppy and disorganised which makes sense since it was inspired by Punk. A perfect representation of this movement is this artist:

David Carson was initially a surfer and teacher and abandoned it to pursue the opportunity of becoming a graphic designer. His success began when he began designing for Ray Gun

If I were to describe his style I’d say that his style

• does not follow traditional conventions, it is original and unique, disregarding the use of grids.

• it did not follow an orderly or neat arrangement but opposite.

• he still had balance with his jumbled and chaotic arrangement of text .

• his work is described as unpredictable and he always tried to present unconventional work.

• You could say that he intentionally concealed and distorted his words by making layers of imagery, typography upon each other making them sometimes illegible, which was considered to be his trademark. This created a mysterious and alluring concept, inviting the viewer to observe it more.

• His typography possessed a handwritten quality and he also made use of the lower and upper cases.

Since he had a background in sociology and had a profound understanding of social behaviour, he utilized this to his advantage considering he had no background knowledge when it came to art. He had intuitive design which did not require any sort of training in formal design.

He channelled emotions through his designs and that his work did not require to have legible words in order to be understood. His work Morrissey: The Loneliest Monk had an unusual crop, I feel that he wants to be hidden that he is a shy man or chooses to be mysterious. The light purple colour makes me thinks he is relaxed and comfortable for not being portrayed fully, that he is deep in thought, wondering.

He believes that ‘less is more’, that the minimal and simple designs in his work create a more effective and impressionable work. Carson discussed in an interview that he first established his target audience, who this work shall be aimed towards and how the emotion he is conveying shall be translated by use of colour and font.

I admire this artist because even though he had no professional background on art, he proved to me that art is not something you learn, it is something you are born with as if a natural instinct.