People in the graphic design world love to hate David Carson. Especially this guy. Actually, as an aside, I have not even heard the name Joe Clark before. And in his postscript he comes off even more self-righteous and egotistical than Carson. Way to be a dick, guy.
Anyway, David Carson is someone who is reviled because he breaks rules. When he was art director for Ray Gun magazine he would do kooky things like set articles in dingbats (his reasoning was that the article was very poorly written), run lines of type together and layer them so they became strange messes and nests of typographic oddness, and utilize abstract and experimental photography and illustration. It was a thankless job. The readers appreciated it, I know I did when I was just a teenager, but the graphic design community did not take kindly to his brand of design. It was artistic, free-spirited, dynamic... God forbid!
As the world has moved towards homogenization, individuality is being replaced by standardization. Designers are taught that we should use a grid, that we should make our design projects adhere to certain standards, and that our material is required to have accessibility in mind. They are good rules to learn, but after designers leave school they are so indoctrinated that many of them cannot think outside the box. Instead of serving design, they serve the process.
Carson does not have a background in graphic design. His background is surfing and sociology. Before he was hired as the art director for Transworld Skateboarding and later Beach Culture, he was a high school teacher in San Diego. He came to graphic design through the bohemian beach culture of Southern California, his background is people. So who better as an art director and visual communicator than David Carson?
The work he did in the 90's is not as relevant today as it once was, but culture is cyclical. I'm already starting to see a revival of Paula Scher's bold typographical style, and grunge typography is starting to resurface. I have a feeling that very soon the can of worms Carson opened will once again be opened. I can't wait.
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