Under the Influence: George Stern

David Carson

 Design Work: https://www.davidcarsondesign.com/t/tag/ad

David Carson's work pushed the boundaries of graphic design, working against traditional notions of readability and structure, in favor of being memorable and bold. His background came from surfing and magazine design, both of which heavily influence the works, with a sense of flow and chaos in design spreads. Carson takes an instinctual and expressive approach to typography and layout, with a sense of erratic motion in his design. The most famous work, Ray Gun magazine, pictured below, abandons the rigid grid, favoring layered texture, distressed type, and visual rhythm that evokes the energy of the youthful culture at the time. Most often the subject matter dealt with music, rebellion, and raw emotion, design used as a tool to express the visceral feelings strewn throughout. Through his work, asymmetry, fragmentation, and distortion create a visual language that communicates the rawness of lived experiences. 

The works often push typography into image, relying on a built tension between clarity and confusion. This tension pulls the viewer into the almost surreal experience, creating a memorable moment communicated in design. Use of negative space, torn edges, and overlapping images challenge viewers to actively engage with the page. The act of reading becomes an experience, each work taking on the meaning of the image, benefiting as a whole. This quality calls to postmodern ideas of fractures meaning and personal perspective. Instead of conforming to the design standard of Swiss Design, prevalent for decades as a response to legibility and function, Carson's work rebels to communicate mood, transforming type and image into an emotional texture. 

In my own project, I wish to bring Carson's experimental approach into advertisements, exploring digital composited imagery in similarly expressive ways. Like Carson, I am aiming to emphasize emotional experiences that resonate with viewers, using fragmentation, layering and unexpected juxtapositions of subject matter. I hope to continue the feelings set by Carson, and bring it into a more modern context of current rebellion in political movements of today. 

Ray Gun, featuring Andy Warhol.

posters for san Sabastian surf film festival, Spain.

The campaign featured in Print magazine.