David Carson, possibly the most innovative and influential typographic artist of our time, has been turning the graphic design world upside down. There are many statements like the previous found about David Carson all over newspaper articles, forums, and online. Although his methods are questioned by some, the enormous clientele and accomplishments that he has complied argue just the opposite. Carson, is simply put surfer turned designer. He graduated from San Diego State University with a bachelors in sociology and was ranked ninth in the nation in surfing. He has received no formal training in typography or graphic design and relies solely on his own personal experiences and opinions to drive his work. He stated in one of his lectures on design and discovery that "You need to let your life show through your designs, no one else can put your experiences in your work.". He also said "Don't be afraid to take chances in design, it's not a life or death situation, trust your gut." David Carson is considered to be a "grunge typographer" and his magazine Ray Gun helped explode the possibilities of text on a page. The typography in this magazine was chaotic and abstract, but not always readable. Carson believed if the image was strong enough you didn't need to read the text. He was no computer savvy genius when he First started designing, and mist of his works were done with scissors, photocopies, and paste up type. David got most of his inspiration from the New Wave in typography which originated in the 1960's, but he was also inspired from a workshop he went to in 1982 with the post-Weingart teachings of the Swiss designer Hans Rudolf Lutz. Wether people want to believe it or not, Carson is one of the most influential graphic designers in the twenty-first century and will continue to create "popular art" and yet still be able to sell products.
