Design & Style, Arts & Entertainment

Meet Your Instructor: David Carson

David Carson

Lesson time 03:54 min

David Carson is a groundbreaking, award-winning graphic designer. In his first lesson, you’ll get to know David’s creative, prolific work and how this class aims to challenge predictable design.

Students give MasterClass an average rating of 4.7 out of 5 stars

Topics include: Meet Your Instructor : David Carson

Preview

DAVID CARSON: You know, if everybody loves your work, you're playing it much too safe. The type could have been a little stronger. Red's a difficult color. It's almost too strong. They had some issues on this about readability. I said, you know, what do you mean? What's the problem? If your friends love it, your family, everybody loves it, it's probably not great. I hate to tell you. You need some detractors. You need some people not liking it. And then you're probably on to something. I have a degree in sociology. I taught it in high school for a number of years and then one summer discovered this thing called graphic design. I was 26 before I heard the term graphic design. So when I decided I wanted to give up my lifelong teaching job, my parents, of course, thought I was crazy. And I thought about it. I said, well, something tells me I need to do this. And so I did. Holy shit. Everything shifted. MAN: David Carson radically transformed the world of graphic design. WOMAN: Carson turned graphic design into a cultural force. He unzipped typography and let it be wild. MAN: His bold, visceral work challenged and upended the field, making him a design hero or villain. - The readability thing has gotten way overplayed. MAN: And his rule breaking approach inspired a whole new generation of designers. - I hope they're just motivated to push their work in a new direction. For the last decade, maybe more, there's been kind of a shift to some real generic, I think, kind of boring graphics. We've taken a lot of the excitement out of the feel, and that's not where we want to be. At its best, graphic design can express what the heart is trying to say. It's the feeling we get from looking at something. And I'm hoping this class can help bring back some of the craft and the appreciation to detail and get back to more individual, more meaningful, and better work. We're going to be looking at graphic design and typography, photography. We'll examine collage making, the process of logo making. Also going to bring you a small version of a workshop that I give frequently around the world. The best design comes when you put yourself into the work. A large part of it is learning to trust your own intuition, something we all have, but we don't always use. Your uniqueness can actually be used in such a great way in this field of graphic design or arts or creativity. And that's what gives you the advantage over anybody else, and nobody else is you. I'm David Carson, and this is my MasterClass.

About the Instructor

From Ray Gun and Transworld Skateboarding magazines to surfboards and potato chip bags, David Carson changed the trajectory of graphic design by never following the rules or sticking to the grid. Now the pioneering designer is sharing his intuitive approach so you can send a message with boundary-breaking work. Explore typography, photography, logo design, and more as you learn how to make an impact and trust your gut.

Featured MasterClass Instructor

David Carson

Pioneering graphic designer David Carson teaches you his intuitive approach to creating work that breaks rules and makes an impact.

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