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David Carson 16 David Carson16 David Carson
David Carson
ABOUT THE TYPEFACE
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David Carson is a ransom typeface inspired by the one and only David Carson. Designed by Iordanis Passas in 2017, this typeface encompasses the grunge aesthetic of the 1990s and Ray Gun magazine. David Carson was the art director of Ray Gun and his use of experimental layouts and breaking the rules of typography led to exciting designs. Iordanis Passas has created a few other grunge typefaces, but this one is unique as it pulls directly from a collection of David Carson’s works.
THE PROCESS
To understand the excitement of this design, one must fi rst understand who David Carson is. Carson was late to the game of Graphic Design as he had gone to college to study Sociology. His work was something the world had never seen before, and he was known for his daring use of typography. People criticized his work for its lack of legibility, but he was able to achieve something greater than legibility: The letterforms had emotion and spoke to the audience before it was read. He challenged every rule of typography and focused on telling a story through unconventional design. His key to success was designing for himself and sticking to his sense of design. Massimo Vignelli of Vignelli Magazine describes that, “Styles come and go. David’s design is a language, not a style,” (“David Carson &...”).
Iordanis Passas embodies a lot of David Carson techniques within his own works such as breaking the grid and using typography as graphic elements. Both designers engage their audience with their unconventional layouts that focus on making the elements speak to the audience. Although Iordanis Passas published this typeface in 2017, the original design is pulled from David Carson Design archives. Passas collected works from David Carson’s most infl uential designs and extracted different letters, numbers, and ligatures to create a unique character set. This typeface pays a tribute to David Carson and each character within the set has its own voice.
David Carson
Designer Bio
Iordanis Passas is from Athens, Greece and was born in 1986 (“IP Art [Iordanis Passas].”). After spending time in London pursuing his degree at the University of the Arts London, Passas accumulated an impressive portfolio working in the design industry. Before becoming a Graphic Designer, Passas experimented with writing code and fell in love with designing UX and UI. He has also received awards for branding and identity, has been featured on the AIGA member gallery for his typography, and has worked with clients in designing book and editorial layouts. A lot of his clients hire him for his daring style that is reminiscent of David Carson’s works. Throughout his career he has noted the importance of staying true to his own style regardless of whether or not the majority of people will gravitate towards it (Passas). After all, if people continue to hire him for his style, he must be doing something right!
Visual Analysis
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The Ransom note effect is a juxtaposition of many typefaces, and it is inspired by ransom notes that used cutouts from magazines and newspapers to form a message (“Ransom Note Effect.”). Because David Carson is a Ransom Typeface, none of the letterforms follow the rules of typography such as consistency between x-heights, meanlines, descenders, ascenders, cap heights, etc. Some of the letterforms are uppercase, while others are uppercase. Some are made up of thin lines, while others are fi lled in completely. They all vary in sizes and the letter “l” is the only one that is slanted. The number “6” is the only number that is spelled out as “six.” Although there are a variety of styles, there is a repetition of styles throughout the character set which creates visual cohesion. The typeface also uses a mixture of serif and sans serif letterforms. The overall design is exciting in the way that the letterforms can become graphic elements; it is meant to be a display typeface used for titles and larger type. Because every letter comes from David Carson’s works, it is easy to tell that the letterforms were all designed by one artist. It’s paradoxical in the way that the lack of order creates an order in its own way.
