On the topic of David Carson, 

I can't image anyone not knowing who he is. For all the type students in the class if you're not familiar with his work he can  be very inspiring. He has a very untraditional approach to type.

Sometimes I think about ow lucky he was. 

Carson never went to school, he was a surfer who would design. I think when he first began designing it was in his friends surf magazines. Using only the elements he had available to him. I think he would have to design spreads, or flyers, or something in that nature.

When photos were sent to him he would use the envelope it came in, tear it up, scan it, and incorporate i in his design. He would also use the stamp, whatever, anything to make the layout look interesting.

Since he didn't have any training he just did what he thought looked goo

d. Even if it was not conventional, and even if it broke all sorts of rules.

I know I have a designs and though, "Hmmm... this wont work because there's two san serifs" or, "Oh, this will not work because I'm not using a grid system". I think that shows how talented David Carson really was. He became a very successful designer based on the fact that he just designed based on what he thought looked good. And some how achieved successful designs that were interesting and aesthetically pleasing.

Here is some examples of his work: 

Here is a spread that I designed on/for David Carson. I was required to use him as inspiration (spread). :

Later on in his career, in a spread he designed for his magazine entitled Ray Gun, he was creating a spread for a musician, or author and he thought the content of the story was so boring that he chose dig-bats as the font for the spread. I was completely il

legible.

1st Critique

We just had our first critique yesterday and I was blown away by the caliber of everyones designs. Everyone in this course is very talented, and I think thats great. When there's a classroom full of talented, creative designers I think it forces everyone to kick up the quality of their own design just that much more. I can't wait for the next project. I enjoy Joe's teaching style and really appreciate his constructive criticism. My main objective is to come out of this class with at least 2 rockin' portfolio pieces. Hopefully it happens. I can't wait to see everyones posters.

Blog 1 - Stephan Sagmeister

Hello All, 

I'm not really sure if what i am about to blog about is necessarily what Joe wants, but I'm just going to go for it...

Stephan Sagmeister. Who's a fan? You either love him, or hate him.

Well... I shouldn't say that ... I'm kind of in the middle

There is some elements of is work that I really like, but I can't say I am a fan of all his designs.

Don't get me wrong, I totally respect what he does. And some of his ideas are really out-there which makes them memorable.

What I really enjoy about Sagmeister is his hand made type.

In his designs, you will never see traditional typefaces, he always creates his own type, either by writing it himself and incorporating it into his design, or by creating it out of objects such as french fries, duct tape, plants, or even carving words into his flesh.

He is innovative, and certainly thinks outside the box.

Sagmeister avoids anything corporate. And is truly original.

Although I can not say I am a fan of every one of his pieces, he is definitely a strong inspiration. He inspires me to step way from the computer, and take more of a hands on approach when it comes to design. And his work, to me is very memorable because it is so different from any other designer out there.

One of his craziest pieces is "Sagmeister on a Binge" I believe it was a self promotional poster that consist of two photos of Sagmeister, one where he had starved himself in which he looks very thin, and another photo of himself after he binged on a whole bunch of food and his stomach is swollen and he looks bloated. And of course the poster contains only his own, hand written type.

My First Blog (ever)

Hello Friends.

Test Test 1 2 3.