What Is Carson's Work

During the period of 1982–1987, Carson worked as a teacher in Torrey Pines High School in San Diego, California. In 1983, Carson started to experiment with graphic design and found himself immersed in the artistic and bohemian culture of Southern California. By the late eighties he had developed his signature style, using "dirty" type and non-mainstream photography. He would later be dubbed the "father of grunge."

Carson went on to become the art director of Transworld Skateboarding magazine. Among other things, he was also a professional surfer and in 1989 Carson was qualified as the 9th best surfer in the world. His career as a surfer helped him to direct a surfing magazine, called Beach Culture. This magazine lasted for three years but,
Carson is largely responsible for popularizing the style, and was an inspiration for a generation of young designers coming of age in the 1990's. His work does not follow "traditional" graphic design standards (as espoused by an older generation of practitioners such as the late Paul Rand). Carson has a part of himself in every piece and he is emotionally attached to his creations. Carson's work is considered an exploration in thoughts and ideas that become "lost" in his (and his target audience's) subconscious. Every piece is saturated with visual information that could easily be considered too heavy for the eye to interpret, but Carson still manages to communicate both the idea and the feeling behind his design. His extensive use of combinations of typographic elements and photography led many designers to completely change their work methods and graphic designers from all around the world base their style on the new "standards" that have distinguished Carson's work. Carson is most famous for his ability to create spreads that even with little content seem to be