Says Dave Carson, the world's most influential graphic designer…
The designer who took fusty old Surfer magazine and made it hip, like overnight, in 1991, has described the ASP’s webcast branding as consensus-driven schmaltz. An embarrassing shmear, he says.
In an interview in Saturday’s Australian newspaper, the just-turned-sixty-year-old Carson told Fred Pawle:
“Look at the new ASP (Association of Surfing Professionals) webcast graphics – horrible design that feels more appropriate for wrestling, boxing, American football, or Las Vegas tourism. Big solid 3D silver letters saying Rio! Trestles! France! Weird 3D-ish logo moving in an out and flying about. It’s horrible and embarrassing, and not representative of the sport. It was no doubt created by committee and seasoned commercial motion graphics operators. Slick and silly stuff.”
David Carson, if you didn’t know, is the game changer of surf-mag graphic design who was selected by Apple as one of the 30 most influential Mac users in their history.
Smithsonian Institute magazine said, “(Carson) is one of America’s most important artists.”
From Newsweek, “He changed the public face of graphic design.”
In a sweeping interview, Carson talks legibility of design (who needs it!), designing for free (hey, at least I’ll get some sweet shirts!) and the laziness of designers (anyone can do it! It’s automatic!).
And surfers themselves? “Surfers can be a surprisingly conservative group, with assorted rednecks, and racists. Again, look at those flying block letters, drop shadows, moving flags etcetera on the new ASP webcasts – they are horrible and embarrassing from a graphic design standpoint but I doubt few, if any, surfers noticed or complained.”
Not everyone’s sold, however. The graphic designer of White Horses and the architect of Surfing Life’s design, Graeme Murdoch, posted this on Facebook: “Bring on a Carson-designed webcast interface: John John scores a 9. or is it a 7. I can’t tell. Who cares? Now THAT’S edgy!”
The interview is most certainly worth the consumption of your time. (Click here to read.)
Hear Carson talk at the Byron Theatre on October 8 at seven pm. Buy tickets here.
So if Carson is such a heavyweight branding name he sure did a great job with the Magic Seaweed logo right? Do me a favour. His view is about as relevant as his design. The guy is famous for trend graphics that have dated about as well when he set an entire magazine in 4pt upside down. I agree that the ASP is crude and already outdated but Carson having a view on this is utterly pointless as he’s famous for doing exactly what the ASP have done. Pot kettle black springs to mind. Find someone credible to have an opinion at least.
Alan Fletcher would be turning in his grave at the very thought of Carson being labeled an expert on anything other than trend bullshit.