"
The reigning Picasso of the
international Graphic Design
community "
_Graphis Magazine, feb, 2025
"A PIONEER WITH
PROFOUND IMPACT"
— Apple Inc., 2014
"CARSON FORGED GRAPHIC DESIGN INTO A CULTURAL FORCE AND A MEDIUM WITH ITS OWN SHAPE AND DIRECTION"
— AIGA, 2014
"David was amazing to work with- creative, challenging, supportive and fully committed to our business. It was the best experience of my life in company branding, David made it fun. We have also seen a real uptick on our business, something that amazes me but validates all of the time and energy that David brought to the table. My most sincere thanks to him and his very talented team!"
– Shift Clean Energy, 2021
"The most important work coming out of America."
– American Center for Design
"The world's most influential graphic designer."
– Pallett Magazine, 2016
"He changed the public face of graphic design."
– Newsweek
"One of America's most important artists."
– Smithsonian Institute Magazine, March 2014
"The art director of the era."
– Creative Review, London
"The greatest living graphic designer."
– Brain Pickings, 2012
"Innovator, pioneer, groundbreaker, gamechanger – Carson deserves them all."
– Mark Cameron/Fotorator
"Styles come and go. David's design is a language, not a style."
– Massimo Vignelli
"A contemporary legend."
– Print Magazine, 2016
"The most influential graphic designer of our times."
– Surfrider Foundation, 2009
"He significantly influenced a generation to embrace typography as an expressive medium."
– Steven Heller, 2010
"Our biggest star."
– AIGA, American Institute of Graphic Arts
"..He feels the work... There's a strong element of intuition – and that fits because sometimes you can't describe why his work is so beautiful."
– Hillman Curtis
"Graphic Design USA magazine listed the 'Most influential graphic designers of the era.' David was listed as one of the top 5 most influential designers, along with Milton Glaser, Paul Rand, Saul Bass, and Massimo Vignelli."
– Graphic Design USA Magazine, NYC
"Recognized for breaking the rules, nearly untethering legibility from communication, and inspiring a generation of young designers with his bold understanding of cultural style."
– AIGA Medal by Ellen Lupton, 2014
"Truly an inspiration and a great communicator."
– Staz Tsiavos, 2008
"David Carson was the last person whose work for a magazine shifted wider contemporary design."
– Creative Review Magazine, 2014
"Carson is the most googled graphic designer in history, even surpassing some well-known fine artists."
– Eye Magazine, London
"David Carson is a man who has transformed the field of graphic design throughout his career. Self-taught, resolutely grid-free, and unafraid to speak his mind (he’s also very funny), Carson’s work made designers realize that editorial layouts didn’t have to stick to the rules around image placement, consistent typography, or doggedly flowing copy issue after issue.
His attitude—one he sees as partly underdog, partly “why not?”—carries through not only his most famous projects like art directing Ray Gun magazine or his work for Transworld Skateboarding, but also branding projects, surfboard designs, packaging design for potato chips, and more; making him as relevant today as ever.
It’s rare to speak to a young designer who’s into zines, music, and a generally less strict aesthetic, and have them not cite Carson as an influence. The American Center for Graphic Design has exalted him as having made “the most important work coming out of America,” while Creative Review has called him “the art director of the era.” In 2014, he was awarded the AIGA Gold Medal. But for all the praise he’s received, he’s rather lovely when we chat—and pretty humble to boot. He’s also still really into surfing."
— AIGA Eye on Design, August 2019
"Popular designers and illustrators such as Keith Haring and David Carson benefitted from the lack of Black participation in the design profession during the late 1980s surge of interest in rebellious urban style. They shaped new styles and lucrative careers based on bold public vernacular expressions such as graffiti and rap, class rebellions and Black rhythms, and tribal symbolism.
At the first Organization of Black Designers conference, filmmaker Arthur Jaffa cited David Carson’s Ray Gun magazine as offering the best example of a visual jazz aesthetic."
The Graphic Design Reader, August 2017
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