WWW.DAVIDCARSONDESIGN.
COM COVER STORY 封面故事 PAGE 49
David Carson
大卫·卡森
采访：伊曼纽尔·巴博萨
图片：大卫·卡森
大卫· 卡森是美国著名的设计师和创意总监，是
平面设计史上最具影响力的设计师之一。无数设
计师从他的作品中获得启发和灵感。20世纪90年
代，《海滩文化》（Beach Culture）和《镭射枪》
（Raygun）两本杂志刊发了他的文章，他的理念
让整个设计界为之震惊，因为彻底颠覆了出版界
遵循已久的规则。
大卫在担任波士顿Bose公司全球创意总监期间，
成功打造一个100多人的创意团队，从事数字、
电视和印刷设计创作。
2014年，大卫入选苹果公司成立30年以来的30
名顶级创新者之一，被誉为 “具有深远影响力
的开拓者”。《创意》（ Creativity ）杂志赞誉
他是“世界上最具影响力的广告总监”。 2014
年，美国平面设计协会（AIGA）授予大卫该协会
的最高荣誉——创意和设计金奖。ADC 、TDC 和
SPD授予了他各种称号，在和纽约国际摄影中心
的合作过程中，他还赢得了“最佳设计者”称
号。 2014 年， FUSE 品牌在芝加哥举办的发布会
上，大卫作为TED特邀演讲人担任了主讲嘉宾。
伦敦的《创意评论》（Creative Review）赞美他
为“划时代的艺术导演”。最近，他在纽约字体
指导俱乐部（Type Directors Club）发表的演讲座
无虚席。2014年，在很多国家的创意大会上，譬
如德国、泰国、澳大利亚、芬兰、葡萄牙和挪威
人们都可以见到他的身影。无论在哪里，只要有
他的演讲，通常都爆满。
摄影：João Pádua
大卫，你是如何走上平面设计之路的？
应该说是平面设计选择了我。26岁时，我参加了
一个为期两周的夏季研讨会。那个时候我是美国
一所高中的社会学老师。我看到研讨会的通知，
觉得非常有趣，于是暑假时就去了。两个星期的
研讨之后，我非常确定地自己该干什么了，我的
人生发生了彻底的改变。进入这个领域，不是为
了名利，仅仅是因为热爱以及这个领域自身的魅
力。更幸运的是，我有一个好的领路人，他就是
杰克逊·波茨（Jackson boelts），他是美国图森市
亚利桑那大学（the University of Arizona in Tucson）
的教师，直到现在，我们都是非常好的朋友。
你认为《印刷的终结》这本书，对杂志、报纸和
书籍而言意味着什么？
杂志、报纸和书籍的印刷以后会越来越少。看报
纸了解新闻是非常愚蠢的方式，报纸携带、使用
都不方便，看时必须拿在手里，而且报纸上的新
闻还不是实时的。杂志稍好一些，至少看的时间
长一些。坐飞机时，杂志比较容易携带，阅读也
比较方便，你不需四处寻找充电电源，尤其是在
一些比较落后的机场候机时。但像书籍一样，杂
志现在变得越来越新奇了。
即使将来人们也需要读写，但和黑胶唱片一样，
随着时间的流逝，树木损耗越来越多使其意义大
大降低……但是话说回来，书籍和杂志在未来很
+++
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The Archi+ec+ure of Pa++erns
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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TheArchitecture
The ArchitectureofofPatterns
Paul Andersen + David Salomon
Paul Andersen and David Salomon
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Paul Andersen and David Salomon
++++++++++++++
长一段时间内并不会消失，但普及性和重要性会
慢慢降低。事实上，小开本的彩色打印杂志依然
非常流行，尤其在阿根廷和巴西的学生中间很受
欢迎。坐飞机时，经常看到坐在中间排的人，十
分费力地打开巨大的纸质报纸，阅读24小时前发
生的新闻，并且还是别人筛选和审查过的……我
觉得这非常可笑。
你觉得社会化媒体，例如 Pintrest ， Facebook ，
Behance ， Linkedin 等，对设计师和设计潮流有
什么影响？好像每个人都在用同样的方法进行
设计，例如在芬兰、中国、葡萄牙、巴西、美
国、俄罗斯、莫桑比克……实际上，很难说出
有什么不同。一个设计师构思时，是该放眼全
球？还是着眼于本土？
的确是，现在平面设计变得越来越单一化，墨守成
规、缺乏新意，整体而言缺乏实验精神，没有感情
色彩。因此效果也就很差。每个人都可以是设计
师、摄影师、作家，但绝大多数人充其量也就普
通水平。他们所创的作品既不会惨不忍睹，但也
不会卓越。墨守成规和缺乏新意的设计很便宜。
在某些提供众包服务的网站中，一个普通的商标
标识或其他什么东西，只需50美元就可以买到。
在《印刷的终结》一书中，大卫 · 伯恩（ David
Byrne ）曾说过，印刷不能仅作为传播新闻的工
具，它应该被解放。印刷应该更具表现力，传递
新讯息和意义。但现在，印刷似乎依然没有摆脱
桎梏，还被限定在框架内。我刚刚收到一个免费
测试软件的主页版面设计，通栏文字和线条图案
随处可见，毫无新意。
设计师不需要思考。对于那些天生没有设计灵感
的人来说，这是个好消息。我觉得设计应该注重
本土化。我不希望一个巴西的设计作品看起来有
着乌克兰、美国肯塔基州、拉脱维亚或者其他任
何一个地方的特征。哪里的设计就该有哪里的特
色。设计也应该彰显设计者的个性特色。只要你
的作品具有鲜明的个人特色，谁也模仿不了。你
所受的教育、家庭背景和生活经历，是别人无法
复制的。所有人可能会用同一款软件和程序，但
COVER STORY 封面故事 PAGE 51
Patterns
你的人生经历只会体现在你的创作中。努力创作 正在做什么，我希望自己能够说，我正在练习回
出好作品，自然就会发现其中的乐趣…… 风冲浪技巧。
设计、冲浪、汽车、美女、音乐……哪一个会让 design by daviddesign
carsonby david carson 接下来，您可以随便聊聊，告诉我们您的感受，
你感动？你能介绍一下自己吗，不是作为一名设 我们也会随机问一些问题……
计师，而是一个普通人。你开什么车、喜欢听什
么音乐之类的。 今年到目前为止，我去过了很多地方演讲，主要
有纽约、西雅图、奥斯陆、柏林、芝加哥、俄亥
好的。你说的每一个都会让我感动。能够影响和 俄州以及得克萨斯州。秋天时，我还会去芬兰、
激励一个人的是你的生活环境，不是设计年鉴， 葡萄牙和曼谷。
也不是设计大赛。一般来讲，是生活带给我感
动，给我动力。我以前是一名社会学家，因此我 在过去的20年里，我在全世界做了无数场关于平
经常会观察、注意、分析我所处的环境和周围的 面设计和创造力的演讲，甚至找不出第二个我这
人。美女、艺术、冲浪，还有很多其他的东西， 样的人。由于我只有一个小的团队，有时不得不
都可以带给我灵感。 推掉一些演讲。但我也听到一些传闻……说设计
行业变得非常不专业。
我买过很多车。非常多！它们的设计和开车带来
的快感让我欲罢不能。也因为我对车的爱好，去 在这些演讲中，没人付给你报酬。他们邀请你拿
年春天，我被邀请为世界顶级汽车设计师做演讲。 出几天的时间，暂停你的工作日程，给他们做免
他们和他们的设计工作都非常有趣。在他们的秘 费的演讲，但他们却向听演讲的人收费。我想没
密基地，我和他们分享了我对汽车设计的理解。 有什么比这更不专业的了。最近，我在奥斯丁为
美国专业设计协会（AIGA）做演讲，当然也是免
昨晚太阳下山时，我开着自己的1976年丰田陆地 费的。但我开始演讲前，他们花钱邀请猫王的模
巡洋舰，沿海岸线开着，只是单纯地兜风。我喜 仿者唱了一小时的歌。除了发起人和他的妻子收
欢这种感觉，呼吸着新鲜空气，欣赏美景，听着 益颇丰，似乎其他所有人都赚到了钱，但只有我
汽车的轰鸣声。如果没有买这么多车的话，现在 一分钱也没拿到。
的我可能是个大富翁。一有钱，我就买车，没钱
时，我再卖掉。 20 世纪八十年代，我辞去了教 而且，和以前一样，你要为自己的演讲免费设计
职，获得了一笔退休基金，然后买了一辆1973年 海报，活动的组织者阿明· 维特（Armin Vit）让
产的保时捷 911 ，我每天开着它去《海滩文化》 我自己随心所欲地为演讲设计海报我非常满意这
杂志上班，那个时候经常买不起油，有时都没钱 张海报，实际上，它是我设计的所有海报中我最
吃午饭。 喜欢的！
我工作时离不开音乐。听音乐让我很享受，我的 不过，活动组织者维特是个“设计模仿者”，在
工作也会更有效率。我绝大多数时候在iTunes 上买 海报印刷前，私下里在海报中加入了他自己的设
一些所谓的“另类”音乐，偶尔也会购买一些原 计，并声称海报设计没有达到他的要求……还有
创歌手的音乐。我总是非常受年轻女性的喜爱， 比这更不专业的吗？他还告诉我需要设计两份海
她们比我小，不知道为什么，我想这可能就是设 报，两份都要印刷，但是当我到了会场的时候，
计、艺术的魅力……我有50年的冲浪史，虽然只 他不仅修改了我的一份海报，也没有告诉我第二
是短板冲浪，但我相当引以为豪。我玩冲浪纯是 份不印刷了，只是因为他特别不喜欢或者是不明
为了快乐。下次有设计界的人采访我时，若问我 白另一张海报要表达的意思。

就这件事，他就是在拿我们的专业性开玩笑，他
自己就是一个笑话。正如现在人们常说的，如果
有人干涉或者修改你的设计，他们在“协调”
它……但这都不重要。我设计了海报，不管是
谁，免费设计了海报，他人都无权进行改动，尤
其是私下里更改他人免费设计的作品。
这是平面设计的一条准则，非常神圣的准则……
在欧洲很多国家，阿明· 维特和AIGA的行为是绝
对禁止的。尽管这种行为非常不可原谅，他还一
次又一次地为自己辩解……而且，AIGA在他们所
有网站上都宣传了该项活动，但对此事却只字未
提，这样做只会助长这种劣行。
AIGA NYC，是五星设计（Pentagram）广告公司
的分公司，也同样未置一词。诚然，该公司是
一家以纽约为中心的品牌和广告公司，以保守
著称，现在正努力和一些年轻设计师建立稳定
联系。作为美国设计领域众所周知的企业，他们
应该表现出应有的诚信。如果想要在平面设计方
面取得进步，就该学学瑞士、荷兰和阿根廷。在
美国，我们迫切需要一个新的平面设计组织的出
现，我不确定现有的资源和人力是否能够做到这
一点。另外，令人尴尬的是，接下来，阿明· 维
特（Armin Vit）和AIGA还邀请了戴柏 · 梅尔维尔
（Deb Mellville） 和米歇尔·贝鲁特参加“卓越演
讲者”系列讲座……
你是国际公认的最著名的平面设计师之一，经常
受邀到世界各地做演讲、参见研讨会和展览等。
你觉得现在的人们还喜欢这种模式吗？我是说，
今天做演讲和20世纪90年代的演讲有什么不同？
为什么？
很奇怪。伦敦的《Eye》杂志曾说过，我是有史以
来在google上搜索频率最高的平面设计师。他们有
一个表格，列举了历史上优秀的艺术家和平面设
计师等。这太不可思议了！但你的问题很好……
但在很多方面，听起来也很奇怪。我在全世界演
讲时依然场场爆满，邀请一直不断，国内外的都
有。2014年是我演讲最多的一年。对我来说，这
是一种快乐，偶尔我也会根据地点做出选择。过
去的几年里，我遇见过各种有趣的人，也有过很
多神奇的经历。
我做过很多关于创意、激情和做自己喜欢的事情
的演讲。我想不管多少个十年，这类演讲多么
多，也都没关系。演讲中我会讲一些有趣的事，
COVER STORY 封面故事 PAGE 53
Dominant Wa v e Theory
我这是向我爸爸学的。在比较大型的会议上，我
发现一件事，他们似乎很少真正关注设计，反而
觉得软件和程序，尤其是品牌更重要。我对品牌
也很感兴趣，设计过很多，但最好的品牌形式，
必然要包括好的或者卓越的平面设计。一个社交
网站说，我的受众群主要集中在18-44岁年龄段
的人。目前有两个关于我的记录片正在播放，一
个重大的旅游展览将在今秋举行。也许因为你在
网上随时都可以看到一个人的消息，所以当这个
有血有肉的人真正出现在你的面前时，你可能反
而会觉得更为特别，这个人会犯错，也有不足，
真实的个性会让你真切地感觉到……
在接受平面设计工作时，你是全盘接受还是有所
选择？拒绝的多吗？
我的作品并不是特别多，但都相当不错。不喜欢
我作品的人不会联系我，同时我的客户往往也是
我想与其合作的，作品也是我想要做的风格。我
很少拒绝别人。我觉得我可以帮助他们，不管他
们想要从我这里得到什么。但是和政治或其他某
些敏感话题相关的，我一般不会接受。只有独立
设计师才有能力左右自己的作品。在美国枪支泛
滥，我坚决反对持有枪支，在其他方面也是如
此，比如美国的右翼政治势力。奥巴马是美国
历史上第一个充分重视平面设计的总统。一些领
域，如政治、房地产标识、快艇等，落伍的平面
photography by Andy Hughes
设计，着实让我震惊…… designed by david carson
你能谈谈你的新书《平面设计原则》吗？
我还没有最后完稿，不断地在增加新的内容，例
如新项目、照片、线形图，以及我想要加入的一 你喜欢团队合作吗？你怎么看互动项目、产品设 角，那就是同理心，这使我不会囿于某种形式或 工作，但如果你全身心投入，不管什么，对你来
些冲浪体验，这本书一直在不断地完善中。同 计？还是只是对平面设计情有独钟？ 者某种媒介。 说都是娱乐和放松。
时，寻找一个合适的出版商也不容易。上一次我
在NYC联系的那个出版商建议我们应该做一本最 我经常和一些大的工作室合作，和一些伟大的创 对21世纪年青一代的创作者，你有什么建议？ 你未来有哪些计划？
畅销的书，但我觉得我现在还没有做好准备，以 意团队合作时，我会虚心求教。我们彼此互相学
后我成功的作品还会有很多。 习，都获益匪浅。也许部分是因为我曾经做过老 不管处于哪个时代，我的建议只有一个：跟随你 我现在正在努力提高自己的回冲浪峰技巧。
师，我非常喜欢指导年轻设计师。我设计的很多 的内心和激情，做你喜欢做的事情，并以此谋 现在正在做的是美国哈佛大学的一个项目，非
在我的职业生涯中，我获得过很多奖项，但对我 网站页面都非常前卫，很多包装设计也是如此。 生。问问你自己，如果钱不是问题，你还会做同 常有趣，一份关于海洋城市的180页的纪录片，
来说意义最重大的就是今年苹果公司授予我的。 我一直都非常喜欢导演广告、制作电影短片。 样的工作吗？如果答案是肯定的，那么你有了一 其中提到一些问题，例如城市拥挤、海洋环境，
我入选了他们评选出的苹果公司成立30年以来最 个超棒的职业；如果不是，立马放弃，不要浪费 以及人类对它的影响……也在帮助《滑雪板》杂
具影响力的设计师前30强，只有两名平面设计师 我喜欢自己动手，经常花一整天的时间，就为了 时间，找你真正喜欢的事来做——当你有钱时没 志做重新设计；品牌设计客户主要包括挪威一家
入选，我和艾普尔·格莱曼（April Greiman）。在 解决或者试验一个设计问题或者设计纲要。我喜 有报酬也会做的事。我过去经常说，我通过我的 电脑连锁店、越南一家服装精品店，为健康点心
过去的30年里，苹果电脑用户数不胜数，能够得 欢所有数字产品和移动设备，也会经常做一些印 兴趣谋生，以后也会一直如此。 设计包装，还有各种各样的小项目。我也打算再
到这一殊荣，我真的感到非常自豪……苹果公司 刷品。设计图标或者标识的过程十分类似。当我 要一个孩子，我的前两个孩子和他们的妈妈一起
赞誉我和艾普尔“具有深远影响力的开拓者”， 完成并感到非常满意时，我要么打印出来，要么 正如 Marshal McLuan在我们合著的书中提到的， 生活……
这真是太棒了！ 放到屏幕上展示。我有一种看待事情的不同视 如果你只投入了一部分精力在某件事上，那只是
 ?
COVER STORY 封面故事 PAGE 55

ORTLOSorNOt
ORTLOS is a virtual office (or platform)deal-

After 2
6 ing with architectural topics,urban plan-
ning issues and interface design in general.
Its members are experts from different decades of ‘we can photo-manipu-
.......__.. ............. 12
Comment by Michael Jansen
countries with different professions (archi-
tects,web designers,media theorists,net late anything,’
After two decades of ‘we can photo-manipulate anything,’ a welcome trend seems to be the return
of illustration in advertising. Another, although isolated to Germany, is the use of penises. I spotted a
artists and IT specialists).
handful. For a variety of products. The good news is, two were illustrated. But Germans can also think
The name (ORTLOS means “placeless ”or City at once.............................._____ ................................--.......... 17 with their brains, as the brilliant Bild-Zietung ‘Kidnapped’ and Ecover ‘Jellyfish’ ads prove. The last,
“space off”,in German)describes the basic deserving of more than a place in the book.
working method: not being dependent on Urban networks |Masterplan |City screenplay |Neural network
Saatchi & Saatchi Thailand had an entries blitzkrieg (must be that booming Asian economy) for client
a certain place to work,but rather located Library for the information Age .......__................... 41
in networks and anywhere where an Inter- Media theory |Information network |Knowledge archive
Indosport, with their campaign for the Streamlight flashlight receiving a Silver Award.
The beautiful MedicosThe
Sinbeautiful
Fronteras campaign,
Medicos Sin which combined
Fronteras magnified
campaign, whichphotos of diseases
combined with
magnified strategic
photos war charts,
of diseases with strategic war charts,
net connection is provided. Furthermore, the minimalistic Spanish Jeep ads, as well as the intriguing Brazilian Eyecare Foundation campaign, would all do well even in
thinking and designing in trans-local and Ortlos @La Biennale ....___...........................__---................ 57 the English Language Press Advertising category.

networked environments is crucial to the But in general, many of the best Non-English Press work seemed to miss the gen-
concept of ORTLOS. Parallel media |Private &Public |Virtual &Real uineness
uineness of the top English of theAlthough
pieces. top English pieces.
there’s Although
always there’s
room for a bitalways room for
of ‘if-you-let a bit of ‘if-you-let us-pro-
us-pro
The users are well acquainted with their duce-this idea-we’ll-do-it-for-gratuito’ work, the Non-English Press category will only
localities and can deal (or not)with the
inSPACEin .....................__...................................--__.................. 71 egaugnaL hsilgnE-noN gnisitrevdA sserP attain the level of prestige of its English counterpart when enough ‘genuine’

problems of the city they live in.As soon as Moving space |Intelligent environment |Inverse kinematics |Dynamics work takes its top awards.
they have an Internet connection,they can
work on projects in this “office that never digital platform A.N.D.I. ..____................................................. 81
sleeps ”. Creative process |Connected intelligence |New working methods |Virtual office
The aim is to generate advanced T h e G r a n d E g y p t i a n M u s e u m ......___....................... 91
instru- TheJury:
Jorge Carreño, TBWA\Paris
ments for architectural and urban Museum network |Flow simulations |Building concept Michael Jansen, Result DDB
design,a
sort of platform,a creative pool sup- The Thing and The Wing lighThing ..........__................... 105 Eduardo Lima, F/Nazca Saatchi & Saatchi
Stefan Meske, Springer & Jacoby Werbung
ported Simulated form |Speed &acceleration |Collaborative network José Molla, La Communidad
Jaspar Shelbourne, J Walter Thompson
with information and databases. lighThing .................__...................--- Darek Zatorski, Leo Burnett Warsaw
Th e two main topics of ORTLOS are experi- Public Service & Charities sponsored by DDB London
................................................... 125
mental architecture and interface design Product network |Spin off
S l e e ve D e s i g n b y D av i d C a r s o n
dcarson@earthlink.net
in
Kunsthaus .............................................___................ 135
urban surroundings.
Skin-Cloth |Spiral organization |Rapid prototyping
Urban Park ...................____.............................---...................... 155

www.ortlos.com
Nature Network |Poetic infiltration |Architectural urbanism
West Kowloon Reclamation ...................__................................. 171
Voxels |Mega buildings |City layers |Cultural network
Teleworking House ......................................____..................__.... 189
Teleworking |City implant |Remodeling |Living form

North-American designer and creative
director David Carson is one of the world’s
most influencial names in the history of
graphic design. His work was an inspiration
for many designers around the world. In
the 90’s David shocked the entire designers
community by breaking all existing rules in
typography with his work on Beach Culture
and Raygun magazines.
He worked as the worldwide Creative Director
for Bose corporation in Boston where he
managed a creative team of over 100 people,
executing campaigns for digital, tv and print.
 
In 2014, Apple Computer selected him as
one of their top 30 innovators in their 30
year history, calling David a "Pioneer with
profound impact". Creativity magazine listed
him as one of the worlds most influential
creatives, while the AIGA/NYC, awarded
David their highest honor in 2014, the Gold
Medal for his creativity and design work. He's
also been awarded "best designer" working
with photography by the International Centre
for Photography in NYC as well as countless
awards from the ADC, TDC and SPD. David
was also selected as a keynote speaker at
the 2014 FUSE Branding Conference in
Chicago and has been a guest speaker at
TED. David was called "Art Director of the
era" by Londons Creative Review magazine.
Recently he spoke to sold out audiences at longer. they are easy to hold, pack, read
the Type Directors Club in NYC and other on planes,and you don’t need to hunt for
2014 creative conferences in Germany, power sources,especially in behind the times
Thailand, Australia, Finland, Portugal, and airports. but much like books, magazines are
Norway. quickly becoming more and more novelty
items.
David, what made you approach graphic
design? Like vinyl records, people will always read,
and write, but using dead trees to do so
It approached me. I took a 2 week summer makes less and less sense every passing
workshop when i was 26 years old. i was day... Having said that, some form of books,
already teaching sociology at High School and magazines will still be around for many
in America. I saw this announcement for a years to come, just regulated to a much less
course, it sounded interesting, and I had the popular status and importance. Tho actually
summer off. After the two week course, I've small format color printed zines are still really
never been so sure of anything in my life, popular, especially with students, in Argentina
and everything in my life shifted. Not for the and Brasil. I always laugh to myself when
fame or fortune, but out of pure passion and i watch someone in a middle airplane seat
fascination for the field. Luckily I had a great trying to open and read a gigantic printed
teacher, Jackson Boelts, at the University of newspaper, one telling them very select,
Arizona in Tucson, who I'm still good friends censored stories that happened at least 24
with. hours ago...
The end of print. Does it makes any sense What is your opinion about the social
to keep making printing magazines/ media and its influence on designers and
newspapers/books? design trends. Pintrest, Facebook, Behance,
Linkedin… It seems everyone is designing
Less and less. Newspapers are particullary in the same way, Finland, China, Portugal,
silly ways to get your news. Awkward to hold Brazil, USA, Russia, Mozambique… You can't
and use, comes off in your hands, and its really tell the difference. Shall a designer
always OLD news. magazines may make think globally or locally?
a little more sense, at least for a little while
I agree. Graphic design has become very
homogenized, safe, predictable and overall
less experimental and emotional. And
thus less effective. Everyone’s a designer,
photographer, writer, and most are very
average at best. Much of what’s out there
is not horrible, or great. Just safe and
predictable - and its cheap, you can get an
average logo for 50 dollars or whatever in
some of these soulless crowdsourcing sites.
David Byrne said in the my book “The End
of Print”, that print was no longer regulated
to simply carrying the news, it had been
liberated. Liberated to be more expressive
and convey new messages and meanings.
But now it seems chained and gridded up
again. I just received a free test copy of a
major page layout software, and its pathetic,
lines and rules everywhere, all the time. The
designer doesn’t need to think. It’s perfect for
all the designers who have no natural design
sense I guess. I think design should be locally
for sure. I don't want to see design from Brazil
looking like design from Ukraine, Kentucky,
of Latvia or wherever. It should look and feel
like from where it came... It should also have
some the individual designers DNA in it. You
have to put some of your self into the work,
no one can copy that, your upbringing, your
parents, your whole life experience. anyone
can buy the same software and programs,
but only you can pull from your own
background in the work you produce. You’ll do
your best work AND have more fun doing it…
Design, Surf, Cars, Girls, Music.... what
moves you? tell us a little about yourself, not
as designer but as a person. What car do you
drive? What music do you like? What, what?
Yes, all of the above moves me. ones
influences and motivation should come from
your environment, not design annuals and
competitions. Life in general moves and
motivates me.im trained as a sociologist, and
i am always observing, noting, scanning my
environment and people in it. I'm driven by
beauty, and art. and surf.and much more.
I've bought a lot of cars throughout my life.
Many. For the design and fun of driving them.
Just last spring I was asked to speak to a
group of the top car designers in the world,
really interesting people and projects. I met
them in their secret facility!
Just last evening around sunset I took my
1976 Toyota Land Cruiser out along the coast
and just drove. Love the feeling of the fresh
air, watching the view, sounds of the car. I’d
probably be better off money wise if I hadn't
bought so many new cars over the years. I
buy when I can barely afford them then sell
them when I need the cash. When I gave up
my teaching career, and tenure, in the
 COVER STORY 封面故事 PAGE 57

mid 1980s I got my teacher retirement fund,
and spent all of it on a 1973 Porsche 911, and
drove it to work at beach culture magazine,
often short of gas money and or money for
lunch.
I can't work without music. I do my best work
if I'm listening to music I enjoy. I mostly buy
what iTunes calls alternative, but occasionally
also singer songwriter category too. I've
always been attracted to woman younger
than me. Not sure why, tho I suspect its a
QUIKSILVER design, art related thing... I’ve surfed for 50
CARSON years now. Still ride only shortboards and I'm
KAS SURFBOARDS
Also, as they often do, the event organizer,
Armin Vit asked me to design the poster for
my, saying I of course had total freedom, as
is always the case when you do a free poster
for your own talk. I was very pleased with
the poster, and in fact its gotten the highest
numbers of likes of any work I’ve ever posted,
ever! anyway, event organizer and “design
wannabe” Vit, secretly added his own
design and type to my poster before he
had it printed,claiming he felt the poster
design wasn’t up to his standards... how less
professional can one get? He also had told
me do design two, that it was easy for him to

kinda proud of that. But, I do it for fun. The
next time a design interview asks me what
I'm working on, I want to say, improving my
cutback [surf term]… which I am.
Please use this space to communicate
something - we are not going to ask nothing
- you can tell us what you feel to.
This year so far I’ve lectured in New York,
Seattle, Oslo, Berlin, Chicago, Ohio and Texas,
with Finland, Portugal and Bangkok coming
up in the fall.
print both, but when i arrived at the event he
not only changed my one poster, but without
telling me didn’t even print the second
one, as he apparently REALLY didn’t like or
understand that one. with this sort of action,
he made a joke of our profession, and himself
ia joke line, as people now say, if someones
messes with, or changes your design, they
ARMINIZED it... but it doesn’t matter that I
designed the poster, WHOEVER designed the
free poster, you just don’t change someones
else’s poster, or work, especially secretly and
when they’re not being paid.

Over the past two decades no one has ever
given more talks than me about graphic
design and creativity, worldwide. Not even a
close second. Still, being a small studio, I’ve
sometimes had to cancel talks. I still hear
about those… the design profession can be
very unprofessional.
They don’t pay you to speak at these events,
This would be one rule, a sacred rule, of
graphic design… this type of behaviour by
Armin Vit and the AIGA would not be allowed
in many european countries. regardless its
INDEFENSIBLE behaviour tho He unwisely
chose to defend it over and over..... AND, the
AIGA who promoted the
event all over their website, said nothing. and
the Netherlands or Argentina. We horribly
need a new graphic design organization
in America, tho im not sure the energy or
people exist to make it work. meanwhile, the
embarrassment that is Armin Vit and the
AIGA next bring in deb Mellville and Michael
Bierut for their “awesome speaker series.“...
fine artists, graphic designers etc throughout
history. Weird! but you ask a good question…
in many ways it seems the same, oddly.
places STILL sell out around the world, and
the offers to speak keep coming. In from all
over the world. 2014 has been one of my
busiest years for speaking engagements

DA
they ask you to take a few days put of in doing so condoned this type of behaviour. ever. its still fun, tho now sometimes it
your work schedule, and give a free lecture You are one of the most internationally depends if I've been to a particular place or
THE
L

while they charge people to attend. i don’t AIGA NYC, a branch of the ad agency recognized graphic designers, invited to not. I've met a lot of interesting people over
think there’s another profession that can Pentagram, also said nothing. granted, they lectures, workshops, exhibitions, etc. around the years, and many amazing experiences.
sometimes be so unprofessional. i recently are a conservative, new york city centric the world. Do you feel that people still enjoy Since i talk a lot about creativity, passion
í

spoke for the AIGA (American Professional
Association for Design) in Austin, again
for free. they paid the Elvis impersonator
that sang for an hour before I spoke… for
MUSEUM seemingly no one but the promoter and his
wife, but not me.
branding and advertising organization, trying
hard to stay relevant, especially to younger
designers, but still, as the default organization
in our field in america, thy should show
some, well, lets just say integrity. If you want
progressive graphic design, try Switzerland,
this models? I mean, giving a lecture today
or back in the 90's… is it different? Why?
Yeah it is weird, Eye magazine in London
said i’m the most Googled graphic designer
in history. they had a chart and stuff showing
and doing what ones loves for work, i think it
maybe doesn’t matter so much what decade
one hears about that. and i include some
humor, that i think i learned from my father.
one thing i notice on the bigger conferences
is they seem to be less about actual design,

and more about new software and programs
and especially branding. im very interested
in branding, and do a lot of it, but the best
form of it ALWAYS includes good, or great
graphic design. one of the social sites said
my audience is primarily 18 to 44 year olds,
i have two documentaries currently filming,
and a major traveling exhibition opening in
the fall.
Maybe since you can see anyone, anytime on
the internet, it actually gets MORE special to
see an actual live person, in the flesh, in front
of you, mistakes, flaws and real personality
often shining thru...
Are you selective when accepting a graphic
design project? Do you reject a lot of
projects?
I never seem to have a ton of projects, just a
few good ones. the people who hate my work
don't contact me, so i tend to get clients and
work i want to engage in. i don't reject many,
i think i can help any client improve whatever
they've got or bring me. Their are certain
political and other issues i would not work
on, but only the individual designer can say
where they draw that line. i would never do
a Pro Gun campaign in gun crazed America,
or anywhere for that matter as an example.
and right wing politicians in America. Obama
was the first American president in history
to use, and show, the importance of graphic
design. It’s amazing to me how backwards
and behind the times, in general, areas like
politics, real estate signs, and yacht or boat
graphics are...
Could you tell us about your last book project
"The Rules of Graphic Design"?
I can't seem to finish it as i keep getting
new projects, photos, just graphs, new surf
COVER STORY 封面故事
swell hits or experiences I want to include,
and it keeps evolving. Also, it’s tricky to find
the right publisher. the last one I talked to in
NYC suggested we do a greatest hits book,
which i don't feel i’m quite ready for yet as my
biggest hits are still to come.
I’ve won a lot of awards in my career, but I
must say the most meaningful one to me
came just this year, form Apple Computers.
they selected me as one of the top 30 most
influential designers in their 30 year history.
only two graphic designers were selected,
myself and April Greiman. theres a lot of mac
users out there the past 30 years, and im
really proud, and humbled by this particular
recognition.. Apple called April and I” Pioneers
with profound impact.” that’s pretty kool.
Do you like to work in team? Interactive
projects, product design - do they appeal to
you, or you prefer graphic designer only?
I often work with large agencies, consulting,
working with great creative teams. I can learn
as much from them as they can from me.
And maybe partly because of my teaching
background, I really enjoy mentoring younger
designers. I do a lot of front end looks for
web sites, and packaging as well. I’ve always
enjoyed directing commercials, and making
short films.
I'm also very hands on, and can easily still
spend all day solving and experimenting on a
design problem or brief. I love all things digital
and moving, but will always do some form
of print. the process tho is often very similar
now, like designing a logo or identity. It would
work as well on print or on a screen when I'm
finished and happy with it. I bring a sensibility,
a different way of looking at things, that is not
restricted to any one form or type of media.
PAGE 59
In the 21st Century, what advice would you
give to a young creative mind?
The same advice id give in any century, follow
your heart and passion, make a living from
doing something you love. ask yourself, if
money were not an issue, would you do
the same work? if yes, you've got a great
profession, if not, quit wasting your short
amount of time alive,and find that thing you
truly love, something you WOULD do for free
if you could afford to. I'm often said i make
my living from my hobby, and still do.
As Marshal McLuan said in our book together,
if you’re partially involved on something,
THAT’S work. but if your completely involved
in, no matter what IT is, thats play or leisure.
Tell us something about your future projects.
I'm working on improving my cutback [surf
term].
Also, a fascinating project form Harvard
University in America, a 180 page document
about The Urban Oceans, addressing issues
involving crowed cities and our ocean
environment and what we are doing to it...
also redesigning a snowboard magazine,
branding major a computer store chain in
Norway, a clothing boutique in Vietnam,
packaging for a line of HEALTHY snacks, and
a few other assorted smaller projects.
I’d also like to have another kid. My last two
were kidnapped by their mother… (Interview
by Emanuel Barbosa)