Ray Gun Magazine

The Legacy That Still Lives On

E
by Jamie Yale

conomic prosperity and the grunge, hip-

hop movement characterized the 1990s, a

decade fondly remembered as a time of rap-

id technological advances and acceptance

of multiculturalism. Every aspect of life

seemed to be touched by this dot com era, and graphic design was

no exception. The Internet and digital technology provided graphic

designers with the means to disseminate their work quickly through

society and reach wide numbers of people. Through their postmod-

ern approach, many designers used deconstructed typography and

encompassed a nostalgic style, which is exemplified in Ray Guns

24th edition magazine cover featuring Pearl Jams Eddie Vedder.

Founder of Ray Gun magazine, David Carson used a retro mash-

up style which has had a profound influence on not only Ray Gun

magazine but also the graphic design industry for decades. The social and political environment of the 90s was primarily

Founded in 1992, Ray Gun magazine embraces abstract, illegi- marked by the digital age, which affected design styles in several

ble, and chaotic designs. The magazine reports on pop culture icons ways. Sci-fi and gaming inspired a deconstructed typographic style

and rising stars in the rock n roll industry. Prior to Carsons design and designers began to rely less on heavy bitmapped fonts and

career, he was a college lecturer and was ranked the eighth best surf- low-resolution photos. As a result, these technological advantages

er in the world. As a designer, he rejected conventional hierarchy gave designs a less polished look. In 1994, Adobe introduced the

and believed one should not mistake legibility for communication concept of layers into design, a revolutionary feature that allowed

because while many highly legible traditional printed messages offer designers to build upon their work without the risk of loosing previ-

little visual appeal to reader, more expressionist designs can attract ous designs. Also resulting from the digital age was rapid informa-

and engage them. This design style was the backbone of many of tion dissemination throughout society. For the first time, graphic

Ray Gun magazines covers. design could spread popular culture across social media outlets.

Target Audience
Ray Guns audience is primarily Generation X, as the magazine
appeals to this groups desire to rebel against conventional tradi-
tions. The chaotic designs resonate well with this group, while other
generations find it difficult to make sense of Ray Guns designs and
tend to prefer a more straightforward layout such as those found in
The New York Times. Ray Gun excludes a large, general audience
and rather appeals to a small, loyal target market who supports its
stylistic expression. Ray Gun engages in a form of elitism where
only a specific group of multi-layered, expressive people can inter-
pret the various levels of meaning within the designs.
The context of the designs is equally important when appealing
to Ray Guns audience. For example, Ray Gun magazines designers
would not feature Brian Ferry on the magazine cover because he
is a musician who was popular before Generation Xs time. When
Ray Gun did include Brian Ferry in the body of the magazine in
1994, designers mutated the text, images, and symbols to make a
cultural and political statement that would attract Generation Xs
Musician Eddie Vedder from rock
band Pearl Jam featured on the
cover of Ray Gun Magazines 24th
edition.
attention to a figure who is otherwise irrelevant to this are group.
In Ray Guns 24th edition, Eddie Vedder, rock musician from Pearl
Jam, is featured on the cover. Vedder is a Gen-Xer himself and is
known for appealing to this group. Ray Gun designers are aware of
his popularity and purposefully made him the focus of that months
edition.
Ray Guns layouts demanded patience and dedication to un-
derstand the odd shapes and text. In the early years of the magazine,
Ray Guns controversial designs were met with mixed reviews.
Carson spent much time speaking to students and designers about
his unique design style, a style that was quickly catching on in many
magazines and advertisements beyond Ray Gun. While speaking
at The Maryland Institute of Art, a student asked Carson if he was
purposefully contributing to the illiteracy of youth in America?
Many Americans felt the chaotic and unstructured messages were
not provoking thought but rather promoting incorrect grammar
and thoughtlessness.
 Impact Then and Today
Although not understood by everyone, Ray Gun was
met with much praise and admiration for its unique
typography and rebellious style. According to The
Christian Science Monitor, Ray Guns circulation more
than doubled from 55,000 to 120,000 readers after just
one year of publication, indicating that thousands of
people were fascinated by its provocative text and chaot-
ic imagery.
Today, scholars view David Carson as one of the
most influential graphic designers of his time. His con-
tribution to Ray Gun magazine and his courage to chal-
lenge conventional design were unprecedented. Carsons
work has appeared in several museums abroad, most
notably in the Marlborough Fine Art Gallery in London
where he was featured among six other contemporary
painters and sculptors. This was considered breaking
the norm because all six designers were British born
Norart-college trained, of which Carson was neither.

Today, scholars view David Carson as one of the most influential
graphic designers of all time.
 Ray Guns Design Principles and Typography
The lack of white space used in Ray Gun magazines 24th
edition cover creates a bold, chaotic feel. With a blurry black title of the magazine to the topic of this edition. The viewers
and white photo of Eddie Vedder filling the entire page, a
visual representation of Vedders rock n roll band is created. commands the next largest amount of attention according to
The text is layered on top of Vedders photo,
which adds to the busy, structure less layout. Although there is little white space
Proximity, scale and hierarchy are and much text, visual harmony is still illegible text. The placement of text
utilized through several design choices. Al- achieved.
though there is little white space and much
text, visual harmony is still achieved. The
text at the top of the photo serves as a focal point because
the bold, large font quickly draws the attention. This text
reads 24 Ray Gun and is placed next to Eddie Vedder
and Mudhoney interview. The proximity of this text to
each other encourages the readers eyes to wander from the
eyes may next wander to the photo of Eddie Vedder, which
the principles of hierarchy. Across
the bottom of the photo is messy,
throughout the layout encourages
the viewer to peruse the photo
from top to bottom, creating a
form of visual harmony.
Contrast is achieved through color and typography
choices. The large text across the top is a bold serif with
accents of color, contrasting with the messy colorless script
across the bottom. In addition, the
layout is designed with centered
and right aligned text, creating a
contrast in alignment. The right
aligned text is slightly unconven-
tional and more difficult to read,
which supports the feeling of
chaos. The text across the top of
the magazine cover is centered,
creating more conventional text.
While this layout is designed
with more contrast than repetition,
there are some repeating elements
in this design. The jagged edge
on the left side of the alignment
creates a feeling of repetition, with
every other line protruding further
to the left. In addition, the consis-
tency of black and white through-
out creates a feeling of sameness
and consistency.
A combination of symmetry and
asymmetry is used throughout
the design. The top of the photo
is symmetrical with the centered
text and Eddie Vedders face falling
in the middle of the photo. In
contrast, the bottom of the photo
is heavier on the right side, with
darker colors and right aligned
text falling in this bottom corner,
creating a slightly off balance
design.
 Design Categorization
Ray Guns designs belong to the futurism artistic movement. Characterized

by shockingly aggressive enthusiasm for modernism, the futurist designers

did not adhere to grammatical rules and emphasized their personal visual

interpretations. Many futurist design elements are present in Ray Guns 24th

edition magazine cover. For example, futurism is built around chaos and

lack of control. Ray Gun encompasses this feeling through the eerie black-

and-white cover photo. The blurred image feels violent and revolutionary,

two distinct characteristics of the futurist movement. The wild looking ty-

pography adds to this sense of disorder. Twisted and slanted text is common

in futurist designs, and Ray Gun utilizes wild scripts and contrasting san ser-

ifs to create unstructured forms. Overall, Ray Guns 24th edition magazine

cover breaks traditional rules of graphic layout like most futurist pieces. Text

sizes and fonts do not adhere to any standards and the design lacks unity.

Ray Gun magazine and David Carsons revolutionary work is still ad-

mired today. From the 90s era of grunge hip-hop and multicultural accep-

tance to the influence of chaotic futurist design elements, many historical

and political movements influenced Ray Gun. Although Carsons designs

were not always fully understood, they had a profound impact on the way

designers viewed structure and layout in graphic design for decades to come.

{ }
Although Carsons designs were not always fully understood,

they had a profound impact on the way designers viewed

structure and layout in graphic design for decades to come.

 Work Cited

http://www.designishistory.com/1980/ray-gun/

http://www.csun.edu/~pjd77408/DrD/Art461/LecturesAll/Lectures/lec-
ture10/magazine90s.htm).

http://www.angelfire.com/me/thestar/chaptthree.html

http://search.proquest.com.proxy-remote.galib.uga.edu/
docview/109259020/85D0F38C7B754B90PQ/1?accountid=14537

http://search.proquest.com.proxy-remote.galib.uga.edu/
docview/513149447/85D0F38C7B754B90PQ/3?accountid=14537

http://www.davidcarsondesign.com/t/tag/raygun/

Twentieth Century Designby Tony Seddon