Sanibel Causeway , Postcards and Photos from Sanibel and a fifth title (a sequel to Postcards and Photos ) to have its world premier in January, 2018. But documentarian is only the latest iteration of David Carter’s creative career, and to trace his path to Sanibel today is a journey that begins decades ago in Kentucky where, following graduation from the University of Kentucky in 1965 with a major in advertising, he earned a Master’s Degree from Ohio University in journalism — all the while working for ad clients on the weekends and earning national awards for his efforts. Soon, Carter would go on to found his own advertising agency — but not before, in 1972, he noticed that besides a few annual publications of the “best of” advertising, there were no annual directories that collected and presented what were then state of the art elements of the ad industry: logos. So, at the age of 29, he took it upon himself to collect roughly 1,000 outstanding logos, assemble a book and attempt to sell it to publishers. “I sent it to 17 companies and got 17 rejections,” he recalls. “Instead, I presold 300 copies of it to and made enough money to publish it myself.” That venture would lead David Carter down the path to publishing showcase annuals of advertising ancillaries such as creativity, graphic design, logo design, typography, business cards and much more. Before the
“Inspiration is often found in researching the work of others, and these — like other annuals — were the idea starters creative people turned to,” he explains. “Remember, there was no internet back then.” Eventually, Carter’s publishing efforts were so impressive that HarperCollins called and commissioned him to produce six or seven titles per year — roughly 10 percent of their design division’s annual production, representing 30 percent of their revenue. In all, over 35 years, David Carter has written, edited and published 114 books on advertising. Take a breath. Because this creative dynamo is just getting started. After founding his own advertising agency in 1977, Carter was drawn to commercial television and was so successful that five years later, he created his own production company. By 1990, he would produce 700 television commercials that earned him 10 coveted Clio awards. Yet with apparent endless energy, he also ventured at the same time into long-format film documentaries — creating a number of titles on baseball and winning (over the course of his filmmaking career that continues today) seven Emmy awards, with honors that include his short film Dear Baseball : I Love You shown at the Baseball Hall of Fame Film Festival in 2010, and Ashland’s Field of Dreams again in 2016.
COASTE | ARTIST IN RESIDENCE 15
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