Don Carson Fantasy Design & Architecture

Every once and a while I will stumble across and artist whose work I really connect with. They may be a painter, sculptor, designer, builder, or an architect. Don Carson is one of those artists. He is a freelance Art Director and Illustrator and I like everything that he does. He has a strong background in the theme park industry and that reflects in his designs and artwork. It has a humorous element to it. Here are a few examples of some of his themepark designs.



Point of sale vending location



Exterior design for attraction building




Themed signage



Back in 2000, Don got involved with a project designing a virtual world. The project was loosely based on a tiki/Club Med theme and he created some fantastic wacky concept art.



Lucky’s Tiki Bar with a large tiki that has broken off the front of the structure.




Themed tiki signage




Behind Lucky’s Bar is a varied collection of tiki, exotic and nautical décor.










Don prepared concept art for two of Walt Disney World’s themed water parks (Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach) and that style reflects in some of these drawings.







While not tiki, I do love this idea of a retail space that sells jetpacks out of a converted old Quonset hut.



You can see lots more examples of Don’s work and review his portfolio on his webpage


If interested, here are some quick links to other artists whose work I think is fantastic.

Benjamin Burch
Eric Scales
Megan Brian
Jody Daily & Kevin Kidney
Mike Cozart