Carter brings a varied background to the the communications world. The only son of what would later be called a "single parent household," he worked his way through the University of Kentucky, earning a degree in advertising. After working for a year in advertising, he then received an assistantship at Ohio University's renowned School of Journalism. Not long after receiving his master's degree, he started a one-man ad agency in his home town of Ashland, Kentucky.

Books: While still in his 20s, Carter self-published his first logo book.  He continued producing books over a 35-year period, and today, more than 110 books have Carter’s name on the cover. The full list is on the Books page of this site.

Advertising:  Carter had been advised, "if you want to be in advertising, go to the big city.” He ignored that advice, and his agency was soon accepted into the AAAA (American Association of Advertising Agencies.) Carter won his first Clio Award in 1980. (He would go on to be honored by the Clios ten times.) His Kentucky-based agency grew, and his client list soon expanded geographically. By the early 1980s, he had clients in places such as Miami, San Diego and Anchorage.

Creative competitions: Early in his career, David saw an unmet need -- for a national competition for non-network TV commercials.  He founded the Telly Awards in 1978, and the competition grew into one of the largest and most respected awards shows for TV and video productions.  He also founded American Corporate Identity, and in the mid-1990s, he acquired the Creativity Annual from Art Direction Book Company of New York City.

TV Production: He founded a TV production company in 1982. He eventually wrote and produced more than 700 TV commercials, many for clients in locations as diverse as Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco. But it was his work in TV programming that got him national recognition. His creative productions wound up on PBS stations all over the United States. His documentary about the Mickey Mantle Fantasy Baseball Camp (which Carter founded) earned him his first Emmy Award. Another baseball-related program, The Long Summers of Lou Dials, about a Negro League star, earned him two more Emmys.  But his most visible output was yet to come. Beginning in 1988, he produced more than a dozen comedy sketches for The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. Overall, he received 7 Emmy Awards for his TV work.

Branding Consulting: In 1990, Carter left advertising and TV simply because "I was burned out."  He went from an ad agency with 20+ people, to a much smaller office of four. He soon saw opportunities in the emerging Asian market, and established a major presence there as a corporate identity consultant, with affiliate offices in Bangkok and Jakarta, creating brand images for many large Asian companies. In addition, he also had an affiliate office in Caracas, Venezuela.

Education: Carter returned to the classroom at the age of 50. He received an MBA from Syracuse University, and immediately afterwards he applied for the Owner-President Management program at the Harvard Business School. He graduated from the 3-year OPM program at Harvard in 1998.

Slowing down: In 2003, at age 60, Carter was again feeling "burned out."  Over the years, he had started a dozen companies, and was still running several of them.  In 2003, he sold his largest business, a major national advertising awards competition that he had founded in 1978, to a New York investment company.  Soon afterwards, he sold his remaining companies, and made the move to Florida, to slow down a bit, and "live the life I wanted to live."

In October of 2005, Ohio University established the David E. Carter Creativity Center & Museum on the school’s Southern Campus in Ironton, just across the Ohio River from David’s home town. 

David’s primary creative interest now is producing documentaries for good causes.  His love of baseball prompted him to produce a documentary titled “Ashland’s Field of Dreams, which had its premiere before a theater audience of 1,100 in his home town, and then ran statewide on Kentucky Educational Television. To see more of Carter's television documentary work, go Sanibel Films. To see the humorous side of Carter’s films, go to the Sanibel Film School web site.

American Pixel Academy:  For a number of years, Carter has been actively involved in helping students discover the potential that lies within.  In 2008, he was one of the founders of the American Pixel Academy, and serves as Executive Director of the organization.

New Media; New Energy:  Carter’s frustrations with the book publishing world had led him to take a break, beginning in 2008.  Now, the emergence of digital publishing, and its short turn-around time has led him back into the arena.  The Carter Logo Books are now back, in digital format.  For more information, see www.TrademarksUSA.org.