My Origin Story
This is the story behind over a decade of building products, websites, brands and other media to engage and activate.
My Origin Story
I grew up through the late 90s and early 2000s. For better or worse, my creativity was cultivated with frosted tips and JNCO jeans, Clarissa Explains It All, N*SYNC, and Tamagotchi rounding out the mise en scène.
Like many, my artistic side first manifested via paper and pencil before graduating to painting, collage, and then digital art. In high school, I had a 7 pieces featured in an art exhibition in my town's creative arts center.
Fun Fact #291
I was a show choir kid. (Yes, I pretty much lived the show Glee.)
As much as I loved being creative, I had grown up in a family that didn't see the creative arts as a practical career path. The "starving artist" metaphor was a common citation.
Fortunately, I grew up in close proximity to the National History and American History Museums at the Smithsonian, the Air & Space Museum, and the Baltimore Aquarium. I was enamored by the seemingly limitless capacity for human creativity writ large across history, from the cave drawings of Lascaux to digital paintings done with an Apple Pencil.
Education
After graduating high school a year early, I realized attending an out-of-state university was going to be tricky as a minor. Since I still wasn't sure what I wanted to study, I figured I'd enroll in a local school and use the time to explore different fields before turning 18.
Fun Fact #037
I lost track of how many times I changed my major as an undergraduate, but it was enough for it to take me 5 years to get my degree.
By my third year, I was leaning toward architecture and had been accepted into the New York Institute of Technology 5-year architecture program. In fact, this was so close to happening that I actually completed the orientation, had gotten my dorm assignment, and was actively in the process of registering for classes.
Ultimately, too few of my credits were going to transfer, which would have meant starting this 5-year program basically from beginning. Since I didn't want my bachelors degree to potentially take 9 or more years, I stayed at Shepherd University, settling into graphic design and psychology.
When I finally graduated, I knew I wanted to go straight into graduate school, deciding on anthropology at the University of Mississippi.
Shepherd University
University of Mississippi
I'm thoroughly impressed! He was honest and had numerous ideas to help push me forward and take it to the next level.
He stays one step ahead and seems to know what is needed before the company even realizes it. You can feel how passionate he is about his work and he takes it seriously.
Dane drives the creative process with impactful solutions and unique strategies, and has a vision for details while hitting key deadlines and managing multiple projects at once.
Let's Connect
I share the techniques, hacks, strategies, and other practical insights I've accumulated over more than a decade in the industry over on LinkedIn.