SIGGRAPH 2015-2018 / Art Direction
SIGGRAPH 2014 / Art Direction
SIGGRAPH 2013 / Art Direction
A History of Graphic Design – Logos
+ Hello World
− Hello World
My name is Dane. I study design. I look at how design works in the world, and I work to make the world a better place by design. I believe the highest standard of any work is that you may make the world better. I see how design has that impact. And I see how the study of design encourages anyone to look at anything from an ethical point of view.
For people…
I want people to have good experiences, less confusion and more clarity. The experiences we get from big brands today are designed bold and clear, and can be good at times, however, at great expense. I want to help companies of all sizes realize this design standard because the end result of that collaboration is a more personalized experience for more people.
For culture…
I want to design for companies with civic-minded projects that might make a lot of lives meaningfully better. I want to believe that a lot of those kinds of companies are out there. And I want to help those companies amplify and clarify their visual communication.
For designers…
I want designers to be less eager to work on commercial technology, and more eager to take on the many challenges where design is part of a solution. I think there is value in leading by example so I look for wild projects to work on when I can. I want to show designers that these are the kinds of projects we can work on, and it can be just as satisfying as creating commercial apps that a lot people use because a lot of people may benefit in another way.
For storytellers…
I want to help share stories about nature. I want to help realize the visions of creative directors with wild stories to tell. I want to create creatures for animated experiences and illustrate wild animals in picture books and so on.
For nature…
I want to continue to grow as a graphic artist as well as a visual storyteller. I want to continue to look to art, technology and the natural world to inspire design. And I want to continue to develop a collection of works at Animat Habitat—a not-for-profit studio that I founded in 2015, where I create art to inspire conservation of the wild places and the animals that live in them.
The study of design makes clear how we are responsible for the work we contribute to the world. We should strive to leave a better world than when we arrived—to improve things. We not only can change the world, now, we must. So let's design for good.
— Dane Aleksander, graphic artist in Halifax—Kjipuktuk—the great harbour, 2015, revised 2025
“In time, the practice of creating images and curating imagery will build a unique perspective on light and silhouette and all visual tools that enforce line of action. Then this becomes an individual sense of design.”
Dane Aleksander, 2013