Daniel Ware

About Daniel Ware

Hello. My name is Dan. I’m an artist, designer, tinkerer, DIY generalist, dad of three (4 if we’re counting canine kids) and husband of one. I’ve done advertising in some aspect my entire adult life. I studied it in college, before I really knew what it – advertising – really was. I started out as “an account guy,” working on the Ford Motor Company account. I was green as hell, but quickly learned the ropes through hard work, late nights and a lot of pizza and beer. From the jump, I was hooked on the collective effort and thrill of pitching an idea, then seeing it come to life through the creative development and production process. I loved advertising but not necessarily my part in it. I longed to tinker. To create. To craft an idea into something special. Something I could look at with pride and say to myself, hell yeah, I made that. Long story short, I made the leap – I built a portfolio of fake ads, got into ad school, and changed the trajectory of my career, and my life. Fast-forward 20+ years and I find myself blessed. I’ve had the good fortune of working at a lot of great agencies and working on all kinds of business categories, with clients from Altoids to Zespri (it’s a golden kiwi fruit). I’ve been able to travel to some fascinating places to make ads, and I’ve won my fair share of awards, but the more I do this advertising thing, the more I’m amazed at how much fun I get to have at work. Sure, It’s an entirely different world then when I started out as a naïve account executive, but some things are still the same; every day is entirely different then the last, I get to work with people way cooler than me, and I get paid to play. Let’s play.

Experience

1. Creative Director-head of Design

   Blue Chip

   Nov 2023 — Present

Education

• Virginia Commonwealth University

  Master of Science, Mass Communincation (Advertising)

  2001 — 2003

• Ferris State University

  Bachelor of Science (B.S.), Advertising

  1988 — 1992