Dan Janssen never thought skateboarding in his neighborhood cul de sac would lead him to his dream career. 

Dan grew up in California and was always surrounded by skaters and surfers ripping through sunny streets and riding Pacific tubes. His passion for action led him to enter an amateur skate league and make friends at the various skate and surf shops in town. It was in these shops that Dan fell in love with skateboard deck designs and logos. 

A local surf shop owner was in need of new graphics for t-shirts, so Dan started sketching designs. Suddenly, Dan was creating designs and graphics for the surf community and getting paid to do it, at just 13 years old. When he started earning his first few paychecks, Dan realized that he had found his passion. He could make a living doing what he loved. 

He continued working with local shops and creating designs, as well as taking art classes during all four years of high school. Dan’s art teacher had a studio at her house and encouraged her students to stop by and create anything in their wildest dreams. Her encouragement and support of Dan’s artwork solidified his feeling that he could make a career out of design. 

Dan was accepted into the Denver Art Institute, so he packed up and moved to Denver, where he traded his surfboard for a snowboard. But he always knew the West coast would be his home. 

After graduating, he moved back home to California and started working at DC Shoes, a company that designed skateboarding shoes. Dan loved this job and was even able to start doing freelancing work for people he had met in the skating and surfing worlds. It wasn’t about the money– it was about meeting people with the same passion for design. But eventually Dan was ready to take a leap of faith and start his own shop. And he took it.  

He packed his bags again, this time staying on the West coast, and moving to Portland, where he opened up Lincoln Design Co. The contacts and friends he had met doing freelance work wanted to continue working with Dan, allowing him to hire some employees and begin working with more clients. Dan started working with Kubota and helped create the Kubota Country logo, a project that he had so much fun working on, and a project that we’re so thankful he helped us with. 

His favorite part of design work is creating logos and branding for a client. When Dan sees a logo he’s helped create on a t-shirt or website, it fills him with immense gratitude. 

When it comes to inspiration, “grab as much as you can for tools to access– pens, paper, crayons and start making stuff! It doesn’t have to be illustrations. It could be popsicle sticks,” said Dan. 

He encourages aspiring artists to find the materials they love working with and get comfortable working with them. One of his employees loves to paint, but others might not share that passion. All of them are incredible artists and unique in their style. It’s just one of the many things Dan loves about his work. The design industry is a diverse one and full of ever-changing challenges that keep artists on their toes. Every day looks different for Dan and that’s part of the excitement. It helps his creative spark never burn out. 

You can browse Dan’s online portfolio and work on his website Lincoln Design Co.