Today we’d like to introduce you to Andreas Danner.
Hi Andreas, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
Ok, where do I begin – I guess my name would be a good start? My name is Andreas and I’m the owner of Andreas Danner Creative, working in photography, graphic design and marketing.
I`m still pretty new to the Twin Cities, actually – and it`s all my wife`s fault! In summer of 2021, she and I packed our life back in Germany into two suitcases and moved to Minneapolis for my wife`s new job in research at the University of Minnesota`s Masonic Institute for the Developing Brain (her name is Julia Moser & she and the lab are doing some pretty cool stuff – look them up!).
Back in Germany, I was working in digital marketing, influencer marketing, social media communications and public relations for several years at a major publishing company with a focus on sports trading cards, comic books and magazines. Working in marketing, especially in an industry like comic books which is highly influenced by art and design, I have always had a huge interest in visual forms of communication. Photography has also been a big fascination of mine for nearly a decade and I`ve always had the subtle, but ever-present urge to pursue it even further – so I took the opportunity that came with switching countries and moving to another continent to just give it a shot and see where it leads me!
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
With all those potholes around… are there even any smooth roads in Minneapolis at all? All jokes aside though, there were a lot of challenges! The first and biggest was obviously moving to another continent – I’m sure you can imagine that this comes with quite a bit of bureaucracy – and doing so in the middle of a global pandemic certainly did not make things any less challenging. But hey, we made it! Getting here was only step one, though. Next on the list was finding a place to live, buying a car, getting furniture, getting a Minnesota driver’s license (yeah, turns out you can only use the German one for the first couple of weeks after moving here) and – most importantly – applying for a work permit. That one went surprisingly smoothly, though – and only a couple of weeks after getting here and receiving permission to work in the United States I made it official, formed a single member LLC and I was good to go!
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I do a whole bunch of things, actually! To keep things simple, let’s separate them into three categories: The main focuses of Andreas Danner Creative are Photography, Graphic Design and Marketing.
Initially starting out with landscape and travel photography, I always had a big fascination of people, portrait, family, editorial and lifestyle photography as well, which grew even bigger in recent years. Although I am not a big fan of strictly separating different genres and thinking in boxes, I would consider these as my main focuses in terms of my photographic work. Wildlife, commercial and product photography are also a big part of my portfolio, though. I guess you could say that I`m a bit of an allrounder in terms of what I do with photography. No matter the genre: capturing moments, freezing them into an image – all the way from pressing the button on my camera, through editing the photo to the eye of the person looking at it in the end – that`s what fascinates me the most about photography.
What’s probably the most rewarding and one of the many reasons I love to be a photographer are the reactions from clients when they get to see the final photos – this really never gets old! If you are reading this and like my work, feel free to reach out. I would love to work with you, too!
Besides Photography, graphic design is also a big part of what I offer – logo design, print design, vector design and illustration are among just some of the things I do. I really enjoy the creative process that comes with graphic design and working together with clients to create what they envisioned in my style and way to work.
And then, of course: there’s marketing and communications. These are still a big part of my everyday work that I’m doing for clients: social media marketing, influencer marketing, as well as public relations and e-commerce – these are highly dynamic fields of work that never ever get boring!
Although it seems like these are three completely different things, I feel having expertise and experience in all of them is definitely an advantage and often helps me to see the bigger picture for my clients and come up with the best result possible.
What were you like growing up?
Growing up, I have always been interested in art and design – I used to draw a lot when I was a kid (The Simpsons were my go-to characters to draw). Photography, however, came a bit later in life. The first time I held a professional camera in my hands was in College – I attended Stuttgart Media University (Hochschule der Medien) for my Bachelor’s and Master’s and also went to the University of Oregon for two terms as an exchange student while finishing my Master’s degree (Go Ducks!)
Oregon is also part of the reason why I got more into photography in the first place – after moving from Eugene back to Germany, we had a trip planned to see Oregon again as well as drive out to Glacier and Yellowstone National Parks – can’t go there without a camera, right? Right! So I borrowed a friend’s DSLR to take on the trip, and what can I say – I was hooked!
Traveling is one of my biggest passions and combining it with my love for photography really is a perfect match (my wife does get a little annoyed with me from time to time, though – but hey, photography breaks every few minutes on hikes are important!) Shortly after this trip, I got my first own camera which laid the foundations for what I do now.
Contact Info:
- Email: hello@andreasdannercreative.com
- Website: https://www.andreasdannercreative.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/andreasdannercreative/
Image Credits
