I'm Danielle Baskin — a product designer, situation designer, visual artist, and founder of Moonlight, a social platform for Tarot. I previously co-founded Dialup, a globally acclaimed voice-based social app. I’ve made products and experiences for people around the world: optical illusions of a cloud for NASA, ice cream tricycles for Nickelodeon, and branded avocados for Salesforce. My company Maskalike’s products have been seen over 1 billion times and now my mask of my face is in the collection of the Science Museum of London. I’ve been called a “puckish technology artist” by The New Yorker, in the “the twilight zone between make-believe and reality” by Forbes, as well as featured in Vice, Fast Company, Business Insider, Engadget, Washington Post, The Verge, WSJ, and more. I was profiled in The New York Times article 27 Years Old, 6 Companies, 1 Employee: Herself. My stunts have probably been shared in your Slack channels and on your Twitter feed.
I'm based in San Francisco, and was formerly based in a garage, and closets in New York. I grew up on the Internet running virtual businesses in MMOs and playing adventure games. I later became a painter and started the company Inkwell Helmets, which developed the world's largest selection of helmet graphics. I designed and painted several thousand helmets, inspired by the conversations I'd have with strangers about my helmet while cycling around the city. I love playing with color and composition on non-traditional surfaces.
In 2010, I became involved with a few immersive theater companies in New York. I built sets and props, including counterfeit artwork that New York Times called "remarkable". I was simultaneously building internet businesses, which challenged me to think about products as experiences. I try to blend product design with immersive theater and take existing concepts and turn them into out of the ordinary experiences: like a domain name swap, going camping at Dreamforce, or turning my tricycle into a mobile office to promote a new coworking space.
I like figuring out new ways to facilitate conversations through delightful and strange experiences. I'm excited about building stuff that makes people interact with the world differently and make unexpected connections.
Outside of my work, I play video games, make pixel art, create Internet pranks, explore abandoned buildings, and I talk on the phone about the moon. I read tarot too.
I also speak at conferences, events, and internal corporate summits about entrepreneurship, scrappiness, art, comedy, innovation, and internet culture.
If there’s something in my portfolio that strikes a chord, let's start a conversation. Email contact@djbask.in. You can also tweet at me @djbaskin.
For occasional email updates, sign up for my Tiny Letter.
To support my artwork, visit my Patreon.