It was March 11th when an announcement arrived on my Facebook Newsfeed, that my former Graphic Design instructor from NSCC had officially changed his name to “Rob DANGER Hansen.”
I chuckled IMMEDIATELY at the sight of it for two reasons: One, I assumed someone in the office was likely messing around with Rob’s Facebook page and gave him the middle name of “Danger” as a joke; and two, Rob is ANYTHING but DANGEROUS! (Unless of course he’s marking your work…but that’s something entirely different.)
Nope, Rob is smart…possibly brilliant…incredibly sarcastic, unbelievably talented, and completely self-deprecating when it comes to his humour. He’s naive enough to try something new and will completely be the first to make fun of himself when he botches the entire thing up.
I have laughed…at his expense…on a great many occasions. Never behind his back and always with him leading the hilarity.
So, the Facebook status message of “I accidentally changed my middle name to ‘Danger’ and now Facebook tells me I’m stuck with it for 60 days” really came as no surprise. I could just imagine Rob messing with the features of Facebook and changing his name for a temporary joke…then BAM! He’s stuck with it.
I couldn’t stop from laughing.
And then Rob did something BRILLIANT.
He used it to his advantage.
Rob is an unbelievably talented illustrator and at the time he made the mistake, he happened to be looking for a new project to focus on. So, three days later (three days of which I’m quite sure he received much teasing from his friends), he created his first drawing announcing “60 Days of Danger”…and for the following 60 days, drew himself in various dangerous situations…all with a bit of the “snafu” side of Rob that those who know him, have come to enjoy.
From a Social Media standpoint…it’s a brilliant use of turning a faux pas into something people can sink their teeth into and get a bit of enjoyment from. It’s one of those campaigns where, if it was created by a brand, folks would be claiming “foul” and suggesting the entire thing was contrived and that the mistake was never really a mistake but a marketing ploy. But those of us who know Rob…know it was, indeed, a mistake.
From watching it unfold over the last two months, I have to admit, I’m going to miss when Rob turns his name back to normal and ditches his fabulous persona.
60 Days of Danger…wasn’t nearly long enough.
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Follow Rob’s work on Facebook and visit his Website, Mostly, he draws for the pure joy of drawing but he’s also happy to create commissioned pieces of anything you desire.
Next up, Rob plans to illustrate the video for his band American Eric…it will likely be fantastic!
Rob lives in Halifax with his wife and a few cats. When not drawing, he can be found on the golf course, in the classroom, or having pints with the boys.
This is AWESOME.