Dan Ari Smith


Writer &
Creative Director

Venice, CA 


︎ danielarismith@gmail.com
 

I believe the story is the strategy.
Everything else flows from there.


I work with brands to capture their essence and bottle it up in the form of creative direction, campaigns, copy, content, and other alliterative nonsense. The work’s potent. It grabs people by their shoulders. Gives them something to talk about over dinner.


01 Copy + Creative

For the past two years I’ve worked as Writing Director at Universe.

I developed a brand dialect that’s fearless, clear, and human. Nothing held back. Typing in brief bursts as if thoughts are transmissions hacked together with a broken keyboard.

I’m currently working with BeReal, Bunsen Studio, Joymode, Recess, and Universe to develop narratives and visual identities as they re-brand.


BeReal
Bunsen
Joymode
Recess
Universe

︎




02 Brand Development

Ketums was my grandfather’s raincoat company that was destroyed in WWII. In 2015 I re-imagined the brand and started it back up again from scratch.

There are some jackets floating around on the internet, but the project’s on the backburner.


Founder
Creative Director
ketums.com

︎



03 Writing


“Dan has a real talent for capturing the electricity of feelings-in-the-moment. Almost like his image-creation capacity has a stenographer. Comparisons to Kathy Acker, Ryu Murakami, and Kerouac come to mind.”

-Megan Boyle


Books
Poetry
Fiction

︎


04 Songwriting


I make music under the artist name rue rené. Indie/folk kind of vibe. Give it a listen if you’re into that sort of thing.  

Song “Home” featured on the show “Heels” on Starz. 


rue rené
on Spotify

︎

Dan Ari Smith


Writer &
Creative Director

Venice, CA 


︎ danielarismith@gmail.com
 

I believe the story is the strategy.
Everything else flows from there.


I work with brands to capture their essence and bottle it up in the form of creative direction, campaigns, copy, content, and other alliterative nonsense. The work’s potent. Grabs people by their shoulders. Gives them something to talk about over dinner.


01 Copy + Creative

Head of Content @ HNT Labs, the makers of Towns and River Protocol.

I maintain a small creative shop called Corduroy, where I’ve worked with a16z, BeReal, Recess, Shibumi, Noka, Infinite Machine, Manufactur, Joymode and others. 

︎




02 Brand Development

Ketums was my grandfather’s raincoat company that was destroyed in WWII. In 2015 I re-imagined the brand and started it back up again from scratch.

There are some jackets floating around on the internet, but the project’s on the backburner. 


Founder
Creative Director
ketums.com

︎



03 Writing


“Dan has a real talent for capturing the electricity of feelings-in-the-moment. Almost like his image-creation capacity has a stenographer. Comparisons to Kathy Acker, Ryu Murakami, and Kerouac come to mind.”

-Megan Boyle


Books
Poetry
Fiction

︎


04 Songwriting


I make music under the artist name rue rené. Indie/folk kind of vibe. Give it a listen if you’re into that sort of thing.

Song “Home” featured on the show “Heels” on Starz.  


rue rené
on Spotify

︎