It’s the End of an Era: What’s Next for Dangerdust?
By Amanda Pierce
The Dangerdust duo at CCAD’s bi-annual art fair
Photo by Tyler Dunlavy (CCAD 2014)
Chalk art by Dangerdust
Photo by Amanda Pierce
Chalk art by Dangerdust
Photo by Amanda Pierce
Dangerdust is taking the world by storm—a chalky, dusty storm stretching to the far corners of the interwebs.
The two still-anonymous Columbus College of Art and Design students made their first chalkboard masterpiece, a fitting quote by elusive graffiti artist Banksy, on a whim in September.
Twenty-three chalkboards, a Buzzfeed shout-out, two Huffington Post articles, a spot on WOSU’s Broad & High, nearly 70,000 combined Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook followers, and one burgeoning Etsy shop later, the sly Advertising & Graphic Design students are facing life as fresh CCAD graduates.
Like any good anonymous phenomenon, the duo is tight-lipped about the future, but they’re giving us every reason to believe this isn’t the end.
Q. It seems like everyone is talking about Dangerdust. How does it feel to go viral?
Unreal. It feels completely unreal. As of today, our Instagram has almost 60,000 followers. What is that? How? It’s hard to understand just what that means. One of our friends put it best, we think, by saying, “If you posted a picture of your armpit, 60,000 people would see it.” That realization is equally humbling, crazy, energizing, motivating, intimidating, stress-inducing, and exciting. It is an incredibly wonderful thing to have built up this following, and we’re going to do everything we can to keep our followers interested.
Q. Have you gotten any work out of this new wave of media attention?
We have! We’re very excited about the opportunities the media attention has opened up for us. We’ve gotten a good bit of freelance work, and we’ve met a lot of really sweet people. We’re eager to keep this ball rolling.
Q. How does it feel to be college graduates?
Well, on the one hand it still feels a little surreal. It probably won’t fully sink in until August rolls around and we’re not going to classes. On the other hand, we’ve been working 15-hour days, promoting Dangerdust, responding to emails, and picking up freelance jobs, so we’re definitely living the post-grad/freelance life. Everything seems to be happening at the perfect time. We’re incredibly grateful for the opportunities CCAD has provided us with, and above all, we’re glad we can call it our home.
Q. What will you miss about CCAD and your weekly chalkboards?
We’re definitely going to miss our weekly chalkboards, but it feels good to have the opportunity to start something new. We’re excited to take all that we’ve learned and push it further into a new project.
Q. So, we’re dying to know… what’s next for Dangerdust?
We’ve got some projects in the works. We’re definitely going to keep working, posting, and pursuing a freelance career, all while remaining anonymous. Stay tuned!
Keep up with Dangerdust on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Behance, and Etsy. To catch up on the latest
Dangerdust Twitter buzz all in one place, check out this Storify.