Dan Duarte
Tuesday, Sep 01, 2020
FAU Broward alumni Dan Duarte, a graduate from the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, is a product design lead at Microsoft and founder of his own apparel company, Mightier Than Co. Duarte received his BFA in Graphic Design in 2012 having served as the President of his BFA senior class and a founding member and Editor-In-Chief of Remarque, the school's first Visual Arts Journal. "Looking back, I'm really proud and grateful for my entire experience at FAU and being part of a Graphic Design program that really fosters design thinking," Duarte said. "The program had opportunities available for me to learn how to lead and craft my skills as a designer and storyteller."
During his sophomore year Duarte remembers being proud of winning the Esther Saylor Rothenberger Scholarship for Best Portfolio. "The reason that meant a lot to me was because the year before I completely blew it," he said. "I failed Portfolio review and was denied entry into the BFA program. Talk about motivation!"
Duarte, who was born in Queens, raised in Coral Gables, and currently lives in Settle, is proud of the product design work he has been doing at Microsoft, particularly around diversity and gender inclusivity. "I've worked on a set of features that allow all folks, including gender non-conforming and non-binary users to include their pronouns as part of their professional profile within our products," Duarte said. "We want people to be able to freely express their identity via these personal indicators and help normalize these identifiers to ensure that we are communicating with each other respectfully."
Another professional achievement is Duarte's T-shirt and apparel company, Mightier Than Co., that he launched four years ago. "Currently I am releasing one collection every year, heavily inspired by vintage typography and traditional tattoo design," he said.
Duarte has many fond memories of his years at FAU. He says what stands out are the people he met and the relationships he built. "The real world can seem like a scary place to a recent grad but being able to lean on the people around you for guidance and inspiration goes a long way in the creative field," Duarte said. "If I could share any advice, It'd be to take the time to make connections with the folks around you and you'll have a strong support system that will last your career."
To see more of Dan's work check out:
