Danny Rankin
Teaching Assistant Professor and Interim Associate Director of Undergrad Programs • Whaaat!? Lab • MATERIALS, GAMES, GRAPHIC DESIGN
danny.rankin@colorado.edu

ATLS 201

Office Hours: In Person Tuesdays, 11-12:15, ATLS 201. Remote, by appointment: calendly.com/daniel-rankin/officehours/

Danny Rankin is an instructor in the Creative Technology & Design program. Both the courses he teaches and his individual research reflect a diverse array of expertise, including graphic design, material fabrication, game design, hardware hacking, sustainable agriculture and large-scale installation art. 

Rankin directs the ATLAS Whaaat!? Lab, a space for experimental game and interaction design. His cooperative card game Ravine, which began in a TAM game design class, later became one of the most popular card game Kickstarters of 2017. Alongside Matt and Lisa Bethancourt, he is the co-creator of Busy Work, which won the 2017 IndieCade Media Choice award. In 2018, both games were selected for exhibition at the XOXO Festival.  

Rankin also mentors in the ATLAS BTU Lab.  He holds a Master of Science from the ATLAS CTD program, and a Bachelor of Arts in environmental studies from CU Boulder.

ATLAS graduate program alumni  

Undergraduate Honors Thesis

 

Member of the Blow Things Up (BTU) Lab  

Member of the Whaaat!? Lab  

In the news

Danny Rankin on Donuts, Design & Debate
Danny Rankin discusses logos and branding on Donuts, Design & Debate

Feb. 9, 2022

ATLAS Teaching Assistant Professor Danny Rankin discusses design, logo and branding on the Feb. 2 episode of Donuts, Design & Debate, a podcast about design from the creators of SketchUp Talk.

composite of images illustrating ctrl.alt.gdc winners
Four ATLAS teams selected for coveted GDC showcase

Jan. 19, 2022

Miniature cardboard arcades, ketchup and mustard bottle game controllers, physically mining for cryptocurrency and manic pizza, candy and gold stock trading over the phone: These are the concepts behind four games developed in CU Boulder's ATLAS Institute that have been selected to participate in alt.ctrl.GDC 2022, a coveted showcase of...

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Whaaat!? Festival returns from virtual wilderness

Oct. 6, 2021

ATLAS Institute's Whaaat!? Festival has returned from the virtual wilderness! Back in-person in November, the fourth annual event promises an arcade and conference packed with phenomenal guest speakers, bizarre games and experimental interactions.

Tracy Fullerton
Whaaat!? Festival offers video gamers a walk in the woods

Feb. 9, 2021

As part of the ATLAS Institute’s third annual Whaaat!? Festival, Tracy Fullerton, game designer and creator of the award-winning, "Walden, a game" will lead an interactive excursion into the world of nature and video games in an online talk on Feb. 24. Fullerton is a professor in the USC Games program at the University of Southern California and the director of the university's Game Innovation Lab.

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