About Us

Dane Henas

Designer

Born in Sacramento to a family of advertising professionals, Dane got a jump start in the design business. He launched his career during high school, working first as a production artist for a newspaper, then for a printing company. An up-and-coming Sacramento ad agency hired him as Art Director, where his knack for attention-getting ads paid off for the agency and its clients. In 1979, he started Dane Henas Design, focusing on sales-driven design and advertising.

Over the past three decades, Dane Henas Design has earned a solid reputation as a small, creative firm that knows how to sell. Dane’s advertising work has been published in How, a national graphic design magazine. His logo and stationery designs have been published in American Corporate Identity, a nationally distributed book showcasing American designers. He has received numerous awards from the Sacramento Advertising Club, The International Association of Business Communicators, and the Sacramento Public Relations Association.

Dane’s creative talent extends to cooking. Regional Mexican, in particular. An accomplished chef, he has traveled extensively throughout Mexico to learn the nuances of this complex cuisine. He is also an expert on mid-century modern design, and has meticulously restored an Eichler home in South Sacramento. And finally, there’s the music. Thousands of CDs and LPs line the shelves of his home and office: jazz, country, rock, Latin, bluegrass, folk, rockabilly, oddball novelties – the collection is broad and eclectic. Just don’t ask to hear Barry Manilow, Neil Diamond or Sting.

Wendy Heaton

Writer

Another local, Wendy grew up in Sacramento and Loomis. She earned a B.A. in English with honors at U.C. Davis, where she graduated Phi Beta Kappa. She’s a fan of ‘60s advertising greats David Ogilvy and Bill Bernbach, who put forth the radical notion that advertising should actually sell. When a friend gave her a copy of Ogilvy on Advertising in 1983, she was hooked. Ogilvy said, “If it doesn’t sell, it’s not creative.” Words that have inspired and guided her work ever since.

Wendy started working with Dane in 1984, developing marketing strategies and writing sales copy. She has won many awards from advertising and public relations associations, but, like Dane, she gets her kicks from helping clients sell their products.

In 2000, Wendy took a job as Marketing Director for Balanced Body, the world’s largest manufacturer of Pilates exercise equipment. She directed all aspects of the company’s marketing: advertising, website development, public relations, product branding, trade show marketing and video production. She was also a key member of the management team that guided the company’s growth and product development. By the time she re-joined Dane Henas Design in 2005, Balanced Body was the worldwide leader in Pilates – a multi-million-dollar company with sales in 100+ countries.

In her off hours, Wendy works on a trout stream restoration project on her family’s cattle ranch near Mt. Lassen in northeastern California. She’s a die-hard downhill skier who loves to ski in storms – best powder, no people. She’s also a film buff with a taste for film noir, spaghetti westerns and American classics.