Inside Kanye West's Creative Agency DONDA
An experimental creative agency and a tribute to his late mother, Kanye West’s DONDA was first
An experimental creative agency and a tribute to his late mother, Kanye West‘s DONDA was first conceived as a means to spark change across the design industry with out-of-the-box ideas led by West’s most trusted forward-looking and creative thinkers. Covering everything from trailer remixes for Lindsay Lohan’s thriller The Canyons to introducing a free music writing program for troubled youths in Chicago, West has set DONDA free of any creative boundaries, with everything from energy balancing nutritional programs and amusement parks also set as very real future DONDA possibilities. Despite this wide coverage of creative topics, DONDA has remained relatively mysterious, but a recent review from VIBE takes a closer look at the agency, drawing parallels between West and Steve Jobs and tracing the early stages of its conception as far back as the days of 808 & Heartbreak in 2008.
His master plan reads like a stream-of-consciousness riff that becomes an epically ambitious screed (think Jerry Maguire’s infamous manifesto). There will be summer school programs with filmmaker Spike Jonze! An overhaul of the prison system! Nutritional consultation on achieving energy balance! Amusement parks! West tweeted: “We want to create, advertise and produce products driven equally by emotional want and utilitarian need.”
The kicker was that he intends to not just turn a profit or join the billionaire’s club. He wants to change the world through design and fill the void of late Apple cofounder Steve Jobs. A bit extreme, sure. But Kanye’s bombastic statements are expected. And for a man who secretes naked ambition and pretentious overtones from his very pores, it almost makes sense. Almost.
Check out VIBE for a full look.
