5 Topics Kanye West Should Address During His DONDA Design Lectures

November 20, 2013 - 6:16 pm by Chris Yuscavage

Kanye West wants you to know that he's about more than just music right now. So in addition to touring the country in support of his most recent album, Yeezus, Ye also kicked off the DONDA Design Lecture Series at Harvard on Sunday. It's unclear when, where, or even if he will be making additional stops on the DONDA Design Lecture Series—it's going to be kind of difficult to top Harvard, eh?—but assuming he is, in fact, going to turn this into a series, there are a few things that we think he should address.

During his lecture at Harvard, Kanye talked about the importance of design, his newfound love for architecture and utopia. Lots of talk about how "utopia is actually possible." And that's all well and good. But if he does take this show on the road, here are 5 other topics Kanye should also address during the DONDA Design Lecture Series to give us all some insight into his passion for design.

Photo Credit: Getty Images

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Topic #1: How education—or lack of education—factors into the world of design. During his talk at Harvard, Kanye was quick to give the students credit for going to college. "I really appreciate you guys' willingness to learn and hone your craft," he said, "and not be lazy about creation. I'm very inspired to be in this space." But Kanye is Mr. College Dropout. So while he's out preaching about good design, he should make mention of the fact that people don't necessarily need to have higher educations to be great at design. Does it help? Sure. But Kanye is a perfect example of how you can also make a difference without the benefit of a Master's degree in design. A lecture like that could encourage more people to take an interest in design. Photo Credit: Getty Images

Topic #2: How he got so interested in design in the first place. What brought all of this on? It seems like it was just yesterday Kanye was trying to convince everyone that he was a great rapper. And now, he's trying to do the same thing in the world of design. He's clearly very passionate about it. But we can't help but wonder what suddenly made him so interested in things like architecture and designing buildings. What gives? Photo Credit: Getty Images

Topic #3: How his success in the world of music helped him move into the world of design. Let's be honest: If Kanye wasn't a platinum-selling artist, do you think he would be doing a design lecture series right now? It's possible but highly unlikely. At the same time, it sometimes seems as though he wants to put his musical background on the back burner when he's dealing with DONDA and his interest in design. So we hope that he expounds on how music helped usher him into the world of design. It has helped him get his foot in the door. Photo Credit: Getty Images

Topic #4: How he finds his inspiration when it comes to designing. With DONDA, Kanye seems to have surrounded himself with a lot of really smart, creative people, which is the key to his success. But we would still be interested to find out how he finds his inspiration when he's designing all of the different things that he designs. From sneakers to album covers, where does he turn for inspiration? The answer to that question would likely help everyone who attends one of his lectures. Photo Credit: Getty Images

Topic #5: How he plans on using DONDA to make a real difference in the world. Anyone else still confused about the real role of DONDA? When Kanye first announced that he was forming the company, it sounded like it was going to be a company that would change the world. But so far, DONDA has been responsible for, well, a bunch of album covers. Some of those album covers have been pretty dope. But what gives? When are we going to see DONDA, like, building ridiculous skyscrapers or creating mind-blowing monuments or doing something of real value? Maybe—hopefully!—we'll find out through this lecture series. Photo Credit: Getty Images

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