Donda (company)

Last updated
Donda
Founded2012;12 years ago (2012) in USA
Founder Kanye West
Key people
 Virgil Abloh
ProductsFilms, music videos
BrandsDonda Sports

Donda (styled in all caps) is a creative content company founded by American rapper and fashion designer Kanye West (Ye). [1] The company was named after West's mother, Donda West, and shares the name with his tenth studio album, released in 2021.

Contents

History

West announced the company on January 5, 2012, via a series of Twitter posts. [2]

In his announcement, West proclaimed that the company would "pick up where Steve Jobs left off"; Donda would operate as "a design company which will galvanize amazing thinkers in a creative space to bounce their dreams and ideas" with the "goal to make products and experiences that people want and can afford." [3]

The announcement garnered widespread media attention, including coverage by The Guardian , [4] The Washington Post , [5] The Huffington Post , [6] The Wall Street Journal , [7] and Time magazine, which proclaimed the company's announcement the first major social media moment of 2012. [8]

Culture

West was secretive about the company's operations, maintaining neither an official website nor a social media presence. [9] [10]

In stating Donda's creative philosophy, West articulated the need to "put creatives in a room together with like minds" in order to "simplify and aesthetically improve everything we see, taste, touch, and feel". [11] Contemporary critics have noted the consistent minimalistic aesthetic exhibited throughout Donda creative projects. [12] [13] [14]

Continuing a trend consistent in previous Kanye West projects, [15] an additional hallmark of Donda projects has been multi-disciplinary collaboration, often featuring prominent contributions from major figures in various creative fields. Prominent examples include painter George Condo, photographer Luis Tarin, video artist/film director Steve McQueen, performance artist Vanessa Beecroft, artist Wes Lang, stage designer Es Devlin, audio/visual designer Jadis Mercado, artist/sculptor Takashi Murakami, photographer Jackie Nickerson, fashion designer Riccardo Tisci, and fashion house Maison Martin Margiela. [16] [17] [18] [19] NFL wide receiver Antonio Brown is the chair president of the sports fashion line Donda Sports. [20]

Projects

Film

On May 23, 2012, Donda debuted its inaugural creative project, a film entitled Cruel Summer , as part of the 2012 Cannes Film Festival. The film is a seven-screen surround vision experience.

Cruel Summer was shot using a specialized camera rig, which allowed the directors to capture multiple angles simultaneously. [21] The film, developed in collaboration with the Doha Film Institute, design firm 2x4 and architecture firm OMA, was presented in a specially designed theater — christened "Surround Vision" — featuring seven screens which surrounded the audience. [22]

On March 7, 2015, West debuted a collaborative short film with director Steve McQueen entitled All Day/I Feel Like That. [23] The film premiered at the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris, France, followed by its American debut at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in July 2015. [24]

Album/singles art

Donda provided packaging design for the following albums and singles:

Music videos

Print

Stage design

The video for West's "New Slaves" was projected using guerrilla methods on over 60 buildings worldwide. New Slaves projection.jpg
The video for West's "New Slaves" was projected using guerrilla methods on over 60 buildings worldwide.

Marketing

Prominent marketing projects include:

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References

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