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1. #Who designed kanye west graduation album cover full#
2. #Who designed kanye west graduation album cover series#

#Who designed kanye west graduation album cover series#

The cover was based on the landscape series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji by Katsushika Hokusai. More recently West and Murakami collaborated for another album cover, Kids See Ghosts. The video follows the bear racing through a futuristic city while overcoming obstacles in order to make it in time for his graduation ceremony. The music video features Murakami’s take on West’s Bear Mascot that was featured in his last two albums. Murakami also took on the music video direction for the album’s opening song, Good Morning.

#Who designed kanye west graduation album cover full#

Murakami’s superflat style is on full display for the entire artwork of the album, portraying the Dropout Bear, or Kanye Bear, and other colorful motifs synonymous with the music. The art direction for Graduation is now world-renowned thanks to the work of the duo. However, Kanye called him a few months later, and the idea of the Graduation album cover was born.Īfter a few years and many redesigns due to the perfectionist nature of Murakami, Kanye had happily settled with a final design. While on his tour of the studio Takashi said that the rapper was very quiet, which he took as a bad sign. Kanye first met Takashi Murakami while visiting his studio in Tokyo, where the rapper was particularly interested to see Murakami’s Miss Ko2 sculpture. Beyond the colorful and flat models is a philosophy rooted in reflection and criticism, a juxtaposition to the “simplistic” nature of his work.įrom rocking Takashi Murakami’s 2003 Louis Vuitton collaboration in the streets of New York to collaborating on two album covers, Kanye is a clear fan of his work. In his own words, superflat also brings attention to the consumerism and westernization of his native Japan. Takashi’s “superflat” art movement portrays objects flattened, while bright colors and hues exemplify contemporary Japanese. Kanye West and Takashi Murakami struck gold with his concept. While the parallels between the two may seem few and far between, blending music with contemporary art has proven to be a winning formula.

Murakami, on the other hand, found success by utilizing “superflat” theory within his contemporary art style. Kanye’s rise in popularity during the 2000s obviously derives from his music, which included critically acclaimed album after album. Digital Librarian and Instagram Creative contributed information for this story.ĭespite hailing from two different sides of the artistic landscape, the paths of Kanye West and Takashi Murakami have crossed during their respective careers in the form of a myriad of collaborations from the duo.