Reasons Why Drake Would Be A Great Designer

4 min readApr 28, 2015

Aubrey Graham, better known as Drake, is a difficult man to pin down. He’s a rapper and an actor, a courteous Canadian and a member of the New Orleans-based Young Money crew, a suave gentleman and a strip club connoisseur. He checks all of the boxes, while still remaining inexplicably, quintessentially Drake.

It’s not so hard, then, to imagine Drake in another profession altogether, one that requires a similar level of artistry and focus: design. Of course, just like everything that he’s done, Drake wouldn’t just dabble in design; he would produce some of the best design you ever had. Here’s why Drake would make a terrific designer:

1. Empathy

Designers need to observe, understand, and most importantly, connect with their audience. Successful designers are able to think from another’s point of view and walk in their shoes. As Drake would say, “Cause time heals all, but heels hurt to walk in.” No words could be truer, Drake knows a lot of things hurt.

Drake’s deepest emotions exude from every exhale. His words transport us back to broken relationships, to our greatest achievements, and to the things we desire most. His songs synthesize the human condition within 16 bars. Drake invites us into his life, but we all leave with a better understanding of our own.

“Just like you, I get lonely too.”

2. Criticism

With empathy, designers reach to understand others, criticism completes the loop by giving the audience a chance to reach for the designer. This feedback is essential to push the ideas and craft of the designer. Design is a very personal expression of oneself which can make criticism difficult to receive. Great designers are able to shed their ego in order to accept assessment and generate great work.

Drake has amassed critics over the years for everything from his unorthodox, sentimental style to his outlandishly lavish retorts. Drake’s emotionally charged music make him easy to hate. But like all great designers, he doesn’t let the criticism get to him — he uses it as ammo to fuel his ambition.

“I had someone tell me that I fell off. Ooh I needed that.”

3. Team

Amazing design happens at the intersection of passionate people and incredible ideas. Design becomes a living thing, molded and sculpted by many, it is this collective effort that produces amazing design.

Drake understands his success is attributed to his whole team. Without them he would not be here. Through the fame, he never forgets where he comes from, and who helped him get where he is today. Like any great designer with a team behind them, Drake is able to put away the individual claim and give credit to the squad for all the support.

“Started from the bottom, now the whole team fuckin’ here.”

4. Communication

Great designers are able to clearly articulate their ideas and visions. Designers need all the information in order to solve the problem at hand, and strong communication skills facilitate a stronger understanding and a stronger solution.

Drake understands the importance of strong communication. Like the great designers before him, Drake listens with the intent of understanding the situation and speaks intelligently on the matter at hand.

“I hear you talking, say it twice so I know you meant it.”

5. Honesty

The proverb, Honesty is the best policy, holds a lot truth in the design world. Being honest when giving/receiving criticism and being honest when evaluating one’s own work leads to stronger overall result.

Drake honors honesty in himself and especially in his music. He allows himself to be vulnerable and shows strength in the same lyric, he rhymes:

“And know I pop bottles cause I bottle my emotions.
At least I put it all in the open.”

6. Ambition

The thing that separates the Greats from the mediocre is ambition. Ambition drives great designers to: be the best, succeed beyond the rest, and ascend to greater heights. Sometimes this is conveyed as hunger. Great designers are hungry for more work, pushing their craft to perfection, over and over, again and again.

Drake has desire (and knows Desire from Dreams) and feeds off his hunger to be the best. He’s one of the hardest working artists alive, and is constantly fueled by his ambition to reach new heights of stardom

“I’m just feeling like the throne is for the taking, watch me take it.”

So there you have it. Drake’s ability to connect with others on an emotional level, to take criticism and use that to fuel his ambition, his emphasis on communicating effectively with his team are all traits that would propel him to be the G.D.O.A.T (Greatest Designer Of All Time).

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