I’ve been a self-taught product designer for the past few years. One challenge of self-learning design principles is that no one out there is waiting for you to ask them to guide you for free or to confirm that your approach to user experience aligns with current trends. The reality is, that no one cares. Even LinkedIn connections can feel shallow.
What steps are necessary to establish oneself as a leading innovator like Andy Warhol in product design?
Let me put it this way: while there are a whole bunch of design trends each year, this is a fact that no one can deny. There is no point in being stressed about it. I have learned from Andy Warhol, Pablo Picasso, and other influential artists that what truly matters are the core principles underpinning great design. For Andy Warhol, that was commercial art, from which he produced innovative designs like ‘The Last Supper.’¹
However, this blog isn’t about Andy Warhol, his pop art, or the cubist movement of Picasso. It’s about me as a designer trying to break what would be the core principles of my designs. Since I’m also a philosophy major, my design worldview unconsciously reflects an analysis of various brands’ ideologies and also of great minds like theirs.
The purpose of this analysis is simple: to develop my own design beliefs. As the title suggests, my philosophy is a by-product of the one manifested by Kanye West’s Yeezy, especially his emphasis on self-expression and individuality.
Art for Art’s Sake vs. Commercial Art
This is a bold statement, but design should often be about self-expression and individuality, secondary to business acumen. And why shouldn’t it?
Being an artist means having two sides: one focuses more on self-expression and the other more on money. Kanye falls under the earlier side of artists. He is a creative person who believes in expressing oneself through art. His visionary values are rooted in challenging norms and embracing individuality.
While Andy Warhol falls under the latter side of artists, and to make my point, I’ll quote his words directly:
“I like money on the wall. Say you were going to buy a $200,000 painting. I think you should take that money, tie it up, and hang it on the wall. Then when someone visited you, the first thing they would see is the money on the wall.”²
— The Philosophy of Andy Warhol (From A to B and Back Again) (1975)
Kanye West’s design philosophy offers something hard to find: his rejection of unnecessary elements that don’t provide any function to the product in general. That is to say, West’s work challenged norms much like Andy Warhol did in his time, though with a more rebellious spirit that resonates with contemporary product design.
Yeezy Mafia:
There’s no doubt that the Yeezy brand has revolutionized the fashion world. Its influence extends far beyond clothing. It has adopted a certain aesthetic defined by minimalism, focusing on form, and innovation. This aesthetic can also be seen on platforms like GOAT, and Adidas, which carry Yeezy products, and even the Yeezy official Instagram page, ‘Yeezy Mafia.’³
This challenge to traditional notions, particularly evident in the ‘Yeezy Slides Pure’ design, has fascinated me as a product designer over the past few years.
What made Kanye come up with this design philosophy is another whole story. In short, it’s a drive to innovate and experiment with traditional shoe design. It’s transformed from a style accessory to a cultural shift.³
For further understanding, a simple search on Google for ‘Yeezy design philosophy’ provides additional resources and insights.
By pinpointing Yeezy’s philosophy, I will share four key UI concepts prioritizing user experience and self-expression over flashy elements. Together, these will form the foundation of a minimalist UI framework inspired by Kanye.
Philosophical Perspectives on Design: Application to UI Design
- Simplicity and Functionality
In philosophy, there is this phenomenon known as Occam’s razor which is about going for simpler assumptions to understand a thing instead of complex ones.⁴
This is the same ‘less is more’ (Occam’s razor) we see in the Yeezy Slide pure design. It’s quite functional, with clean lines and EVA foam providing exceptional comfort.
When I observed many existing e-commerce platforms, I began to see one problem: they were visually cluttered with unnecessary details, and the order summary and shipping details didn’t provide harmony among important information, resulting in a lower conversion rate.
A similar minimal-inspired redesign by muji.us increased sales conversion by 3.25%. This shows how a minimal-inspired interface improves the shopping experience and encourages users to complete purchases.⁵
Even though my preference is more toward technology startups (especially, innovation), the other part of me wants to explore how big e-commerce sites like Alibaba (Broad) and Razer (Niche) work.
This made me think: What if I make all four UIs about e-commerce, acting like a third party to sell well-known shoes to lesser-known countries?
To find a solution to that, I go back to Yeezy.
2. Emphasis on Form
When I think of the Boost 350 V2, it instantly reminds me of Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s (1945) Phenomenology of Perception, in which he discusses how we experience the world through our bodies. For him, the physical experience of wearing the shoe is as important as other aspects of life, and the interaction with the wearer’s body is as significant as aesthetics.⁶
So, by keeping Ponty’s phenomenology in the back of my mind, the coolest thing I find in these shoes is the combination of WHITE, CORE BLACK, and RED. It provides an avant-garde aesthetic focusing more on how the shoe fits, feels, and performs. That’s to say zebra-like black and white stripes across the Primeknit upper gives it a unique visual appeal.
So, my second UI focuses more on the product itself. It’s about the central placement of the Yeezy Slide pure image, with enough whitespace to direct the user’s eyes and minimal text and elements on the mobile screen.
3. Use of Neutral Colors
The point with Yeezy slides is that it has attention-grabbing neutral hues. This makes them pleasant to look at and not a huge load for the senses. It perfectly aligns with Ponty’s idea of seeing the world through a lived experience. It is as if the colors create a unique connection between a product and the user.
Another angle that can be taken in terms of philosophy is Existentialism.⁷ To create meaning by oneself. The choice of colors in the product or the absence of any is all up to the wearer to define their own experience with the product.
This is not just limited to the choice of the wearer but also extends to design decisions. This absence of predefined meaning allows a product to evolve from nothing into something.
4. Innovation and Individuality:
I have already discussed how a design, like anything else, can be a culmination of various fields.
In terms of philosophy, I draw inspiration from three models and those also could be applied when we talk about innovation in Yeezy slides designs.
What makes it set a new benchmark for upcoming shoes in the fashion industry?
The answer can be found in ‘YZY foam runner mx sand grey’. A design that takes traditional shoes to new heights with a unique blend of sustainable foam and customized elements.
The answer provided by the YZY Foam Runner is something I want to incorporate into my live bidding leaderboard UI. It demonstrates how a unique blend of traditional ideas can give a new meaning to the concept of a leaderboard.
Take away:
My role as a product designer, taking inspiration from Kanye’s innovative designs, helps me build what I call artistic belief in my design. It also accelerated my willingness to take risks, making me experiment in ways I might not have in the first place.
My approach to design is more about expanding the understanding of given constraints and finding creative solutions that align with form and function.
My goal through this blog is to create designs that prioritize user experience while upholding a sense of individuality, with the influence of the Yeezy brand always in mind. I aim to show how the intersection of art, philosophy, and design inspires my design — and how they can inspire others as well.
As Kanye himself suggests:
let’s be less concerned with ownership of ideas. It is important that ideas see the light of day even if you don’t get the credit for them. Let’s be less concerned with credit awards and external validation.⁸
[1] Howard Halle (November 16, 2022). Who Was Andy Warhol, and Why Was He So Important? Who Was Andy Warhol and Why His Art Was So Important (artnews.com)
[2] Tate.org (2024). What Was Andy Warhol Thinking? Soup cans, movie stars and dollar signs … explore the ideas and themes behind Warhol’s iconic artworks What Was Andy Warhol Thinking? | Tate
[3] Julian Mitchell (November 30, 2015). Yeezy Season: Kanye West And The Art Of Design Thinking Yeezy Season: Kanye West And The Art Of Design Thinking (forbes.com)
[4] Chris Simms (2024). Occam’s razor What is Occam’s razor? | New Scientist
[5] Transaction Intelligence (July 2024). Muji.us’s revenue OVER TIME muji.us ecommerce revenue, sales and traffic | Grips (gripsintelligence.com)
[6] Merleau-Ponty, M. (1945). Phenomenology of perception. Routledge.
[7] The Ethics Centre (December 11, 2018). Ethics Explainer: Existentialism What Is Existentialism? An Ethics Explainer By The Ethics Centre
[8] Jake Nevins (2018). Kanye West returns to Twitter, writing a philosophy book ‘in real time’ Kanye West returns to Twitter, writing a philosophy book ‘in real time’ | Kanye West | The Guardian
