Q&A with Emmanuel Obayemi, Freelance Creative Director
After almost two years of monthly Q&A’s, I took a break to regroup. So, I’m extra excited to reconnect with another Alberta University of the Arts peer – Emmanuel! Although I don’t remember ever using Emmanuel’s full name, he was always Eman - our cool, tall, ultra-talented, and full of warmth friend. He has gone on to have a stellar career, first as a Designer in Calgary then moving to Toronto to focus on Art Direction and winning a bunch of awards along the way. In this Q&A I catch up with Eman to follow his career since art school.
Can you tell me a bit about yourself and your background? Sure, I grew up in West Africa in Nigeria and moved to Canada to go to school and have been here ever since. I’ve always evolved in my career, first I worked in branding, then digital, then moved onto advertising. Currently, I am a freelance Creative Director and have fused my creative interest with doing different projects that make me happy.
How did you end up at AUArts? Long story short my mom lives in the United Kingdom and my dad in Nigeria. The plan was to move to the UK for university and at some point, my dad had the foresight to say “you are 17 and can go to university anywhere you want, do you really want to go to your second home? Or go and see the world and explore.” He knew Canada had opportunities, so he encouraged me to move here. My aunt was living in Grand Prairie and said I could live with her and my uncle. Moving to a small town wasn’t exciting but it made being in a new country not super lonely.
In Grand Prairie, I completed a Visual Arts Diploma and knew I wanted to do more schooling. After looking across Canada and visiting a few different places I found the Alberta University of The Arts (formerly Alberta College of Art and Design) and it felt like a bunch of artsy misfits - a wonderland of arts and creativity. I felt immersed in a world of art as soon as I walked in, and felt like it was my place, so I didn’t look any further.
What made you want to be a designer/art director? As a child, I was always into drawing and art but growing up in Nigeria the only forms of professional creativity I saw were painters and architects - I knew I didn’t want to be either. I had interests in business and psychology, and I wanted to harness my creative talent, but I didn’t want to do it in the traditional form. Being at AUArts you see people doing all kinds of things, and of all the people I spoke to I found that the advertising stream was a mix of all the things that I enjoyed. It had a business angle, was entrepreneurial, and combined the psychology of consumers with products and brands, so it was a good amalgamation of all the things I was interested in.
What was your first job there and career path since school? My first job was at a tiny print shop the summer after my Grand Prairie course and before going to AUArts. I worked at Foundry in Calgary but I soon realized I needed to be in a bigger, more diverse market long-term. I took a trip to Toronto and booked as many meetings with as many agencies as I could, the response was great, and that was the kind of fire I needed to move out here.
How has work been throughout the pandemic? Have you been working from home? The pandemic was challenging but I’m an introvert, so it hasn’t been too bad. I was fortunate to be busy and clients pivoted from launching brand-focused ads to Covid specific work. The challenge for me personally was having both my wife and me working in a small apartment. Some things were good though! We strengthened our bond and were able to take daily walks and exercise together. We stayed thankful, positive, focused on booking as much work as we could, and took time to rest.
Tell me about Peppeh Co.? Peppeh Co. is a creative company that I run with a business partner of mine. We started off small, but it has taken off. We did work with successful musicians like Mr. Eazi and Sauti Sol. We also do some work with Aljazeera, and their storytelling department called Contrast. We’ve done a lot of social and brand stuff for that department and created a digital experience that launched at the Sundance film festival in 2019. It has been a lot of learning as most of the clients are based abroad. Time zones get challenging and getting teams to execute a vision without being on the ground is not always the easiest. It’s been fun though, I’m grateful to be busy and grow in that area and through Peppeh Co.
I’d love to hear more about your project Documented. Documented is a journalism website out of New York that focuses on immigration documentation and stories of immigrations out of New York and the greater U.S. It’s a great group of people to work with and I’ve done a rebrand for them and am redoing their website and digital presence.
Any other favourite projects? Or a most meaningful project for you? I just finished a project with Huge, that was relaunching the investment company, Cooperators. The ads started running in the summer and feature a diverse cast of different families and their stories, check them out here. I worked with a fun director and really loved how the films turned out. I’m getting more into film and enjoy working on holistic campaigns.
Talk to me about how you got started making music? And what is Hot Coco all about? I’ve always been into music and a really good friend of mine who is an editor in Toronto is also big into music. We started djing our own small events here and there and then took up a residency at the Drake Hotel. We play global music with a lot of African pop and house stuff that we grew up with. It’s a platform for us to play and showcase our culture to people that have not been exposed to that kind of music before. It was a hobby that turned into a bigger thing, and with both of us in advertising we have fun with our marketing and promo videos. Lately, I’m focusing on my passions and using my experience as a Creative to work cohesively. Those kinds of projects make me happy and are a great change-up from how intense our industry can be.
What are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced? It’s been believing in myself and that I am creative and smart. I think most people feel impostor syndrome at some point and that has been my biggest challenge. Now that I have been able to overcome that I can take risks, like going freelance and exploring ideas I may not in a formal setting.
What made you want to go freelance? Agency politics became more about playing the game instead of focusing on the work. Sometimes it felt like you were pushing an agenda, like your Creative Director wanting to sell a specific idea that isn’t a good idea for a client, even the dynamics between teams getting the “good” projects etc. I got into this because I like creativity and that is my north star. Going freelance gave me the opportunity to cut out the other stuff and focus on making good work.
Who do you admire and why? Or who inspires you? These days I don’t have a specific person. Anyone who is doing anything on their own, doing things their own way, whether that is a social media influencer, or someone selling t-shirts online. I respect all those people who are finding their own path, have self-belief, and do the opposite of what everyone else is doing.
What are your big lofty goals for the future? The future for me is doing many different creative lead ventures but at a higher level. Also being able to give back, coach other people, helping them figure out the industry. I want to keep working, have fun and be able to make it less about me and more about other people.
I think the industry is going through a renaissance. It’s good that people are talking about mental health, I think we will see less burnout, and more people interested in balance, real balance not just talking about it and taking care of themselves more.
What’s on your bookshelves? Or podcasts? I’m more of a podcast person and the one that I really enjoy is How I Built This with Guy Raz. I’m really interested in people’s journeys and the entrepreneurial part of them. It’s inspiring to hear how people overcome challenges, stories about how they didn’t make money for 20 years, or where things fell apart and they turned it around at the last second. We don’t talk about that enough, the hard parts of people’s journeys and that if you fail it’s ok, it’s all part of it and you’ll find your way.
I really also love the podcast called Lessons She Learned, it’s a great peek into the experiences of a young black woman in Canada.
Hobbies? I enjoy having hobbies outside of work, it gives me a creative break. A lot of music-related stuff, djing and I’m currently doing some AR work with a few musicians. Spending time with family and things that make me happy.
Where can we find you?
Website - https://www.emanswork.com/
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/chief_emmanuel/
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/emmanuel-obayemi-87239121/