Olu Ogumbi: Alumni Spotlight

After graduating from business school with a Bachelor’s in Marketing and working in the field of advertising for several years, Olu decided to enroll in Furman University’s Mater of Arts in Strategic Design program. In this video, Olu dives into his experiences and how they have impacted him moving forward.

We recently sat down with Master of Arts in Strategic Design (MASD) Student (now graduate) Olu Ogunbi about his experience in the program and how it has prepared him to take on the future.

Q: Which Design Track Did You Follow?

I ultimately chose to do Art Direction because it was more along the lines of strategy. I also wanted to have a broader scope on being able to understand the design process and design thinking, while also being the liaison between creative and client. That’s where I wanted to sit myself.

Q: What was your background before entering the MASD program?

I came from a marketing background, studied marketing at UAB. Initially I wanted to go into medicine, but decided to go into marketing. Upon graduation I worked in a couple jobs which weren’t really advertising positions, but I really wanted to go into something that was more creative.

I always saw myself as a creative, but never understood what it meant as a career. For the most part, I’m more analytical/business minded. I do draw, but never had any experience in Photoshop or InDesign or anything like that.

Q: How has the MASD program impacted you?

I’ve come a long ways. It’s pretty much a miracle of how far I’ve progressed. I think understanding the tools have allowed me to be more confident in myself in being able to execute some of these projects.

This program it allowed me to have more empathy when it comes to design work and and be able to understand where creatives are coming from.  Coming from a business background, you understand the more of the statistics and the hard facts and data, but you never understand the conceptual side of things, as far as the creative process and design thinking. Being able to have that understanding in this program has allowed me to better understand the process when it comes to creative work.

Q: What is your advice for someone getting started?

I like to say that the most important thing is just being willing to ask for help. Being able and willing to learn and to understand the programs. It really does take humility to understand that you can’t just do it by yourself. You can’t just go about learning tools  trying to figure it out on your own, so you really had to reach out to help.

I think the most important thing for anyone coming up in this industry, or in any industry really, is to have mentors. I think you can find that anywhere, but it really provides a level of confidence in yourself and what you have people that sort of sort of look at look like you in the industry and you’re able to see yourself in that role.

Q: What are your future goals?

My immediate goal is to finish strong and also to to land a position, either in house, or in an agency. From what I’ve been told, you work on number of clients and you really get your feet wet and you ever dive deep into the industry. Being able to understand different clients and working on multiple really makes you a stronger and competitive does create a person in this industry so I think that’s very important.

Ultimately, I see myself working in my own agency and creating my own agency down the line, but I really wanted to start with getting my feet wet, to work in in this field long enough to potentially work for myself down the line.