User:Emily Dyer/sandbox

= Ollie Olanipuken = Ollie Olanipuken is a creative director based in North-East London, who founded the agency Futurimpose. As a designer, he has social responsibility at the core of his work and has collaborated with brands and organisations such as Adidas, Burberry, Levi’s and The Tate to produce campaigns that drive for social impact.

Background
Olanipuken grew up in Coventry. He dropped out of a communications, culture and media degree, to adopt a job in a clothing shop, where out-sourcing stock from London became an inspiration due to the “energy” of the city and an environment to familiarise with consumer behaviour.

Following this, Olanipuken became employed in trend-forecasting in London. Alongside this he began a blog with friends as a way of documenting youth culture, which earned him a lot of attention.

Olanipuken from there worked with a multitude of digital agencies, starting with Poke and spanning through Work Club, Channel 4, where he earned an Emmy Award, and We Are Social. He then made the decision to “switch things up” and left We Are Social to be led by his own work.

Agency
In 2014 Olanipuken started with Superimpose, with the intent to create an agency that produces modern,balanced, culturally and socially relevant campaigns to be delivered to large audiences. The driving force was to be “challenged by people who work in different lanes and represent a new generation of creatives and build coalitions with entities doing good”. This carried forward his passion for creating more conscious work.

Superimpose was later renamed to Futurimpose. The studio had not changed in beliefs, only employed more attention to ensuring clients aligned with the morals of the agency, and more focus on building extended partnerships.

Project
In late May 2020, Ollie Olanipuken launched the UK’s first birdwatching collective, co-founded by Nadeem Perera. The group was named ‘Flock Together’ and encourages people to join in on the outdoor walks. It has since partnered with brands including Gucci, Berghaus, National Geographic and the RSPB. Both individuals connected via Instagram due to their shared interest in the subject. Olanipuken and Perera shared similar experiences as people of colour in outdoor spaces, stemming from the lack of representation in those areas. They recognised a need for representation and sought a reform in nature. Flock Together encompasses an opportunity to reclaim the outdoors for people of colour. It is a way of “challenging perceptions on what ‘nature’ is and who it belongs to”. Both spoke on personal experiences, including reactions from friends who “thought (birdwatching) was the strangest thing to be doing, ever” and the stereotypes surrounding people who endorse the activity, who are typically “white, elderly and middle class”. There is an issue of accessibility and of familiarity concerning those who may have grown up in urban environments with no knowledge of or time spent in nature. Recognising this, Olanipuken and Perera have committed to transforming nature to be “a viable option for any young person of colour growing up”. The pair were conscious of the younger generation especially, and wanted to create a mentoring environment for children to learn in comfort about nature. This was titled the Flock Together Academy, and was established in 2021.

The addition of a publication ‘Outsiders’ in 2022 articulates further the movement and the prejudices it faces and stands against.

Their movement became an official campaign by Futurimpose titled ‘New Nature’, to build on the rapidly growing popularity of FlockTogether. It has since partnered with brands including Gucci, Berghaus, Arcetyrx National Geographic and the RSPB and has been featured in articles within Vogue and The Guardian Its influence has exceeded the UK, and groups have come to fruition in the US, in Toronto and New York, as well as Asia, in Tokyo.