The Monday Media Diet with Ayo Fagbemi

On Lagos, Positive Intelligence, and Genius Makers by Cade Metz

Ayo Fagbemi (AF) runs a London and LA-based strategy and design shop called Explorers Club Studio. We’ve happy to have him with us today. -Colin (CJN)

Tell us about yourself.

I’m Ayo Fagbemi, co-founder and strategy director at Explorers Club, a strategy and design studio. I started my career at Wieden + Kennedy working on the Nike account (shoutout to Paula Bloodworth, my first boss!)

I worked at Mother London, Google Creative Lab, and YouTube Creative Studio. I’ve led the brand strategy for Atlantic Records, Nike Run and Talkspace. Spoken at the Barbican Centre, Today at Apple, and the D&AD Centre. I’m on the Advisory Board for Creative Review and a recently appointed APG Committee Member.

I’ve also had a rap battle with Chelsea footballer Raheem Sterling at Wieden + Kennedy, been exhibited, written for and slept in the Design Museum, and faked David Lammy’s the Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom’s signature in Parliament.

Describe your media diet.

I follow a principle I heard from Marc Andreessen, founder of venture capital firm a16z, in which he spoke about consuming both timely and timeless information. Loved this idea, as often we can get bogged down in one or the other.

I’m not on Twitter which every other day I regret, and on other days I’m very glad. More of an Instagram scroller for my sins. I try to limit my time so I go into the app consciously versus mindlessly, click in and out of stories so I choose who I want to see and check up on. A lot of my timely news comes from newsletters - Bloomberg Screentime by Lucas Shaw is a must read for anyone interested in the business of entertainment. Emily Sundberg, Feed Me newsletter is on the pulse, plus the logo was created by one of my favourite designers Justin Hunt Sloane. I also created a group called Black Strat, as a joke amongst two friends at first - which has grown to 300+ WhatsApp group. The conversation and debates about culture, business and our discipline strategy is a joy I would feel empty without.

In terms of timeless, I listen to a lot of podcasts. My favourite at the moment is Founders, where each week David Senra reads and discusses lessons from history’s greatest entrepreneurs in an episode. In terms of books my partner works for Penguin Random House, so there is no excuse in not reading classics and ideas about newer ideas. She is always bringing back golden books both new and old.

What’s the last great book you read?

Genius Makers by Cade Metz, in a world where everyone is talking about AI, the book takes you down the path of the story as to how we got here, the story of who got us here and helps you understand where they may be taking us.

What are you reading now?

Read. Write. Own by Chris Dixon - I picked it up last year but didn’t finish it. I’m interested in the Crypto space, but I wouldn’t say I’m able to talk about it with enough people in a simplistic way, hence wanting to read this book. My hunch is that it will be a big year for blockchain technology, so I want to keep my knowledge up to date, and hopeful converse with people other than the tech overlords about the subject.

What’s your reading strategy when you pick up a print copy of your favorite publication?

One of my favourite things to do on a slow Sunday is pick up The Financial Times broadsheet and House & Garden for my partner and open it up with a coffee. Writing this, I know how disappointed my 17-year-old, more socialist self would be. I’m a big fan of the interview on the FT Weekend and the FT Lunch, which is what I read first.

Who should everyone be reading that they’re not?

Carly Ayres - if you are in branding, go-to writer.

What is the best non-famous app you love on your phone?

Positive Intelligence: I’ve been doing this course with my coach Julian Pickard Garcia, my old boss at Google Creative Lab. It has changed my outlook. It’s a daily mental fitness app with so many insightful ways to think about how you think.

Plane or train?

Train, reminds you of the Great English Greenbelt.

What is one place everyone should visit?

Lagos, Nigeria - during Christmas. Drink Chapman, Shop at Alara and Club at Boho.

Tell us the story of a rabbit hole you fell deep into.

I want to give myself scheduled time to just follow my curiosity and follow rabbit holes more often. Ever since a young age, I’ve been obsessed with the art of the interview. So, a lot of these street-style interview platforms have caught my attention; from Public Opinion to A View From a Bridge, I could spend hours listening to all kinds of people share opinions on things. Another favourite I can get lost in is Channel 5 by Andrew Callaghan. With the weird worlds and fascinating people that inhabit this world, even from an online distance, it’s nice to get in close and try to understand people who are so far from your reality. (AF)