Two Swedes In A Flat: How TBWA\London's Young Duo Nurture Their Creativity

From exhibitions entitled ‘Piss Flowers’ to biking to work, pints and a Thai lunch at the Irish pub - the TBWA\London duo fill their days with fuel

TBWA\London creative duo Victoria Kothe and Sofia Lindstrom live, drink and work together - this means they can find themselves discussing work as they rise and make their morning coffee (and when it’s less busy they get distracted, or inspired, by their cats).

Hailing from Sweden, the pair both studied advertising at the University of Arts London. After graduating, they held placements at Lucky Generals, The&Partnership (now T&pm) and Havas - where they were part of the pitch for GambleAware’s clouded billboard.

Since joining their current agency TBWA\London, the duo’s collaborative approach has continued to reap rewards. Most recently, they have added Mini Cheddars' cheese rolling ad (which plays on the uniquely Gloucestershire cheese-rolling festival) to their portfolio.

From Bon Iver to growing up around Elle magazine’s offices, while now whizzing around on TBWA\London-branded scooters, the pair share the creative wisdom behind their unique approach.

Sofia Lindstrom

Elle Magazine

My mum used to work at Elle when I was a kid and whenever I went into her office, I heckled each and every one of her colleagues and many of them were art directors and copywriters.

Even though it wasn’t creative advertising, I still got introduced to the media world and met people on the other end of creative advertising.

A few years later, when I was about 14, I had my first work experience at Elle with one of the art directors, who taught me the basics and introduced me to the broader aspect of advertising, and told me about the creative and ideation side of advertising.

Hamsters FC

I don’t really have one person or artist that I seek creative inspiration from, and I’ve never really had.

It’s the people around me whether it’s friends, family and colleagues that inspires me. My inspiration comes from multiple sources and changes often. Hamsters FC is another source of inspiration for me. It’s my football team that I play with every week, and almost all of us play in the creative field, but with different things; photographers, graphic designers, set designers, coders, etc. Meeting up mid-week to play, release some anger, and catch up is always giving me endorphins and inspiration for new opportunities.

Matt Beaumont, coffee and FaceTime

We live together so if we’re crazy busy we can start talking about work when we’re making coffee in the morning, but otherwise, I start the day with a 25-minute walk to the train station, a FaceTime with my baby niece and then a quick train ride. I’m currently reading ‘E’ by Matt Beaumont, an advertising classic, so I read about the crazy advertising days from the 2000s on the train. Once in the office, I get a coffee, and then me and Victoria make a loose schedule for the day, and we go from there.

We try to take a little walk after lunch to get some fresh air, otherwise the headaches strike, and if we’re not too busy we might have a lunch pint or two with colleagues in the sun.

Tate Modern and Bon Iver

We tend to go to Tate Modern if we need inspiration or just to get out of our office, which is great. A few weeks ago we sat down by the 'Piss Flowers' installation which was interesting and… weird... in a good way. The artist, Helen Chadwick, took turns with her partner to pee in snow in a flower-shaped mould and then filled it with plaster.

The result - flower sculptures made from piss. Pretty attention-grabbing.

I also scroll daily on TikTok and deep dive into weird trends and random shite, which is a great way to absorb niche creativity and inspiration. And music - my taste is very broad and I get stuck into genres easily. Right now I’d say Bon Iver’s new album ‘SABLE, fABLE’ is doing it for me. It’s freaking amazing.

Command + Control + Space 

I’ve only been in the industry for about three years and have already worked with such talented people, and it still amazes me how diverse their skills are. Just to see all the great work coming out from tiny briefs to big briefs and all the proactive thinking is really inspiring! 

Could it be that simple that I taught a senior creative how to access emojis by clicking Command + Control + Space instead of going onto emojipedia.com every time he wanted to copy and paste an emoji into a deck? 

Victoria Kothe

My mum, scooters and Absolut Vodka

It was my mother who first introduced me to the creative industry. She was a graphic designer at a small branding agency in Sweden and I used to absolutely love going into her office.

They had loads of cool stuff, like an Andy Warhol-esque Absolute Vodka collage painted on the wall, a very early model of an electric scooter that you could ride around the office on (if you asked nicely), and a machine that served hot chocolate. I used to sit by her desk and draw in Illustrator, thinking that this was the good life. And today, as I ride around on my TBWA-branded scooter, sipping on a spiked hot chocolate, I can’t help but think "Wow, it’s exactly how I imagined it."

Severance and Leigh Bowery

Severance season 2. The series is great but what I also love is the lore on TikTok where people ‘decipher’ every second of every episode. I’m a sucker for a good conspiracy theory, so this series has me in a chokehold. Oh, and I also loved the stunt that they did in the Grand Central Terminal, that showed some proper outside the box thinking.

Our office is also right next to the Tate Modern, which is great when you’re feeling a bit idea-empty and need some inspiration or just want to browse around in the gift shop. The Leigh Bowery exhibition that is on at the moment is a window into queer club kids culture and self expression which is really interesting and captivating.

Marina, Lana Del Ray and Off Menu

People around me that do cool shit inspire me to dare to try and do cool shit too. Whether it's my fellow creatives, my friends, my sister or someone I read about, inspiration is all around. Music is also a big inspiration, however, I tend to solely listen to Lana Del Rey - rain or shine, she’s my girl.

Her music is so cinematic, beautiful and heartbreaking, all at the same time, she inspires me to be proud to be vulnerable and emotional. MARINA (previously Marina and the Diamonds) is an artist that I look up to a lot as well, I feel like she speaks my language: ‘I feel like I’m the worst so I always act like I’m the best’. I have this quote on my LinkedIn profile.

I like to listen to podcasts like ‘Off Menu’, 'Real Survival Story' and some random Swedish ones. And I recently jumped on the audiobook train, they’re great if you’re out on a walk or biking, I can recommend Jennette McCurdy’s and the Britney Spears autobiography.

My guilty pleasure is to rewatch Bo Burnham’s ‘Inside’, I've probably seen it 10 times, and I know all the songs by heart. It continues to be as relevant and relatable during lockdown as it is in our current climate.

A Thai lunch

I can be a scatterbrain which has its ups and downs. I’m trying to bike to work now when it’s getting warmer so I can clear my head and get some fresh air before staring into a computer whilst being inside all day.

Well in the office we usually try and structure our day - divide and conquer! We sometimes go out for a Thai lunch at the Irish pub with some other creatives, it’s only £8 and you get a lot of food. If we work from home, we tend to sit in the kitchen or living room, coffee in one hand, a kitten in the other. Working from home is easy when you live together, but not that easy when you have two cats that love attention.

A supportive department

We are lucky to have a creative department where everyone tries to lift each other up and help out. Yes, you want your idea to be picked, but it is great to feel that you are part of a team where people have your back and do not try to stab you in it, especially when you’re a junior. I also think that there are so many more opportunities nowadays with all the new tech and artificial intelligence accessible. AI is scary but equally as exciting. The opportunities are endless, and we should focus on inviting it into our creative work instead of pushing it away or weaponising it.

If there’s one thing seniors and brands could learn, it’s to be quicker with putting out reactive work, because that’s what gets the headlines nowadays, and the quicker a brand can react, the less cringe it will be.

Trends come and go quicker than ever before, thanks to TikTok and other social media, and advertising needs to keep up or we’re gonna be left in the dust.