NIKKI LINDMAN AND TOBY BREWER
Nikki and Toby are creatives from London agency adam&eveDDB and part of the team behind our infamous Harvey Nichols “Piss Lady” cover from 2012.
Image: Nikki Lindman and Toby Brewer of adam&eveDDB, London
How you got into advertising...
NL: I read about it at 16 in the school library. Took a five year detour into the world of magazine design and photography. Realised I liked magazines and photography, but I liked coming up with the ideas that are in magazines more. Quit my job, went on to the amazing Watford ad course and met Toby. Then Jeremy Craigen hired us.
TB: I started out as a pastry chef, but one day decided I didn’t like kitchens. I’d helped a friend do some scamps to get him on the Watford ad course so decided to do the same - two years later here we are.
The first thing I do in my day is...
NL: Watch the news. I can’t start my day unless I know what’s been going on in the world while I’ve been sleeping.
TB: First thing I do in my day is usually put my alarm on snooze and then regret setting it so early.
At the moment we are working on...
Chocolate soufflés, a bit of weekend reading and a minty chewing gum.
The best piece of creative work around at the moment is...
Right now, this very second? There isn’t much at the moment to be honest. There is some good stuff, lots of ok stuff, but it’s been a fair while since we’ve seen “f**k I wish we’d thought of that” stuff.
I am inspired by...
NL: Science. Eating. Figuring people out. People who don’t work in advertising.
TB: My family and friends, particularly my wife, Mum & Dad and my ex-Watford tutor Tony, who always has answers I can’t Google.
This year we’ll be attending...
Hopefully a lot of things! We are definitely going to Campaign BIG awards, and then lets see how our various bits of work do in the others.
The next big thing in advertising is going to be...
NL: Hopefully just more of the same-good ideas, told well. Less gimmicks (Yes, I am talking to you QR code) and brands relying less on squeezing a good idea onto a Facebook page. It’s just very lazy.
TB: Who knows?
The piece advertising work I wish I had thought of is...
NL: Polo “Protection”. It’s a simple truth done well. And it looks stunning.
TB: Southern Comfort’s “Whatever’s Comfortable” beach guy. It’s a piece of work with a lot of personality, it’s well created and importantly, it’s brutally simple.
The screen background on my mobile phone is ...
NL: A blank screen. It recently died an underwater death. I am quite enjoying reliving what life was like in the pre-iPhone 90s.
TB: A picture of me and my wife at an Iraqi community event.
My last social media update said...
NL: A post from “I f**king love Science”. I really do.
TV: Retweeted an FT advert we did, which is quite embarrassing to say. (Especially as I have only about ten followers).
My dream collaboration is...
NL: Not so much a collaboration, but I would love to have had the chance to share a cheeky cigarette and a martini with the amazing Diana Vreeland. But she is no longer around, and I quit smoking.
TB: Happy meal and Apple.
In up and coming talent, we look for...
Nice, talented and humble.
A piece of criticism we’ve received was...
Wasn’t so much criticism, but advice. When we got hired, Jeremy said to us to make sure we weren’t just a safe pair of hands, but also that we scare people.
The last song I listened to was...
NL: Dr Alban “It’s my life”. Not on purpose, it was an accident.
TB: “Freedom Of '76” by Ween
Discover the finest campaigns from print, TV and digital: Subscribe now
