We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Leon Nikoo. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Leon below.

Leon, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Earning a full time living from one’s creative career can be incredibly difficult. Have you been able to do so and if so, can you share some of the key parts of your journey and any important advice or lessons that might help creatives who haven’t been able to yet?

At an early age, I had no idea what I wanted to do for a career. Around the age of 13, my friend and I had to do internships in our local town. He went to a car garage, and I went to a golf club to work in their kitchen. My friend took some spray paint home, and when we met in the evening, we decided to graffiti on the streets.

We sprayed many things and had lots of fun doing it. Some weeks later, while playing computer games at my family home, there was a knock on the door. A prominent police officer stood there and asked to speak to my parents. He came in and said he had reason to believe I had been doing graffiti and that I was in a lot of trouble. He showed me a folder of graffiti artworks in the streets, and I had to say which ones were from my friend and I.

A few weeks later, my friend and I and our parents had to go to the local police station. We were extremely nervous and scared about our future. We sat in the chairs, slumped down and unenthusiastic. The police officer wanted to know if we would not commit this crime again, and then if we did, we would risk going to a juvenile prison. He looked at me directly and said, Leon, you are highly creative, and why don’t you do something useful with your imagination and study Graphic Design?

From that day onwards, I changed my attitude and did a college course in design. This led to a University where I did a BA Hons in Graphic Design. I was so passionate about everything design related. After leaving Uni, I got a job at M&C Saatchi in central London. I worked there for around 5 years and eventually set up my own business. ‘Studionikoo’.

I have always maintained an interest in graffiti art, which has helped me along the way in my career. I have been able to transfer those skills at the start to so many projects, from working on Netflix documentarys, producing illustrated animations for the London Underground, apps and lots more.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I started as a digital designer back in the early 2000S. Back then, working in advertising was mainly focused on flash banners. I got pretty good at designing banners for tech, sports and government companies. When apple killed the flash banner, I decided to quickly shift over to doing motion graphics.

At one point, I was the lead motion graphic designer at M&C Saatchi. This involved doing all the digital out-of-home graphics for the London Underground. It was an enjoyable job. At one point, a colleague left to go freelance, and I decided to follow him. Suddenly, I was being paid twice as much and could have as many days off as I wanted. Having worked at the same company for five years, I was now looking for different agencies and getting new perspectives. I was challenged with other clients, more significant projects and new ideas.

I am now ten years into being a freelancer and have worked on some great briefs. Highlights were working for Palantir Ferrari, Deliveroo, Headspace and more. Being freelance has also provided me with the time to keep learning my skills and growing in new directions.

In recent years, I have focused more on Art Direction and 3D. I loved working in a team of people and bringing in specialities for different briefs.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

My main goal is to keep driving the connection between art and motion, bringing those two disciplines together and merging the two. I love art and movement, and I think there is so much scope to create enjoyable experiences. My partner and I recently went to the Picasso art Exhibition in Bristol, Uk, and it was fantastic. The immersive art experience was a good example of how we should always experience art.

Alright – so here’s a fun one. What do you think about NFTs?

My relationship with NFTs is a strange one that I still don’t fully understand. In the beginning, I had this huge FOMO and felt like I was unknowledgeable about this subject. Then I started to read more about it and eventually put a collection on Foundation. The first few went really well and I had a few people buy them.

Then all of a sudden, the rest didn’t go, and I became disillusioned. I haven’t been back there since.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.studionikoo.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/leonnikoo/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leonnikoo/