VIDEO: Nils Leonard at D&AD Festival 2025 ~ What building Uncommon creative studio taught him

Nils Leonard, founder of Uncommon, wants creatives to think bigger than the brief. In his Precipice talk at D&AD Festival 2025, he reflected on what building Uncommon taught him: the best ideas don’t come from chasing someone else’s dreams. They come from backing your own. It’s about belief, a bit of delusion, and the courage to start with what you wish existed.

 

Talk summary: Starting a creative company at the worst point in human history to start a creative company. A talent exodus, the onslaught of AI, a decline in creative standards, the skip ad button, fearful clients and a unanimous lack of respect for the word creativity in boardrooms across the world. Happy days. 20 minutes. 10 ideas for the type of creative company the world might actually want to exist right now.