We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Tobias Micko a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Tobias, we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.
Having been trained in graphic design from an early age, I knew I wanted to work in the creative industries. But with a lot of the money being tied up in the soul-sucking user-interface design work in the tech industry, I knew I wanted to work towards something more inspiring, fulfilling, and purposeful.
After having worked for a variety of design agencies and startups as lead designer, I came to a point where I knew I wanted to work for myself and build a company with all those fantastic, creative, and amazing people I’ve met along the way.
Together with my long-term creative partner and collaborator, Clemens Makoschitz, It became clear to us that if we were going to build a design agency, we wanted to do things differently – both in terms of clients we wanted to work with and in terms of internal company structures on how we were to work together.
Newtide is open for business starting in August 2025.
We design meaningful brands for planet-conscious organizations and together raise resilient brands that can withstand the volatile economic, climatic, and cultural shifts organizations acting within the Anthropocene are inherently faced with.
In terms of clients, the strict focus on working with climate and impact-driven companies, NGOs, government initiatives, and startups gives us an outside purpose that goes beyond revenue-driven metrics when growing our business. Intending to become the expert in “climate design,” we aim to utilize the power of graphic design and storytelling to make the complex problems and solutions surrounding climate change tangible, accessible, and “sexy” for the average consumer. We believe that a positive spirit is what is needed to gather masses around the necessary change in societal and economic structures we are approaching as we’re heading further into the 21st century.
Regarding company structures, we want to set an example for design agencies that one does not have to follow the “classic” strategy of hiring young designers fresh out of college only to pay them little and have them move on to their next gig 2 years down the road. Through culture and legal frameworks, we are structuring our design agency around a stewardship model where we are actively working against ownership-centered exploitation but fostering an employee-driven agency over the revenue, mission, and vision of our company.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
Together with my long-time creative partner and collaborator, Clemens Makoschitz, I am building an agency designing meaningful brands for planet-conscious organizations.
Newtide is open for business starting in August 2025.
We design meaningful brands for planet-conscious organizations and together raise resilient brands that can withstand the volatile economic, climatic, and cultural shifts organizations acting within the Anthropocene are inherently faced with. We aim to utilize storytelling and design to make climate innovations, green-tech startups, and sustainable NGO work tangible, exciting, and beautiful for the average consumer and thus inspire and engage more people and organizations in the mindset of stewardship and care for our planet.
https://www.linkedin.com/company/studionewtide/
While our work spans everything from brand strategy and design, web and UI design, motion design and storytelling, advertising, social media campaigns, editorial, installation, and events, we have a clear focus on organizations that are in the business of saving our planet. We have zero tolerance for greenwashing and aspire to build brands that harness both urgency and optimism – in a delicate balance – resisting the pull of climate doom.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Trust in the process: When working on a small project, raising an entire company, or even on the grand scale of one’s life, I fully believe in a patient trust in the process. With the right approach and positive intent, things will work out and come your way! As a young designer starting out with grand plans this can feel a little frustrating at times, but the key is to put yourself into perspective and accept that impactful things will take their time to unfold, and that all you can do is to be there for the projects you set out in the world and guide them to the best of your abilities. Trust in the process!
Generosity: Some of the biggest breakthroughs in my career stem from an open-ended generosity with my time and energy. When you give, things will come back – one way or another. Help your colleagues, help your friends, offer your expertise, take initiative, don’t expect back, and you will grow a network of like-minded people who will become your biggest fans.
Be interdisciplinary: True creativity is born from the unexpected convergence of thoughts and ideas that seemingly have nothing in common. With a love for learning from all disciplines of life, you will foster a mind that will constantly surprise you and the people you work for with unique and creative angles that couldn’t have come up without an active embracing of interdisciplinary thought. Poetry, Art, Anthropology, Design, Politics, Movies, Literature, Physics, Biology – they all can be an incredible source of joy and inspiration that can make one’s entire career.
Okay, so before we go, is there anyone you’d like to shoutout for the role they’ve played in helping you develop the essential skills or overcome challenges along the way?
All the successful people I ever wanted to learn from early on in my career were incredibly busy people. The reality has always been that next to their respective families and careers, some random kid will never be their priority. To move past that I realized early on that I had to become part of whatever their priority is at the moment. For professors at school that meant researching what personal projects they were working on asides from teaching and working on projects myself that were adjacent to theirs so that when interests aligned, I was perceived as a peer rather than a student. For professional idols it meant putting myself into a position where I was able to get hired by them instead of meeting for a mentoring chat over lunch. Once I was part of their team, I was part of their priorities, and I could learn from their approach to work and life from the front-row seat. I volunteered for design festivals and became its founder’s friend. I was persistent enough and got myself hired by a guy who I knew I could learn a lot from, and for the following year could observe his unique approach to running a business as part of his team, rather than an outside observer. I feel like the same is applicable for potential clients: Put yourself in a position where you become a peer on your potential client’s journey rather than a service provider simply charging money for some random project in their schedule. People will always feel the difference of genuine interest.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://newtide.studio/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tobiasmicko/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/studionewtide/
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
