Developing creative ad agencies with purpose; interview with Ted Mellström

Ted Harry Mellström is a Creative Director at Forsman & Bodenfors in Sweden. Over the past 10 years, Forsman & Bodenfors has continuously been among the world’s best creative agencies (and digital agencies). Winning 2 Grand Prix in Cannes, Best of Show in One Show, a Grand Clio, Agency of the year in ADC and a Black Pencil in D&AD helped making Forsman & Bodenfors the most awarded agency in the world 2014.

Here he talks about his creative beginnings and his aspirations for the future. 

Tell us a bit about yourself

I am a 37 year old Creative who has worked at F&B for seven years and in the industry for about twice as long. Before that I was in the film industry.

How does a regular day look like?

I wake up, walk to work, work, walk home and then I spend my night either with my girlfriend or with friends. I am not more complex then that unfortunately.

What makes you tick creatively? Where do you find inspiration?

Pretty much everywhere I would say. Spending time with friends outside of the industry, walking in the woods, playing videogames, riding the tube, reading the newspaper and so on.

What do you do to work around a creative block?

To be honest I just work more.

How did you start your career?

I met at girl who was applying for an art school and helped her out with the portfolio for the application. After that I pretty much knew what I wanted to do, or atleast what I wanted to study because just applying for that kind of school was such an inspiration.