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For Koto, culture is built in the room, which is why studio spaces still sit at the heart of how the company works. The global creative company has offices in London, New York, Los Angeles, Berlin and Sydney, and has moved into larger New York and Los Angeles spaces as it continues to grow. This conversation, with Co-founder & CCO Jowey Roden, New York’s Managing Director Alex Monger and Executive Creative Director Arthur Foliard, and Los Angeles’ Managing Director Chris Letourneau and Creative Director Caroline Fox, explores why a four-day-in, one-day-out model works, how you design a studio around culture rather than headcount, and how culture holds at a growing company of more than 160 people.

TBI Why does a physical studio still matter to a creative business?

JR COVID really clarified just how important being together is for us. There are lots of ways to build businesses and cultures, but for a creative culture, physical space is critical. It’s where learning happens, where relationships are built and where you develop an understanding of how people are really doing.

CF We do better work when we feel connected to the people around us. We know each other’s strengths, preferences and ways of working in a much deeper way when we’re together every day.

For a creative culture, physical space is critical.

TBI Koto operates a four-day-in, one-day-out model. What does being in the room together give you that remote working doesn’t?

JR When you’re remote, everything becomes a meeting. In person, collaboration is much more organic. People engage with work they’re not actively involved in; standards improve because everyone sees everything, and ideas move faster.

We’ve seen junior designers naturally build relationships with strategists, writers and people outside their immediate teams. Those interactions are incredibly difficult to recreate remotely.

TBI How does being in the studio shape a designer early in their career?

JR I learnt almost everything early in my career by sitting next to exceptional people. Watching how senior creatives think and solve problems is incredibly powerful. You can’t replicate that in a fortnightly one-to-one on a screen.

AF Juniors aren’t just learning the craft. They’re learning how people behave under pressure, how they give feedback and how they lead. If you only ever see people in meetings, you miss a huge part of that.

Watching how senior creatives think and solve problems is incredibly powerful.

TBI How do you design a studio around culture rather than headcount?

AM Moving our New York studio from Williamsburg to Manhattan wasn’t just about more space. It was a statement about where the studio is in its journey. Every decision, from the communal lounge to the makers’ spaces, was designed around how people work together.

CL Our LA studio has grown from 3,000 to almost 10,000 square feet, but we deliberately haven’t filled every inch. We’ve created spaces within the space, like lounges, workshops, cafés and breakout areas that give people room to think, collaborate and recharge.

CF If your office feels corporate or uninspiring, people won’t want to be there. The environment needs to feel thoughtful and creatively stimulating. It’s hard to get people back into the office if your office sucks.

TBI How do you keep one culture across studios while letting each city shape its own?

AF We don’t have a global template for how studios should look. Each space reflects the people in it and the city around it. Koto’s ambition and New York’s ambition naturally align. There’s a real entrepreneurial energy in the city that fits our culture perfectly.

CL LA has developed into a highly energetic, highly empathetic environment. No one flies under the radar. People show up as themselves and genuinely care about one another.

Culture is both written down and lived every day.

TBI How do you protect Koto’s culture as it grows?

JR Culture is both written down and lived every day. We articulate what we stand for, but people really learn culture by experiencing it. As you grow, you need to invest more intentionally in creating opportunities for people to connect. We recently brought all 160 Koto employees together in Canada for a week, surrounded by deer and bears. It was incredible to see what a week together did for the team.

And growth for growth’s sake doesn’t interest us. The challenge is preserving the optimism, co-creation and craft that define who we are as more people join the business.

TBI What are the non-negotiables of Koto culture?

JR You have to be ambitious, rationally optimistic and low ego. If someone has ambition and they’re open to learning and feedback, we can teach the rest. We hire for potential, not just portfolio parity, especially with juniors. We’re interested in what someone can become, not whether they’ve already done exactly the same work somewhere else.

The best parts of culture are always team-led.

TBI What part do rituals play in studio life?

AF The best parts of culture are always team-led. In New York, that’s evolved into things like film clubs, museum sketching sessions, gaming nights and our weekly meme review.

CF We have lots of little rituals. At one point, we had six months of daily cold gummy worm hour. Now one of our designers slices fruit for everyone every afternoon. They’re small moments, but they matter.

TBI What quirks make each studio its own?

AF New York’s meeting rooms are named after Knicks players, and our end-of-week meme awards have become surprisingly competitive.

CL In LA, fresh flowers regularly appear around the studio, people bring their dogs to work, and one of our designers wears a mechanic’s jumpsuit almost every day.

JR And, London continues to name meeting rooms after eggs!

TBI Looking ahead, what do you want Koto to be remembered for?

AM Success means creating a studio that leaves a legacy in the industry and gives people the opportunity to do the best work of their careers.

JR There are lots of specifics around growth, new disciplines and new opportunities, but the bigger ambition is to become one of those studios that defined a period in our industry. We all admire companies that leave something behind.

That’s what legacy is. It’s meaningful for the people who were part of building it, and it gives everyone a sense that they contributed to something bigger than themselves. Ultimately, all I really care about is whether the work keeps getting better and whether people are enjoying making it. If we can do that, everything else follows.