Poetic Collective

Building a Scandinavian skateboard brand

Summary

Poetic Collective began in 2014 as a small side project between me and my brother. We wanted to build a skateboard brand that merged the art world with skateboarding, and I took on art direction and creative strategy, shaping everything from visual identity to product to how the brand showed up in the world.

Over the following eight years we built that identity into one of Europe's most recognized independent skateboard brands, growing it from a single bootstrapped collection into global distribution and more than twenty collections. Along the way we collaborated with the likes of Moderna Museet and Levi's Skateboarding.

Timeframe

2014 – 2022

Team and roles

Co-founded with my brother Tom Botwid. My role was creative direction, brand strategy, visual identity, and product design, spanning concept development, print and apparel design, and all visual communication including video and photography. Tom led business development and sales, and shared responsibility for creative direction.

Surface, skateboard with relief print (2015)

Branding and storytelling

Skateboard manufacturing runs on a small handful of respected factories worldwide, which means most brands are pushing essentially the same physical product. The differentiator is never the deck itself, it’s branding and storytelling. We built Poetic Collective around that reality from the start, making brand identity the backbone of the company rather than an afterthought, relentlessly drawing on the art world and its many movements, from classical painting to sculpture to contemporary collage, to give the brand a distinct point of view.

Most brands are pushing essentially the same physical product. The differentiator is never the deck itself, it’s branding and storytelling.

Design practice

From early moodboards and sketches to final artworks and technical production files, I oversaw the complete design process for each collection.

This included managing manufacturing partners, color and material selection, print preparation, and prototype reviews — ensuring that every product met both creative intent and production quality.

Painting Hoodie (2020)

Visual Language

Over the years, Poetic Collective established a distinctive aesthetic, mixing street culture and art history through minimal compositions, relief printing, and references to classical painting and sculpture. The result was a brand identity that stood apart from typical skateboarding tropes while still rooted in its culture.

Collage #3 (2021)
Neon #1 (2022)
Puffer vest (2020)
OP Red (2021)
Portrait and Brushstroke (2020)
Doodle T-shirt (2021)
Maximalist #2 (2021)
Spray Wave – Left (2021)
Flower Hoodie (2018)

Video and storytelling

Videos have always been central to any skateboarding brand. Through filming and editing, I developed a strong sense for visual rhythm and narrative, balancing the raw energy of skateboarding with a minimal soundscapes and Scandinavian design language.

Movements (2016), created in collaboration with Moderna Museet Malmö, explored skateboarding as performance, isolating motion and expression within an art institution setting.

Movements (2016)
Filming Movements
Collaboration board with Moderna Museet
On Land (2018). Collaboration with Levi’s Skateboarding

Conclusion

After nearly a decade, I stepped away from Poetic Collective to pursue new design contexts.

Building it from the ground up taught me how to turn a creative vision into a lasting brand strategy, connect design decisions to business reality, and hold a consistent visual language across products, spaces, and media for the better part of ten years.

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