Creatives to Watch: Eva Wallmark, Art Director & Partner at Åkestam Holst, on her new IKEA campaign WHEN LIFE HAPPENS

For the first time since 2016, IKEA introduces a new communication concept. In collaboration with the Stockholm-based creative agency Åkestam Holst, the brand launches the campaign When Life Happens – a sensitive evolution of the iconic storytelling style that has long defined IKEA’s communication.

At its heart lies what truly shapes our homes: the small and big changes of everyday life. Moving house, welcoming a new family member, or starting over – the campaign shows how IKEA products quietly accompany people through these moments, turning the home into a space that evolves with life itself. By weaving IKEA’s signature price tags into the visual storytelling, the campaign turns the everyday into something poetic - making design a quiet yet constant part of our life stories.

The art direction of the campaign was led by Eva Wallmark, Art Director and Partner at Åkestam Holst, who together with Michal Sitkiewicz helped shape the concept into a clear, warm and deeply human visual and narrative world. On GoSee, she shares her creative vision with us.

The campaign never shows IKEA furniture directly - yet it’s unmistakably present. How did you develop this subtle storytelling approach that lets life take the lead over product visuals? Eva: "We wanted life’s changes to take the lead, rather than showing the products outright. At the same time, it was important to keep the storytelling grounded in the world of IKEA. That balance was possible thanks to IKEA’s unique position — and the instant recognizability of its iconic price tags. In many ways, it’s classic storytelling: letting people piece the narrative together themselves, with the price tag slipping in as a natural, understated part of the story."

IKEA and Åkestam Holst have a long-standing creative partnership known for human storytelling. What was the most inspiring part of working on this new chapter — and how did your creative team evolve the platform’s message? Eva: "For me, the most inspiring part of working on this new chapter was the combination of emotional depth and simplicity. Both in the storytelling and in the visuals. Continuously daring to stay stripped-back and intimate - and then committing to that approach all the way through, across every channel and format.

When it comes to the message, we arrived at “Wherever life goes” by looking closely at the one universal truth that connects us all: life changes, constantly. Creatively, the process was about shifting the perspective. Instead of starting with products or solutions, we started with people - their everyday shifts, unexpected turns, and quiet moments of transition.

From there, the line emerged quite naturally. It captured the idea that IKEA isn’t just present in a home, but present in the movement of life itself. The creative exploration was really about finding a phrase that could hold both scale and intimacy - something that works whether life moves dramatically or barely at all. “Wherever life goes” became the line that expressed that promise in the simplest and most human way."

Many more exciting projects from Eva and the agency via www.akestamholst.se