In 2021, home furnishing retailer IKEA launched its eighth annual Life at Home Report, exploring how people worldwide feel about their homes. In collaboration with the brand purpose agency Given, based in London, IKEA assembled a team of qualitative and quantitative research partners to survey over 34,000 people globally about their mental wellbeing in relation to their home spaces. These insights informed the report’s content and its creative communications platform: Balance Starts at Home. For the first time in the report’s history, a bespoke, editorial-led magazine was delivered alongside the traditional report format.
Life at home is personal, and our goal for this first magazine edition was to reflect that. To achieve balance in a year full of ‘no’, the way we use our spaces has shifted. So we have been seeking to share many stories of this motion: essays, interviews, manifestos, photographs, drawings and artefacts by contributors from all walks of life. From tranquil everyday life on the island of Ikaria in Greece to the story of culinary innovator Dr. Aris LaTham, who, at 75, has moved to a new place in search of a fresh start.
Guided by the concept ‘Balance is not still,’ we aimed to create a dynamic and inspiring design that remains approachable, allowing for moments of pause during this time. We took the iconic IKEA Noto font and integrated it into dynamic, unexpected compositions of shapes and colors, giving the magazine a sense of intrigue and playful delight. In the art direction of photography, we focused on everyday life, drawing out simple emotions from the magazine’s subjects.
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You can read magazine at: LIFE AT HOME MAGAZINE
“WOW – what can I say?? I am so thrilled with this beautiful and meaningful magazine, and in awe of the hard work and playful creativity that brought these stories together.”
