Mother depicts the Ikea home as a haven away from the stresses of the outside world

Every home should be a haven, according to Ikea. From the stresses of work to the waves of negativity that surround our everyday lives, Ikea’s new campaign features three posters which aim to demonstrate that, with a little love and care, your home can be a safe place away from all of this.

London-based studio Mother tasked three illustrators with creating a series of three posters to appear across the UK and Ireland. The “sea of work” by Matthew Rockefeller attempts to flood and knock down one house, which is protected by staying high up on a rock, while overwhelming and stressed-out doodles by Lei Melendres swarm about another home, but are unable to penetrate its walls. And the third illustration by Pokedstudio shows angry emojis showering down on another home, which stays safely sheltered from the anger.

The studio Mother, responsible for the campaign’s creative strategy, tells us that it was keen to “create a real contrast between the stress and chaos surrounding the home and the tranquillity of the home itself, in order to really land that every home should be a haven.”

Whilst the images attempt to present themselves with no lack of “charm and personality,” the illustrations also presented a challenge in the shape of formats. “Getting illustrations to work as six sheets, 48s and 96s required quite a bit of rejigging and redrawing,” according to Mother.

As well as being visually arresting, say the creative team, Mother wanted the posters to feel insightful, so it drew on stresses and strains that people would find relatable. “Whether that’s a sea of work emails threatening to interrupt your home time, or some of the common stresses we showed in the doodle, like your flight getting delayed or running late for an appointment.” The project runs OOH across the country as part of Ikea’s “Every Home Should Be a Haven” campaign and is accompanied by a film ad.