The Platinum Egg 1991: Hans Brindfors.
Simplify, simplify, simplify. These three keywords, borrowed from colleagues – Gunnar Fältman, Alf Mork, Leon Nordin – were to mean much to Hans Brindfors’ development as an art director. But his path to advertising was anything but direct. Born in 1947, he grew up in Gamla Enskede and Södermalm in Stockholm and planned to become a construction engineer. A reliable job with good prospects for the future.... To supplement his income while studying, he worked at a little ad agency during the afternoons and evenings. It was an exciting, spirited environment. Gradually, his side job took over, and he dropped out of the engineering course. After several years at small agencies in Stockholm, he had the opportunity to become an assistant to Gunnar Fältman, who truly sparked his interest in advertising. A year in London led to his next job as an assistant to Alf Mork at Arbmans, where he also came to know Leon Nordin. This would turn out to be life-changing. Their successful collaboration was to continue at the Brindfors agency, founded in 1978 with Lars Arvid Boisen. But first he spent several years at Carlsson & Broman. This was where Hans Brindfors designed the iconic bottle for Absolut Vodka, an export triumph on a scale rarely scene. The Brindfors agency quickly grew to be Sweden’s largest, and one of its most influential. Together with Jan Carlzon, Ulf Spendrup and Ingvar Kamprad, they created powerful brands. The “Ikeas själ” (soul of IKEA) ad is a Swedish classic. Hans Brindfors retained a humble approach, however. He saw himself primarily as a part of his clients’ sales departments. The product-packed advertisements of current offerings from IKEA in the 1980s became the model for such advertising for decades to come.
After the Platinum Egg: The Brindfors agency was sold to the Lowe Group in 1992. Hans Brindfors left in 1995 and founded Brindfors Design (later Brand Union). Since 2015, he has continued on his own, with IKEA as one of his clients. According to fellow freelancers who share the same workspace, he is still the last to go home in the evening.