Ingmar Larsen
Inventor of the phone that can do nothing and made global headlines
Step into the world of Ingmar, the creative who invented a piece of plastic in the shape of a smartphone and made global headlines with it. The NoPhone can't do anything: no calling, no messaging, no scrolling. Precisely that made it a worldwide media phenomenon. From Kickstarter project to The New York Times, CNBC, Business Insider and a pitch on Shark Tank. In his TEDx talk, he shares how one simple object makes people aware of their own screen time. For his own agency This Agency, he worked at international agencies including 180Amsterdam, Sid Lee and TBWA\NEBOKO on campaigns for brands from PlayStation to Albert Heijn. His trademark: simplicity, humor and ideas that tell themselves.
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Biography
Creative with a business edge
Ingmar Larsen is an art director, designer and entrepreneur. This combination is unusual: while many creatives stop at the idea, Ingmar thinks through to what it takes to make it real. His business background means he judges campaigns not only on how they look, but on what impact they have in the world.
At the major agencies
Before starting his own practice, he worked at international agencies including 180Amsterdam, Silver + Partners in New York, Sid Lee, TBWA\NEBOKO and Boomerang. There he honed his craft on campaigns for brands such as PlayStation, HP, DHL, Albert Heijn, Douwe Egberts, Hudson's Bay, Asics, Replay, ABN AMRO, Nationale-Nederlanden and Moyee.
The NoPhone
As co-founder of the NoPhone, he created an ironic piece of plastic in the shape of a smartphone, as a response to our screen addiction. What started as a Kickstarter project grew into a global media phenomenon, with coverage in The Huffington Post, CNBC, Business Insider and The New York Times, and a pitch at American Shark Tank. In his TEDx talk "How a piece of plastic can change the world" he explains how such a simple object makes people aware of their own behavior.
This Agency
Today, Ingmar runs his own creative agency This Agency in Amsterdam. There, he helps brands develop original campaign ideas that stand out through simplicity and a sense of humor. Ideas with a social dimension, built to be shared. Exactly the logic that took the NoPhone around the world without a media budget.
Expertise
Ideas that spread themselves
The NoPhone received worldwide press without a media budget, because the idea itself was the news. Ingmar breaks down what gives a concept that quality: one clear mechanism, immediately understood, and with a friction that drives people to share it. That's not luck but a design choice—and that choice can be reproduced.
Art direction and visual storytelling
As an art director, Ingmar builds visual stories that land at first glance. At major agencies, he did this for international brands, creating campaigns aimed at a global audience. His signature is consistently the same: strip away until only what works remains, then make it unforgettable.
Brand campaigns with a social dimension
Ingmar's best work says something about us, not just about the brand. The NoPhone is about screen addiction, not about plastic. He helps brands make the connection between what they want to say and what really matters to people — without it feeling forced or preachy.
From idea to existing product
Few creatives go through the entire journey: conceiving, financing via Kickstarter, producing, selling, organizing press and pitching to investors. Ingmar does. That experience makes his story valuable for anyone who wants to get something off the ground and doesn't know what lies between the idea and reality.
Themes
Creativity and idea development
Where good ideas come from and why the simplest ones often go the furthest. About simplicity as a strength rather than a lack of ambition.
Branding and campaigns
How to make a brand stand out in a saturated market, and why humor and simplicity are more effective than more budget or more message.
PR-waardige ideeën
The NoPhone made it into The New York Times without a media budget. What makes an idea newsworthy, and how do you build that quality in from the start?
Social activations
Ideas that people want to share themselves. About the difference between content you distribute and content that distributes itself.
Creative Entrepreneurship
From fleeting idea to Kickstarter, production, worldwide press and a pitch at Shark Tank. What it really takes to get an idea out into the world.
Why Ingmar
Proven on a global scale
The New York Times, CNBC, Business Insider, Shark Tank — the NoPhone is not a theoretical example but an idea that demonstrably reached the world. Ingmar can tell from the inside how that happened.
Experience at the international top
180Amsterdam, Sid Lee, TBWA and a period in New York, working with brands such as PlayStation, Asics and Albert Heijn. He knows the craft from major agencies as well as from his own practice.
Thinks in ideas, not in channels
His starting point is not which platform you use, but whether the idea is strong enough to tell itself. That perspective is useful for marketers, entrepreneurs and creatives alike.
Humor as a Tool
Ingmar's work is funny, and that's a strategic choice. He shows why humor is the fastest route to attention and memory, and why brands so often sidestep it.
Entrepreneur and creative
He knows both the creative side and the financial side. For an audience of entrepreneurs, that makes his story concrete rather than non-committal.
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