"Rolling Stones to Hermès: Q&A with Bruto"
- Henrik Friberg
- Apr 20
- 3 min read
In the second edition of our Q&A series, SweetSpot’s Henrik Friberg sits down with the creative minds behind Bruto. Known for their distinctive, tactile design language and a portfolio that spans from global ad campaigns and product films to iconic music videos for the likes of the Rolling Stones, Bruto occupies a unique space in the industry. As a director-led studio, founders Kalle and Johan bring a cinematic perspective to CGI, engaging early in the creative process to help brands uncover the visual essence of their products.
Henrik: "Hi Kalle & Johan! You both have a heavy background in directing and frequently step into the Creative Director role early on in a project. For agencies or brands bringing you a brief, how does this dual background - knowing both the high-level vision and the granular CGI/VFX execution - change the way you collaborate with them?"
Bruto: "Having one foot in the big idea and the other deep in the pixels means we can spot both opportunities and pitfalls early on. It makes collaboration more fluid, and we can zoom out with agencies on concept, then zoom straight into execution without losing momentum. Less back-and-forth, more building together. It minimizes the time spent on translation since it's usually the same person who has the overall vision as well as the execution. That's one of the greatest advantages of being a small studio."
Henrik: "Your work for brands like Lyko, H&M, and ACO has a highly conceptual and incredibly tactile design language. CGI can easily feel cold or overly digital - what is your secret to making 3D products feel so physical, grounded, and deeply connected to lifestyle and beauty?"
Bruto: "The secret is adding a bit of grit to the objects. At the risk of giving away our greatest trade secret, we’re always sneaking in a layer of human imperfection. We add fingerprints, dust, tiny scratches. These are things you don’t consciously notice but definitely feel. It tricks the brain into thinking “someone’s been here,” and suddenly the object feels a lot more alive."
Henrik: "Before crafting global campaigns for Google and IKEA, your aesthetic foundation was forged in music videos and pop culture - with both VMAs and Grammis in the bag, having done work for the likes of Kaiser Chiefs, Rolling Stones and The Hives. Does that rhythmic, music-video energy still influence how you pace and build storytelling around a product today?"
Bruto: "Very much so. We often start with music or sound before anything else. It sets the tone, the pacing, sometimes even the entire idea. We have very close collaborations with sound designers and music composers who are intrinsic to our work. That instinct from music videos of cutting to a beat and letting sound drive emotion is still a big part of how we build stories, even for a single product shot."
Henrik: "You’re known for engaging early in the R&D process to uncover the visual essence of a concept before heavy production starts. If a brand wants to get the absolute most out of your R&D phase, what should they bring to the table in that very first meeting?"
Bruto: "Bring as much as you’ve got: references, instincts, even weird ideas to explore. It gives us something to react to, bend, or break. But the most important thing is openness, because R&D can shift things in unexpected directions once ideas start to live. We don't work in just one way, sometimes agencies or clients approach us with a developed concept and sometimes with a single word to explore together - they can be equally inspiring."
Henrik: "As part of the SweetSpot roster, you’re tackling everything from beauty playgrounds to heavy industry like SSAB. What is a specific visual challenge, industry, or type of product you’d love to get your hands on next?"
Bruto: "A: We’re not that driven by category, it’s more about the feeling a brand creates. The most perfect creative territory for us to work in is when 3D becomes inseparable from that feeling, something almost tactile and emotionally charged. We do love working with fashion, we appreciate the vision and ambition of high fashion and beauty campaigns. For example, it would be a dream come true to work with a brand like Hermès, who dare to push the boundaries and be playful and immersive."
Henrik: "Huge thanks for sharing your process with us! Whether you are adding "human imperfection" to a luxury product or bringing that rhythmic music-video energy to a high fashion brief, your ability to give digital concepts a physical, sensory-driven soul is what makes Bruto stand out. We love your ambition to keep pushing boundaries with brands like Hermès, and we couldn't be prouder to have Bruto's visionary approach on the SweetSpot roster."
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