A couple of weeks ago I received the new IKEA catalog in the mail and promptly cuddled up and enjoyed some moments of fantasy about the beautiful clutter free Swedish mod apartment I could have one day. As I was perusing the home decor bible, I noticed that the headline type and some other elements did not feel as streamlined and clean. In the past IKEA was one of the fore-runners of the streamlined and clean Bauhaus style.
Well, it turns out I was right ... IKEA has changed their catalog and store signage typeface from Futura to Verdana. To the dismay of MANY of their design-minded clientele. Actually dismay seems too subtle of a word, it’s more like outrage! There is currently a petition online to get rid of Verdana with over 6,000 signatures. Not to mention 100's of blog postings and online articles including Time, New York Times, and Business Week.
For those of you that don't know the history of the two typefaces I will explain things a little.FUTURA
A classic modern typeface following the Bauhaus design philosophy designed by Paul Renner between 1924 and 1926. He followed the Bauhaus esthetic in that he avoided creating any non-essential elements making use of geometric proportions with no serifs** or frills. It has a crisp, clean form and gives the feeling of efficiency and forwardness.
VERDANADesigned in 1994 by Microsoft with the intent to create a new typeface that had exceptional readability online at small sizes. Because it was designed for small on-screen text some design elements were overlooked ... and the outcome was a clunky and awkward type when it was displayed large.
For someone who hasn't studied typography or worked with it extensively it’s hard to understand how important small typographic details can be in marketing design. The space between individual letters and the way shapes of letters move our eyes can determine how long people will look at an
advertisement or how captivating it will be. The feeling of the type treatment can make or break the feeling of an entire Marketing piece!Anyway, so Ikea's rebuttal to the outrage was this statement, "Verdana is a simple, cost-effective font which works well in all media & languages." Basically they choose Verdana for functionality over aesthetic. I think it’s hard for many of us to look at things from IKEA’s perspective. I mean, their catalog is the third most printed publication in the entire world after the Bible and Harry Potter! Most of us are not generating marketing pieces on such a global scale. One of the most important things Verdana and Microsoft's design has helped is to quickly and easily translate languages. If this helps them to keep their production costs down and therefore maintain their fantastic price deals ... then I suppose I can be at peace with Verdana too.
**Serif definition: any of the short lines stemming from and at an angle to the upper and lower ends of the strokes of a letter. Usually horizontal lines for example the feet of the letter "h" in Times New Roman.
http://www.idsgn.org/posts/ikea-says-goodbye-to-futura/
http://www.underconsideration.com/brandnew/archives/verdanagate.php
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4 comments:
Ms. Rankin I do agree with your point of view. After making many flyers and posters myself (none by comparison to yours) the font you pick is extremely important to the people you are trying to reach out to. Ikea changing the font does make the catalog sloppier and less visually appealing. I think that this article is a great step into the world of marketing. Awesome Article!!!
Hi Nicole,
Thanks for your positive feedback. Keep checking back to our blog we have lots of interesting marketing info!
Great article, I didn't realize that Ikea had changed their font but when you showed the two variations next to eachother I did lean one way. I feel as though the old font for Ikea shows the sleek modern design that they present in their products, the new font looks more like a magazine article rather than the image they've tried to portray. However, if it's cost effective for them to change their font and they can be sure that the small yet noticeable difference will not affect their profits then that is a risk they should be willing to take. Thanks for sharing!
Hi Megan,
It's funny how you may look past those types of things but when someone points it out, it becomes glaringly obvious!! Agreed... IKEA probably thinks they can do what they want because they are so huge!
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