IKEA & Verdana? Say it aint so.
Think something 'small' like typography doesn't matter? Then ask the fine people at Swedish furniture seller IKEA if they've received any feedback from their customers on their recent change from the highly stylistic Futura to the Microsoft-created Verdana font. Why companies do something like this is a mystery, particularly when type plays such a huge role in the company's image (all-text logo, massive billboards, promo call-outs in catalogs, etc.). I'm sure the thought is that it may be an outrage at first, but eventually everyone will forget about it and move on. And honestly, they probably will, with a bit of exposure in the media because of it. But in IKEA's case, it may really matter. A brand that's built on whimsical style and a half-serious treatment of itself begins to become mainstream when it uses mainstream typography. Have they become the new General Furniture Outlet? Will they can the blue stores and cram them into strip malls? Will I still be able to smell those Swedish sticky buns from a mile away? Who knows, but the design community is right in their statement that the change to such a common font sends signals that the company is destined to ass
ume a more common path, which runs counter to the reason people go there in the first place. Don't get us wrong. We use Verdana ourselves for certain projects. It's not evil. But it doesn't work for IKEA . You can get a cheap lamp anywhere. But you can't get one with IKEA's panache. Take that away - one letter at a time - and you change the image of your company. Our man Don Stoppenbach was responsible for bringing this to our attention. Charming, smart, fontastic.
Well done, Stopper.
