08 September 2009

NYT on ikea font change / mistake

They should have first taken everything out of the carton and made sure nothing was missing and that they weren’t mixing up, say, a Bjursta with a Leksvik or a Muddus. Then they should have taken a look to see how it all would fit together (serifs, strokes and counters), and only then should they have taken the many parts (stems, extenders, legs, spurs and chins) and started to jostle them into place, making sure they had enough help for heavy lifting when anything resembling pressed board was involved.

Instead they violated their aesthetic and their method: they went cheap (O.K., that’s part of Ikea’s appeal) but they also went pre-fab, ready-made. They even jettisoned their own distinctive, Swedish-owned design for something generic, multinational and bland. What good is designing furniture with coy names few outside your country can properly pronounce if you print a catalog describing those items using a font designed by Microsoft? (via)

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