Font Enthusiasts Not Fond of IKEA’s New Typeface
Less than a month ago, I blogged about how little IKEA’s catalog had changed in the past half century. Well, the Swedish home furnishings retailer apparently did make a big change—one that’s caused quite a stir in font-enthusiast community.
What happened? Some typeface watchers are in a twist about IKEA’s move from the font Futura to Verdana. I guess I don’t know my fonts too well, or maybe I just don’t care, because I didn’t notice when I saw the catalog. But whole lot of font fanatics did.
According to the AP, an online petition called “Ikea, please get rid of Verdana” had nearly 3,000 signatures as of yesterday. Social media sites are all atwitter with anti-Verdana posts.
Futura is a bit fancier than Verdana, but Ikea says it made the switch because its new font that works in both print and online media. That’s a good reason. Also, Verdana is often described as simple and modern—sort of like IKEA itself.
So I don’t really get all the fuss, but the extra publicity is a bonus for IKEA. It’s keeping the merchant in the news (and in this blog).
And as a result of this story, I’m going to take a closer look at my IKEA catalog tonight and inspect this new font. Maybe I’ll even buy something.
