The Digital Type Revolution: A Swedish Scandal

One could say that modern is digital. Most people are completely surrounded by technology everyday; few people can set foot out their door without a cell phone and computers are frequented both at work and at home. And while technologies are not limited to being digital, the majority of technologies we consider modern have some kind of digital aspect to them. Even the field of design can be split up into two groups – print and digital. When designing for these two groups, there are different rules that apply, varying standards, and even specific elements that can, or at least should, be used for one but not the other. Such is the case with the element of typography. Just as there has been a digital revolution in culture, there has been a digital revolution in the design and use of typography, an example of which can be seen in the case of the Swedish home goods store IKEA.

Among Robin Nichols typography designs is one with “specially drawn weights of a geometric sans face,” called IKEA Sans (Ascender Corporation). This IKEA Sans font is a variant of the Futura font designed by German designer Paul Renner in the 1920s (Garfield). Though Futura is over 80 years old, many consider the font to still look modern (Garfield). In the summer of 2009, IKEA released the 2010 edition of their yearly catalog. As fans of the store opened up their mailboxes and logged onto the website to view the digital version, they were met with a great change that brought shock and anger to many. The 2010 IKEA catalog was filled not with their specially designed font, IKEA Sans, not even with the original version, Futura, but with the overly used and common place Verdana.

The Verdana type face was designed by Matthew Carter in 1993, specifically for use as a screen font on the computer. It has wide letterforms with generous spacing to allow for optimum legibility at the smallest of sizes (Abend). It could be said that Verdana is the go-to font for when one does not care “how their work looks to others” (Garfield).

Great controversy arose from what some might consider a minor change. Angry comments and rants flooded the social media Twitter and an online petition was created by one designer (Abend). Discussions ensued regarding the failing of IKEA’s branding and with it their reputation in the field of design. Many designers felt betrayed (Abend).

When asked why the need for change, Monika Cocic, an IKEA spokeswoman, stated, “It’s more efficient and cost-effective…. Plus, it’s a simple, modern-looking typeface” (Abend).

But what, one might ask, does any of this have to do with the digital type revolution? For starters, the most obvious and simple answer is the pure fact that IKEA switched from an historically grounded type face to a more modern one designed specifically for digital use. With web presence being such a significant tool in commerce these days, one could say IKEA was just moving to the next level; however, the fact remains that they have had a website for years and yet never changed their catalog font in the past.

One of the most important issues regarding the IKEA font change is what it means for the impact of digital type design on print design in the 21st century. IKEA is well-known; upon landing on their website, one can enter through over 30 countries. If such a well-known and well-branded company can get away with changing their entire image, will others try to follow suit? Will other companies start to use web fonts in their print pieces in order to save money and time on design? Will the aesthetics of design be brushed aside for ease of commerce, for what some consider modernity, for simplicity?

These are questions that are not easily answered, but well worth asking. Centuries of training and thought have gone into creating the aesthetics of design. With the digital revolution in culture, one could say the daily lives of humans have been made easier. But with the digital revolution of type, is it possible that instead of improving upon the past, we have actually destroyed one of the oldest aspects of culture, our art.

Pictured:
(from first to last)
Futura type face
Verdana type face
IKEA 2010 catalog online
IKEA Sans type face


Bibliography:

Abend, Lisa. “The Font War: Ikea Fans Fume Over Verdana.” TIME. 2009 Aug. 28. http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1919127,00.html. (accessed Dec. 2, 2009).

Ascender Corporation. “Robin Nichols.” 2009. http://www.ascendercorp.com/designers/robin-nicholas/. (accessed Dec. 2, 2009).

Bauhaus-archiv Museum of Design. 2009. 2 Dec. 2009. <http://www.bauhaus.de/english/index.htm>.

Garfield, Simon. “Verdana: Ikea's flat-pack font: Ikea is changing its font to Verdana - causing outrage among typomaniacs. Should the rest of us care? Absolutely.” Guardian.co.uk. 2009 Sept. 2. http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2009/sep/02/ikea-verdana-font. (accessed Dec. 2, 2009).

IKEA. 2009. 2 Dec. 2009. <http://www.ikea.com/>.

Microsoft. “Verdana.” 2009. 2 Dec. 2009. <http://www.microsoft.com/typography/fonts/family.aspx?FID=1>.

MyFonts.com. 2009. 2 Dec. 2009. <http://new.myfonts.com/>.

Stockholm Design Lab. “Ikea Sans.” 2009. http://www.stockholmdesignlab.se/#/1112/projects/clients/ikea/ikea/. (accessed Dec. 2, 2009).