Some Assembly May be Required

Being a fan of IKEA -- and a fan of controversy in general -- Brian N. tipped us off to the brewing fracas over IKEA's new choice for a house typeface. Upon receiving the 2010 catalogs, typophiles (and design aesthetes in gerneral) have been fuming about the change from IKEA's usual Futura to the ubiquitous Verdana.

Why the fuss? Here's how a TIME magazine article characterizes it:

All this outrage over a font? For some designers, it's an issue of propriety — Verdana, which was invented by Microsoft, was intended to be used on a screen, not on paper. "It has open, wide letterforms with lots of space between characters to aid legibility at small sizes on screen," explains Simon l'Anson, creative director at Made by Many, a London-based digital-consulting company. "It doesn't exhibit any elegance or visual rhythm when set at large sizes. It's like taking the family sedan off-road. It will sort of work, but ultimately gets bogged down."

Carolyn Fraser, a letterpress printer in Melbourne, Australia, adopts a different metaphor to explain the problem. "Verdana was designed for the limitations of the Web — it's dumbed down and overused. It's a bit like using Lego to build a skyscraper, when steel is clearly a superior choice."

Those used to IKEA's sensitive approach to design see this as a personal affront, tantamount to Whole Foods hawking genetically-modified fruit. It damages not just the esteem in which designers hold IKEA, but erodes their trust that IKEA will remain the standardbearers of modern, affordable design.

You're no doubt wondering why IKEA did this. Well, affordable design is at the heart of it. Again, from TIME:

The very ubiquity of Verdana seems to be part of the font's appeal. Freely distributed by Microsoft, the typeface allows Ikea to use the same font in all countries and with many alphabets. "It's more efficient and cost-effective," says Ikea spokeswoman Monika Gocic. "Plus, it's a simple, modern-looking typeface."

Ugh.

So what's an outraged consumer to do, besides cry in their bowl of Muesli? Why, sign the petition of course!