IKEA Changes Fonts, Outrage Ensues

After brewing on Twitter and on typography and design blogs for the last couple weeks, the New York Times picked up the story about how IKEA has replaced the venerable font Futura with Microsoft’s Verdana screen font.

Yet it can’t be denied: Ikea is trading away a font with a tradition of modernist design, having elaborate associations, for one that has only one major association: with the computer screen. This is so offensive to many because it seems like a slap at the principles of design by a company that has been hailed for its adherence to them. It is, detractors say, an embrace of homogeneity and globalization, betraying all allegiance to the Ikea warehouse style that coats its version of modernity with a veneer of Swedish idiosyncrasy.

I’ll be curious to see how IKEA reacts, beyond press statements. If you are known for good design, things like this matter.