Finding Your IKEA Identity Tutorial

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Tutorial

Your IKEA Identity

Print out as many copies as you have people who want to play.
Fill in your worksheets.
Share with the group.

How does IKEA name its products?

IKEA has a strict protocol for naming products.

You can read more about the naming protocol here: http://www.paulsquiz.com/Miscellaneous/List_of_Ikea_Product_Name_Meanings

The iconic IKEA drawing style

Just as the names of IKEA products are guided by a linguistic rubric, IKEA's product assemby instructions follow a strict design principle.

At first glance simple, these wordless line drawings prove surprisingly cryptic.

Explore the archive of assembly instructions here:

http://www.ikea.com/ms/en_US/customer_service/assembly_instructions.html

The IKEA typeface

For about a half century, IKEA used Futura and Century Schoolbook as its type choices.

IKEA switched to Verdana in 2009. Graphic designers across the globe commented.

For a great article on why IKEA's typeface matters, see http://idsgn.org/posts/ikea-says-goodbye-to-futura/

Amidst the typesetting-specific discussion in IKEA Says Goodbye to Futura, linked above, is the claim that the IKEA catalog is "the world's third most printed publication (next to the Bible and Harry Potter)."