In case you missed it, the Internet went mad last week when IKEA, the design-savvy Swedish furniture manufacturer, switched the font used in its catalog from Futura, which it had used for over fifty years, to Verdana, a font that was created by Microsoft for reading on a computer screen—and which many contend does not work at all in print. Twitter and the blogosphere exploded with viral disgust over the decision, and design consultant Marius Ursache started a petition asking IKEA to drop the font, eventually gathering over 3,000 signatures. Today, Twitter is still buzzing with re-Tweets about the petition posted by font nerds and remarks like this one from @dvdwlsh: “This honestly HURT me to read. IKEA DESTROYS element of its identity.” (There is, however, a backlash to the backlash; @idrathernot says: “futura is a pretentious snob! long live verdana, the workers’ font! #ikea #iheartverdana”.)

IKEA has responded that it believes the backlash comes mainly from typography experts, and that the general public doesn’t really notice this type of thing. But that discounts how widespread the displeasure about the Verdana switch is, and the subconscious effect that design details can have even on typography illiterates. We’ve mentioned that this type of thing is important before. Here’s a great case in point. Your book may never achieve the distribution levels of the IKEA catalog (it is often advertised as the most widely printed book in the world), but do pay attention to font—and never, ever, ever use Papyrus.

Tags: fonts, IKEA, papyrus, Verdana

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