Verdana vs.
FUTURA an objective view on the IKEA ‘fontroversy’
intro
To the general public, text is often universal, invisible when it comes to the semantics of a language; it is simply a tool to communicate. Despite this common naivety, others might agrue it is important to take a deeper look at typography, especially through the lens of emotion. Each typeface has emotion linked to it. Different typefaces say things in different ways, even if it is executed through the simple act of making bold or italic. This mentality is extremely prevalent in the examination of the 2009 IKEA redesign – when the Swedish company switched from the 1920s geometric sans serif Futura to 1996’s classic Verdana in both their print and web presence.
Not only did people notice this small change when catalogues began showing up at doorsteps with a slightly odd difference “I had thought – it caused a full on “font-war”. Designers from someone had lost the font, all over the world were outraged and disgusted honestly! Like they sent the by the switch. What started as a discussion on the catalog to the printer and typography forum “Typophile,” quickly caused a plague of news articles and hundreds of blog posts didn’t package the font... Until about the fontroversy. I went inside my local IKEA For roughly 50 years IKEA had been loyal to the typeface Ikea Sans, a variation based off of German-designed geometric sans typeface Futura. “Rather than pure geometry, [Futura] references the underlying classical skeleton; stretched to the bold weight and used large (as in Ikea’s more attractive past) it’s a perfect fit for Ikea’s contemporary modernist focus,” said user “plainclothes” on the original Typophile forum [1].
and saw Verdana on displays, pamphlets...” -post by ‘colinmford’ on the original Typophile forum
The main resistance to the typeface switch was that the new one chosen was Verdana – a type family designed for web use. That was the key argument in hundreds of forum posts, some more intellectual than others. Advertising Industry Newswire brought up a respectable point in their article on the topic saying: “So, this issue with Verdana … well, the problem stems (sort of a pun there for you typographers) from the fact that it doesn’t look as good when printed large as a headline, compared to a font which has been “drawn” to look good at large sizes, letter space (kerning) is harder to control, and because it’s a wide, open style, whereas many headline styles are designed to have thinner curves, and narrower widths to fit better in page layouts. Verdana just wasn’t built for the world of magazines and newspapers. All you really need to do is look at any price that has a 1 in it, like a large $129 price [1].” Charles Bigelow, co-designer of the font Lucida Sans, had another interesting way to explain the odd appearance of Verdana, “The problem that most screen-optimized fonts have in print is that the big x-heights, the wide shapes, the open spacing, the careful reduction of fine details, all combine to make the text image look too big, too strong, too aggressive, and too simple.” [2]
Another popular opinion among the font war was that IKEA had always had a superb taste for design, and seemed an important philosophy to their business, in both the products and visual presence. The use of the typeface Verdana seemed to juxtapose this completely. Since 1996, Verdana has been installed in virtually every computer, making it the most common typeface among the web. This mainstream typeface choice then does not seem very fitting of the company. Many argued that it made the catalogues look corporate and even tacky. “Do they want to look cheaper?” comments read. So why did IKEA make the change? Companies often re-brand themselves with a fresh new marketing appearance, but why just the switch of typeface? According to IKEA spokeswoman Camilla Meiby the new typeface was to alleviate difficulties and costs of printing in a large variety of languages. “Verdana is a simple, cost-effective font which works well in all media and languages.”[3]
“You grandpas have me feeling like I can shave twenty years off my age just by using Verdana for a tradeshow header.” -Typophile user ‘BlueStreak’
Know your fonts typefaces. To better analyze the redesign of IKEA, it would be helpful to know a little bit more about Futura and Verdana. Just like people, the two typefaces have unique histories. Their designers, as well as the time period they were designing in, play a huge role in the structure, aesthetic and application. Futura was designed by German type designer Paul Renner in the early 1920s and was commercially released in 1928; it was almost instantly was adopted as a cornerstone of a new typography era classified as Geometric Modernism [4]. It is considered to be one of the major developments to come out of the Constructivist design movement [6].
The constructivists believed that sans serif typefaces were the purest and clearest expression in design. In typographic history, the sans serifs did not make any lasting impressions in graphic design within the first 100 years of its existence, however. They were often used for cheap, mass-produced advertisements, as they were easy to set and had a longer lifespan than serif faces because of their durability. Cubists often used sans-serif typefaces in their designs, but were aimed to appear unaesthetic and vulgar to communicate the message of the design adequately [7]. The constructivists on the other hand revisited the sans serifs, but instead putting an emphasis on clarity and rationalism. By focusing on a fascination of geometry, the goal was to create the most universal and uncomplicated typographic form. It is very easy to understand, then, how Renner’s Futura type design was the perfect solution.
(1925), Tschichold believed that text must appear in ‘the briefest, simplest most urgent form’ and be ‘serviceable to social ends.’ His passion and spirit of this new vision of typography led Constructivist principles forward, but was also with the help of many other inspired artists and graphic designers, Paul Renner being a great example. [7] Tschichold was actually a member of staff at the Master School for Germany’s Printers, which was co-founded and directed by Paul Renner. Renner published a booklet titled ‘Kulturbolschewismus’ in 1932, in which he criticized the Nazi’s cultural policy. In the same year that the Nazis shut down the entire Bauhaus design institution in Berlin, Renner was dismissed from the Master School as an intellectual rebel, a “Cultural Bolshevist.’ [5]
Fu
tu
In Jan Tschichold’s 1928 handbook The New Typography, actually dismisses the entire period from the invention of printing in 1440 to 1914 and labels it as ‘Old Typography.” According to his manifesto he called ‘elementary typography’
As Renner designed Futura between the years of 1924 and 1926 [4], he based his original drawings of the letters on simple shapes such as the circle, triangle, and square. The progression of the typeface developed as the design office at the Bauer Type Foundry (whom Renner was working for) supported him in transforming these sketches into a sturdy,
ra
functioning type family. [6] This meant not only giving attention to the geometry of the individual letters, but also how they might pair together and formed words. Taking a look at letters such as the capital and lowercase O and C Futura can be identified if it is a perfect ring (or part of a perfect ring in the case of the ‘c’), meaning the counter is also a perfect circle containing no visual axis.
In addition to this, many letters surpass the cap-height and the baseline, such as in the tip of the capital A and V. Unlike most other sans serifs, the ascenders in Futura’s lowercase letters sometimes reach above the heights of capitals, for example the relationship between upper and lowercase f’s. Because of these long ascenders and descenders, the typeface benefits from the generous line spacing it was designed with.
Ikea before $169 (futura 27pt)
Ikea after $169
(verdana 23pt)
You don’t have to go far to see examples of Futura’s use in today’s graphic design; companies such as Dominoes and Absolut Vodka adopted its usage, as well as many Wes Anderson films (in both the titles and credits). Futura, ironically enough, has the title of being the first typeface to make it to the moon. It was chosen for the text written on the plaque left behind from the first manned moon landing in 1969 [8]. According to Renner, even as early
as 1925 of the civic appearance of Frankfurt am Main was already set in Futura by order of the city’s planning office. Renner still kept working to perfect the design four years after its launch however. [12] At the time of release, Futura was already seen as timelessly modern. It struck the public as radical yet tasteful. Still today it continues to be a reliable typeface, popular for text that is meant to express an elegant strength and also conceptual clarity. [7]
Not only did its intelligent design earn its success, but the medium of display itself: the computer. Verdana was designed for Microsoft to accompany the launch of Internet Explorer 3 in August of 1996. Because of this, Verdana possesses many subtle yet unique differences that make the typeface so effective on the screen. Verdana was inspired by Edward Johnston’s typeface for the London Underground as well as Frutiger, a typeface that was designed by Adrian Frutiger [9] in 1968. Frutiger was commissioned by and now commonly used in airport terminals because of its clarity at far distances and multilingual versatility [10]. Both of these are characteriszed as humanist san serif typefaces, which means that they possess more humanistic proportions. Verdana, however, cannot simply be labeled a humanist san serif, as that would be ignoring the most important elegance – the design intended for the medium of a computer screen. Unlike printed letters, Verdana had to be designed in perspective of pixels. Carter made sure that there was a good relationship between a variety of strokes (whether it be straight stems, curved bowls, or diagonal legs) when viewed at small sizes. Carter ensured that the pixel patterns were pleasing
and legible. Low resolutions had to be taken into consideration as well, as letters easily clash. The x-height is larger and there is generous width and spacing between Verdana’s characters – features that are key to the legibility of the typeface. “ It’s important to keep the characters distinct from one another, and research has shown that wider letterspacing significantly aids reading from the screen” [9]
Verdana
Premiering almost 70 years after Futura was the typeface Verdana. Designed by renowned type designer Matthew Carter, it is now one of the most commonly used typefaces today.
Another unique aspect to Verdana is the approach Carter took while designing it. Instead of drawing outlines of the letters first and then working to hint them for the screen (how most had been designed at the time), he instead started with the bitmaps. In an interview with Daniel Will-Harris, Carter said, “Bitmaps are relatively easy to make and they show exactly how the fonts will look on-screen. This allowed us to make decisions about sizes, weights, and distinctions between serif, sans, roman, italic, all viewed in context. Working this way we came up with a definition for a certain number of critical sizes and weights.” [11] Verdana still remains the typeface of IKEA, both on the web and in print. The 2010 catologue was the world’s third most printed publication (next to the Bible and Harry Potter) [10]. There’s no word on whether the fontroversy actually affected IKEA’s sales or not. Regardless, the issue got people other than designers talking about the effects of typography. They say design is emotional, and the “Verdanagate” was an excellent example of that.
Work Cited
1. “IKEA Goes with Verdana | Typophile.” IKEA Goes with Verdana | Typophile. N.p., 25 Aug. 2009. Web. 06 Nov. 2012. <http://typophile.com/node/61222>. 2. Simmons, Christopher L. “The Verdana Monologues – When Ikea’s Designers go Kabookskik” : Advertising Industry Newswire, 30 Aug. 2009. Web. 06 Nov. 2012. <http://advertisingindustrynewswire.com/2009/08/30/1156_190137.php>. 3. Tenner, Edward. “Futura Shock at Ikea, and Its Flat-Pack Heritage.” The Atlantic. The Atlantic, 2 Sept. 2009. Web. 06 Nov. 2012. <http://www.theatlantic. com/technology/archive/2009/09/futura-shock-at-ikea-and-its-flat-pack-heritage/24382/>. 4. Challand, Skylar. “Ikea Says Goodbye to Futura.” Idsgn. N.p., 26 Aug. 2009. Web. 1 Nov. 2012. <http://idsgn.org/posts/ikea-says-goodbye-to-futura/>.
5. Fabian, Nicholas. “The Bauhaus Designer Paul Renner | CreativePro.com.”CreativePro.com. N.p., 15 Dec. 2000. Web. 06 Nov. 2012. <http://www.creativepro.com/ article/the-bauhaus-designer-paul-renner>. 6. “Futura Font Family.» Linotype. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Nov. 2012. <http://www.linotype.com/472/futura-family.html>. 7. Morley, Simon. “7; Constructivist Words.” Writing on the Wall: Word and Image in Modern Art. Berkeley: University of California, 2003. N. pag. Print. 8. Bigman, Alex. “Designer Blog.” 99 Designs. N.p., 11 Apr. 2012. Web. 06 Nov. 2012. <http://99designs.com/designer-blog/2012/04/11/know-your-typefacefuturas-amazing-past/>. 9. “Verdana.” Microsoft. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Nov. 2012. <http://www.microsoft. com/typography/fonts/family.aspx?FID=1> 10. Leurs, Laurens. “Frutiger.” Prepressure. N.p., 20 Apr. 2011. Web. 06 Nov. 2012. <http://www.prepressure.com/fonts/interesting/frutiger>. 11. Will-Harris, Daniel. “Georgia & Verdana – Typeface Designed for the Screen (finally).”Typofile. N.p., 2003. Web. 06 Nov. 2012. <http://www.will-harris.com/ verdana-georgia.htm>. 12. Garfield, Simon. “Chapter 4: Futura v Verdana.” Just My Type: A Book about Fonts. NY, NY: Gotham, 2011. Print.
This book was written and designed by Amanda Reeder. Futura medium 10/12 was used for the body text of this book. Pull quotes are displayed in Futura medium italic 12/14.4 pt. Quotes were selected from initial tyography forum ‘Typophile’ which provided a variety of opinions on the IKEA ‘fontroversy’, some more intelligent than others