Biz: Verdana is not a font. We repeat, IKEA: Verdana is not a font.
Verdana is a mistake. With all apologies to noted typographer Matthew Carter (who we saw speak a couple of years ago and have a lot of respect for), Microsoft has ruined his most well-known font. Its use has become such a sign of amateurism that we consider it a mistake. So its usage in the IKEA catalog, above, requires us to complain. Loudly.
- Where it looks good Microsoft’s Web site. Internet Explorer interfaces. Computer screens. Body type. That’s about it.
- Where it looks bad Just about everywhere the IKEA catalog uses it. Big type. Bad tracking. The kerning sucks. The corners that make the font so distinctive turn in ways that scream personality in all the wrong ways. The catalog looks like something a first year design student at ITT Tech would make, which is the harshest criticism we could come up with. It looks like the font blew out when the catalogs were being printed.
- The font in contextCarter designed this typeface (along with Tahoma and Georgia) for a specific purpose in 1994 – to look good on a computer screen. A lot has changed since 1994. Most notably, we use LCD screens, not CRTs. Improved font rendering makes screens look nearly as good as print. We don’t need Verdana anymore. IKEA needs Futura, an iconic font it used for 50 years. Stupid Swedes. source
You are so right…
Join the Facebook group “Stop IKEA goiong Verdana”
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/group.php?gi...
If we’re being correct in our judgements of others choices, then we should really correct the sentence to: “..Matthew Carter (whom we saw speak a couple of years ago and for whom have a lot of respect)”.
Utterly and loudly agree with your post.
Seriously? Seriously. You’re disgusted by a choice of font in a furniture catalog? Why not sit back and think about how that sounds for a second
Seriously? Seriously. You posted this exact same response on Flickr today, 25 hours apart. Why not sit back and think about why you care so much that you posted the exact same response in two places, as if that really, truly, helps your cause.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/joeclark/3830334115/
It’s a good thing that we have a good memory.
Good design should be fought for whereever it’s necessary.
Is this anti-Microsoft-ism? I think the catalog looks awesome online. It has a very polished interface with stylish transitions. The font gives it a ‘web-interface’ feel to it. IKEA should be commended for their stylistic choice.
Think about this. You’re a company with an iconic image that’s lasted for years. You want to redesign that image. Why would you co-opt another company’s iconic image (that being the use of Verdana, which beyond being used for the Web, is STRONGLY associated with Microsoft’s OS interface)?
I look at the interface and think I’m looking at Internet Explorer. And (considering I don’t like IE) that looks very bad on the company. That’s why Verdana sucks as a font – it’s so strongly associated with one setting that to take it out of that setting makes it look like a mistake.
It’s less anti-Microsoft-ism as it is criticism of weak branding practices. If they wanted to have something more across-the-board, they could have easily gone with Helvetica, which, unlike Verdana, was actually designed to run at 200-point type along with 12-point type.
And keep in mind that you’re generally not looking at the catalog online. There’s a reason why IKEA has a separate Web site where you can buy stuff. It’s because looking at a catalog is awkward. They’re designing that catalog for print.
I’d love to see Matthew Carter weigh in on this issue.
I’m with Murdoch and StopCapShouting. This is just the usual designer snobbishness. People say, “This looks good to me,” and the designers retort, “You have no taste. We’ll tell you what you should like.”
I don’t know if the primary reason is anti-Microsoft-ism, as StopCapShouting suggests, but it’s definitely bound up with designer’s perceived exclusivity against mere mortals. Designers use Macs, regular people use PCs. Designers use Helvetica, regular people use Arial. Designers hate Verdana, regular people think Verdana is fine even for large posters.
Ironically, shortformblog complains about a font, but then loudly complains about a nonexistent use of a font. “Beyond [Verdana] being used for the Web, is STRONGLY associated with Microsoft’s OS interface.”
That’s funny, especially with the all-caps “STRONGLY”, because Verdana is NOT used as the UI font in Microsoft’s OS or applications. And that includes Internet Explorer. For its user interfaces, Microsoft used MS Sans Serif from about 1994 to 1998, then Tahoma from about 1998 to 2006, and now it uses Segoe UI. The years are approximate, because the switchover took place at different times for different Microsoft applications.
Verdana really is popular because of its use in web pages. And no surprise, because on-screen reading is what it was designed for. I don’t even like Verdana that much, but this outburst from designers is just emblematic of what’s wrong with the profession. They’re just unconnected to regular people, who are supposed to be their audience. Same thing that’s worng with architects — they focus on impressing each other, instead of improving regular people’s lives.
(For some real fun, see the documentary “Helvetica.” You end up wanting to slap some sense into many of the designers being interviewed. Or, I suppose, tick them off by using Arial instead of Helvetica.)
wow! you people really have no life, a FONT! & reading all posts on twitter & here lol! lame!
MURDOCH has it right!!!
Seriously? Seriously. You’re disgusted by a choice of font in a furniture catalog? Why not sit back and think about how that sounds for a second
I love when people take the time to make posts like this. “You’re arguing about a font? Why don’t you care about something that matters?”
Great job catching this on Flickr.
Do you really think that designers and architects can’t relate to “regular” people? Seriously?
It continues to baffle me how a field like typography have to continually ward off accusations of “snobbishness” and overall “doesn’t-matter-ness.” Those who are unfamiliar, uneducated and uninterested in design should leave it up to those who do it for a living to make the choices, and stop acting like “it looks good enough” is a legitament critique. But maybe “good enough” is an over-arching lifestyle theme I’m just unfamiliar with. Experts should be allowed to argue and discuss the finer, more subtle points of their field without provoking attacks by novices or and trolls.
I don’t “get” NASCAR, curling, or knitting, but I don’t have a problem accepting the fact that I don’t know everything.
I love when people take the time to make posts like this. “You’re arguing about a font? Why don’t you care about something that matters?”
Great job catching this on Flickr.
Do you really think that designers and architects can’t relate to “regular” people? Seriously?
It continues to baffle me how a field like typography have to continually ward off accusations of “snobbishness” and overall “doesn’t-matter-ness.” Those who are unfamiliar, uneducated and uninterested in design should leave it up to those who do it for a living to make the choices, and stop acting like “it looks good enough” is a legitament critique. But maybe “good enough” is an over-arching lifestyle theme I’m just unfamiliar with. Experts should be allowed to argue and discuss the finer, more subtle points of their field without provoking attacks by novices or and trolls.
I don’t “get” NASCAR, curling, or knitting, but I don’t have a problem accepting the fact that I don’t know everything.
I love when people take the time to make posts like this. “You’re arguing about a font? Why don’t you care about something that matters?”
Great job catching this on Flickr.
Do you really think that designers and architects can’t relate to “regular” people? Seriously?
It continues to baffle me how a field like typography have to continually ward off accusations of “snobbishness” and overall “doesn’t-matter-ness.” Those who are unfamiliar, uneducated and uninterested in design should leave it up to those who do it for a living to make the choices, and stop acting like “it looks good enough” is a legitament critique. But maybe “good enough” is an over-arching lifestyle theme I’m just unfamiliar with. Experts should be allowed to argue and discuss the finer, more subtle points of their field without provoking attacks by novices or and trolls.
I don’t “get” NASCAR, curling, or knitting, but I don’t have a problem accepting the fact that I don’t know everything.