pie-eater 207 Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 You need to be a certain type to want that lot. Link to post Share on other sites
JA2340 16 Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 Hmmm ... yep, a certain type, indeed. (and best left at that, i think!) Link to post Share on other sites
thursday 1 Posted April 23, 2009 Author Share Posted April 23, 2009 a certain type, but not this type Link to post Share on other sites
nzlegend 1 Posted September 5, 2009 Share Posted September 5, 2009 back to fonts: I had a chuckle at the news Ikea changed their foh from Futura to Verdana........................... Quote: You probably missed this earth-shattering news, but Ikea IKEA, the Swedish furniture and other assorted home decoration products company, has switched fonts. The company always used the Futura font for its catalogues, but the latest edition has ditched it in favour of Verdana. This has caused quite the stir among typography geeks. Over its 60 years, Ikea has built a reputation as a purveyor of inexpensive but stylish home furnishings, selling everything from leather sofas to chrome toilet-bowl cleaners. Branding has been a large part of the Swedish chain's success — what urban dweller today, whether in Atlanta or Kuala Lumpur, doesn't recognize that bright blue warehouse, glowing like a beacon of fine living, at the side of the highway? And its signature typeface, a customized version of Futura, has long been an integral part of that brand. But with its 2010 catalogue now arriving in mailboxes, the supplier of headboards and coffee tables to the world's thrifty and trendy has switched to what it sees as a more functional typeface: Verdana. In the process, it has provoked an instantaneous global backlash, the kind that can only happen on the Internet IKEA has always used a modified variant of the Futura font in its catalogues and promotional material, but with the release of the latest catalogue, they switched to Verdana. The backlash on the internet is of almost epic proportions: typography geeks the world over are fuming over IKEA's change of fonts. Typography geeks argue that Microsoft's Verdana is designed for on-screen use, and not for print materials. Futura is superior, according to them, so why didn't IKEA just use Verdana online, and Futura for print materials? "I shudder at the thought of hovering Verdana-emblazoned billboards and bus stop ads," Jamie Latendresse writes. "Ikea, stop the Verdana madness!" pleaded Tokyo's Oliver Reichenstein on Twitter. "Words can't describe my disgust," spat Ben Cristensen of Melbourne. "Horrific," lamented Christian Hughes in Dublin. The online forum Typophile closed its first post on the subject with the words, "It's a sad day." On Aug. 26, Romanian design consultant Marius Ursache started an online petition to get Ikea to change its mind. That night, Verdana was already a trending topic on Twitter, drawing more tweets than even Ted Kennedy.All this outrage over a font? For some designers, it's an issue of propriety — Verdana, which was invented by Microsoft, was intended to be used on a screen, not on paper. "It has open, wide letterforms with lots of space between characters to aid legibility at small sizes on screen," explains Simon l'Anson, creative director at Made by Many, a London-based digital-consulting company. "It doesn't exhibit any elegance or visual rhythm when set at large sizes. It's like taking the family sedan off-road. It will sort of work, but ultimately gets bogged down." (See pictures of Microsoft.) Carolyn Fraser, a letterpress printer in Melbourne, Australia, adopts a different metaphor to explain the problem. "Verdana was designed for the limitations of the Web — it's dumbed down and overused. It's a bit like using Lego to build a skyscraper, when steel is clearly a superior choice." So, why is Verdana well-suited for on-screen use? "It has open, wide letterforms with lots of space between characters to aid legibility at small sizes on screen," explains Simon l'Anson, creative director at Made by Many, a London-based digital-consulting company, to Time Magazine, "It doesn't exhibit any elegance or visual rhythm when set at large sizes. It's like taking the family sedan off-road. It will sort of work, but ultimately gets bogged down." It is argued that the switch to Verdana is done for cost-saving reasons; apparently, the font is better suited for internationalisation (use in different alphabets). This means IKEA can more easily use the same font across all the countries it operates in, which should save costs for the company. Now, I'm sure many of you are wondering why this story is on OSNews. Well, we all use our computers quite regularly, so I'm sure many of you have your own ideas and preferences when it comes to the fonts you prefer to use on your computers - and I think it's interesting discussion material. While I am a huge fan of Microsoft's Trebuchet MS (beautiful!) my actual on-screen font preference for user interfaces are some of the fonts Microsoft introduced with Windows Vista: Segoe UI and Consolas (the names more or less imply where they are used in Windows 7). Both of them were designed by Microsoft's Typography division specifically for their intended roles. the above is posted in verdana - yes it truly is hideous isn't it? Typography geeks need to get out more..... Link to post Share on other sites
Tubby Beaver 209 Posted September 5, 2009 Share Posted September 5, 2009 GET A LIFE GEEKS Link to post Share on other sites
thursday 1 Posted September 5, 2009 Author Share Posted September 5, 2009 who you calling a geek, o' queen of geeks. Link to post Share on other sites
yamayamayama 2 Posted September 5, 2009 Share Posted September 5, 2009 Well, in protest I am never using Ikea again. I am truly outraged! Link to post Share on other sites
kokodoko 67 Posted September 6, 2009 Share Posted September 6, 2009 I cant tell the difference between verdana and futura. but then i like ms comic sans italic.. Link to post Share on other sites
Ctrl-Z 0 Posted September 7, 2009 Share Posted September 7, 2009 And I wonder how many $$$ they spend making that decision and the changes. Link to post Share on other sites
Tubby Beaver 209 Posted September 7, 2009 Share Posted September 7, 2009 Originally Posted By: thursday who you calling a geek, o' queen of geeks. you Link to post Share on other sites
thursday 1 Posted September 7, 2009 Author Share Posted September 7, 2009 Just hope they spend that money on the print for all their packaging too. Link to post Share on other sites
pie-eater 207 Posted September 9, 2009 Share Posted September 9, 2009 What do the font geeks think of D Bowies album cover Even when I was a kid I knew that sucked. Link to post Share on other sites
thursday 1 Posted September 9, 2009 Author Share Posted September 9, 2009 that really is ugly Link to post Share on other sites
kokodoko 67 Posted September 10, 2009 Share Posted September 10, 2009 I found my favourite font. you can download it here: http://www.dafont.com/Sex-Pistols.Font Link to post Share on other sites
pie-eater 207 Posted September 10, 2009 Share Posted September 10, 2009 Just slightly less rubbish than the Bowie one. Link to post Share on other sites
thursday 1 Posted September 10, 2009 Author Share Posted September 10, 2009 what a bollocks font. Link to post Share on other sites
grungy-gonads 54 Posted September 10, 2009 Share Posted September 10, 2009 I think it's the dogs bollocks myself. Link to post Share on other sites
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