Fonts Break UX: What Designers Must Learn from IKEA
💌 Subscribe to the Newsletter: https://pmty.pe/newsletter
You might not have noticed it… but you felt it.
When @IKEA switched from Futura to Verdana, something changed — not just in their catalogs, but in how their entire brand felt.
In this video, I break down one of the most talked-about font changes in design history and what it teaches us about typography, UX, and brand identity. We’ll look at why IKEA made the switch, what went wrong, and how their next move (to Google’s Noto) finally fixed it.
Along the way, you’ll learn:
💡 Why even “safe” fonts can wreck your brand’s personality
💡 How technical limits once shaped corporate typography
💡 What IKEA’s choice teaches us about font consistency across platforms
💡 And how to pick typefaces that grow with your brand
👀 Watch till the end for practical font-picking advice.
✅ Want better font choices in your own designs?
Book a free Type Check with me: https://pmty.pe/check
Sources:
IKEA’s web fonts (Robin Whittleton): https://www.robinwhittleton.com/2025/04/23/ikea-web-fonts/
IKEA Catalog of 1954 (IKEA Museum): https://ikeamuseum.com/en/explore/ikea-catalogue/1954-ikea-catalogue/
The Font War (TIME) IKEA Fans Fume over Verdana: https://time.com/archive/6906386/the-font-war-ikea-fans-fume-over-verdana/
Verdana: Ikea's flat-pack font (The Guardian): https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2009/sep/02/ikea-verdana-font
Ikea defends new catalog typeface after backlash (ABC News): https://abcnews.go.com/Business/ikea-defends-catalog-typeface-backlash/story?id=8448139
#Typography #Ikea #UXDesign
You might not have noticed it… but you felt it.
When @IKEA switched from Futura to Verdana, something changed — not just in their catalogs, but in how their entire brand felt.
In this video, I break down one of the most talked-about font changes in design history and what it teaches us about typography, UX, and brand identity. We’ll look at why IKEA made the switch, what went wrong, and how their next move (to Google’s Noto) finally fixed it.
Along the way, you’ll learn:
💡 Why even “safe” fonts can wreck your brand’s personality
💡 How technical limits once shaped corporate typography
💡 What IKEA’s choice teaches us about font consistency across platforms
💡 And how to pick typefaces that grow with your brand
👀 Watch till the end for practical font-picking advice.
✅ Want better font choices in your own designs?
Book a free Type Check with me: https://pmty.pe/check
Sources:
IKEA’s web fonts (Robin Whittleton): https://www.robinwhittleton.com/2025/04/23/ikea-web-fonts/
IKEA Catalog of 1954 (IKEA Museum): https://ikeamuseum.com/en/explore/ikea-catalogue/1954-ikea-catalogue/
The Font War (TIME) IKEA Fans Fume over Verdana: https://time.com/archive/6906386/the-font-war-ikea-fans-fume-over-verdana/
Verdana: Ikea's flat-pack font (The Guardian): https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2009/sep/02/ikea-verdana-font
Ikea defends new catalog typeface after backlash (ABC News): https://abcnews.go.com/Business/ikea-defends-catalog-typeface-backlash/story?id=8448139
#Typography #Ikea #UXDesign