Conversation between creative types, has reached fever-pitch…so just in case you didn't know, Ikea has changed its global font from Futura to Verdana. Some are saying that instead of looking industrial, functional, and tough it now looks more crafted and rounded, mature… A bit like replacing Kate Moss with Stirling Moss.

Some say it's lost the feel of good practical design – which is now more eggcup than Ektorp. Online forums and typomaniacs, of which we follow, have taken the news badly! Verdana is one of the most widely (commonly) used fonts in the world and folk who are passionate about these things dislike the way our words are becoming homogenised, mashed, blended and stodgy.

In reality, it's just a business, it's not dangerous and the new font probably won't stop me holing myself up in one of their swish sheds for days with nothing but a meatball and large danish for company. But consider…the real reason for this change is probably commercial efficiency, what would happen to our appreciation of the world if all decisions were based on this alone?

With that I'm off to see what our studio bods have done with my wingdings.
for the full story and more on the famous font…
http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2009/sep/02/ikea-verdana-font