Design by Ikea : a cultural history
Sara Kristoffersson (Author)
Sara Kristoffersson's compelling study provides the first sustained critical history of IKEA. Kristoffersson argues that the company's commercial success has been founded on a neat alignment of the brand with a particular image of Swedish national identity - one that is bound up with ideas of social democracy and egalitarianism - and its material expression in a pared-down, functional design aesthetic. Employing slogans such as "Design for everyone" and "Democratic design", IKEA signals a rejection of the stuffy, the 'chintzy', and the traditional in both design practices and social structures. Drawing on original research in the IKEA company archive and interviews with IKEA personnel, Design by IKEA traces IKEA's symbolic connection to Sweden, through its design output and its promotional materials, to examine how the company both promoted and profited from the concept of Scandinavian Design
History
1 online resource (ix, 150 pages) : illustrations
9781472587374, 9781322167282, 9781474293945, 9780857858153, 1472587375, 1322167281, 1474293948, 0857858157
891589750
CONFIGURING IKEA; A furniture company's history and legitimacy; Facts and fi ctions; The self-image in a landscape of manuals; Notes; ONCE UPON A TIME; The story of IKEA; The 'IKEA Way': what and how to do it; I'm your man; Different ways of narrating IKEA; 'Not for the rich. But for the wise'; Robin Hood of the furniture industry: from the high street to the Masses; Notes; SWEDISH STORIES AND DESIGN; Blue and yellow linguistics; The nature-loving Swedes and the thrifty people of Småland; Welfare and the welfare state Beauty for all; Swedish modern and Scandinavian design; House styles and Swedish collections; Images on the global arena; From copycat to master of style; Notes; SWEDEN DESIGNED BY IKEA; The brand state; Brand Sweden; Sweden loves IKEA; Notes; COUNTER-NARRATIVES; From social role model to brand; Beyond the blond; Old wine in new bottles; IKEA in the limelight; The socially responsible corporation; Notes; DEMOCRACY FOR SALE; The best story wins; Seductive interiors
Translated from the Swedish