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The IKEA catalogue through the ages

ikeamuseum.com

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Re: The IKEA catalogue through the ages

#21

Post by forgotmypw17 »

professor_v wrote: post #5

I definitely think it's a mistake that IKEA stopped printing their catalogues last year. The offline experience is totally different from online. Online I tend to do direct searches for things I already decided I want, but the IKEA catalog is perfect for casual browsing and getting new ideas for stuff I would've never bought otherwise. It might come off as a cost saving short term, but I doubt in the end the catalogu…

>Production of catalogs like this squeezes our biome, and if we don't turn back, it will pop, and we'll be left with only enough resources for a small fraction of us to survive.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26163808

Re: The IKEA catalogue through the ages

#23

Post by Jensson »

vintermann wrote: post #17
Jensson wrote: post #14

The room ins the 80's looks like modern rooms. The decades before looks more alien/old, so it seems like furniture stopped changing much about 40 years ago. To me it is interesting seeing how progress was fast and then slowed down at different points in different fields. Like, how far back do you have to go before you start noticing that these things aren't new? For webpage design you see how it was really different…

40 years ago was when teak went out of fashion (possibly out of concern for the rainforest?) and pine went in. But I think it has changed a lot still from that, 80s living rooms still look alien to me even though I'm old enough to remember them. The IKEA 80s living rooms have some things in common with those I've seen in old films and sitcoms (e.g. Back to the Future), but it's still not quite the same. IKEA 80s cata…

I really can't see any notable difference between the 1983 catalogue and the 2013 one. Mostly that the more modern ones has messy rooms with people and stuff in them, but the furniture looks the same.

If you care a lot about furniture fashion maybe it is easier, but to me those are the same.

Re: The IKEA catalogue through the ages

#24

Post by Gravityloss »

lqet wrote: post #10

I am surprised to see that my beloved Poäng armchair (mine has served me well for 20 years now, with a new upholstery every 6 years) is already present on the cover of the 1977 catalogue: https://ikeacatalogues.ikea.com/77436/1102677/pages/4a7b75dd... The part for sitting seems to have been made out of metal back then, in my version, it is the same plywood material as the frame.

Usually with furniture there are forerunner designers / manufacturers that establish an innovation, then all mass manufacturers copy it a decade or two or five later.

For example the cantilever laminated wood frame chair made an appearance already in the 1930s. https://www.artek.fi/en/products/armchair-401

Cantilever steel tube + cane chair Cesca from 1928. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cesca_Chair

Re: The IKEA catalogue through the ages

#26

Post by tdrdt »

I always think it is a nice fact that over 70% of all images (maybe even 90% today) in the latest catalogues are 3D renders.

This gives IKEA the ability to change things (plants, wallpapers, and so on) depending on different cultures without having to completely change a studio.

Edit: a YT video from 3 years ago about the workflow: https://youtu.be/bJFlslL1wFI Textures are prepared in Photoshop, models made and textured in 3DsMax, rendered with V-Ray.

Re: The IKEA catalogue through the ages

#27

Post by jasode »

professor_v wrote: post #5

I definitely think it's a mistake that IKEA stopped printing their catalogues last year. The offline experience is totally different from online. Online I tend to do direct searches for things I already decided I want, but the IKEA catalog is perfect for casual browsing and getting new ideas for stuff I would've never bought otherwise. It might come off as a cost saving short term, but I doubt in the end the catalogu…

>, but the IKEA catalog is perfect for casual browsing and getting new ideas for stuff I would've never bought otherwise.

Understand the advantage of serendipity by flipping through pages instead of entering product search queries.

Fyi, the latest 2022 catalogs are available online with the typical "print book" layout and also downloadable as pdf:

https://www.ikea.com/us/en/customer-service/catalogues/

With pdf catalogs, you get the undirected window shopping without killing trees and adding to landfills.

EDIT reply to: >Those PDFs really don't work well on mobile devices.

Sorry for not being clear. The initial UI is not a pdf. They are web browser "digital catalogs" with page layouts similar to a printed book. There's also an option to download to pdf file.

I just tried it on my smartphone and the pages look fine. No pdf download necessary.

Re: The IKEA catalogue through the ages

#28

Post by draugadrotten »

tdrdt wrote: post #26

I always think it is a nice fact that over 70% of all images (maybe even 90% today) in the latest catalogues are 3D renders. This gives IKEA the ability to change things (plants, wallpapers, and so on) depending on different cultures without having to completely change a studio. Edit: a YT video from 3 years ago about the workflow: https://youtu.be/bJFlslL1wFI Textures are prepared in Photoshop, models made and textu…

It also allows them to erase all women.

https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2012/10/02/162139455...

Re: The IKEA catalogue through the ages

#29

Post by tdrdt »

draugadrotten wrote: post #28
tdrdt wrote: post #26

I always think it is a nice fact that over 70% of all images (maybe even 90% today) in the latest catalogues are 3D renders. This gives IKEA the ability to change things (plants, wallpapers, and so on) depending on different cultures without having to completely change a studio. Edit: a YT video from 3 years ago about the workflow: https://youtu.be/bJFlslL1wFI Textures are prepared in Photoshop, models made and textu…

It also allows them to erase all women. https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2012/10/02/162139455...

This is from 2012 and was done without IKEA's consent.

Re: The IKEA catalogue through the ages

#30

Post by tonyedgecombe »

lqet wrote: post #10

I am surprised to see that my beloved Poäng armchair (mine has served me well for 20 years now, with a new upholstery every 6 years) is already present on the cover of the 1977 catalogue: https://ikeacatalogues.ikea.com/77436/1102677/pages/4a7b75dd... The part for sitting seems to have been made out of metal back then, in my version, it is the same plywood material as the frame.

It's interesting to see the price of the Poäng over time:

https://fivethirtyeight.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/roede...

from:

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-weird-economics-of-...

I know people here like to criticise Ikea but they are remarkably good at squeezing cost out of their business.

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