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IKEA Catalogs 1951-2021

ikeamuseum.com

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Re: IKEA Catalogs 1951-2021

#51

Post by fragmede »

supportengineer wrote: post #24
BoredPositron wrote: post #6

Woah...that brings back some memories. In a whole different timeline 22 years ago I was printing them for literal months. We did all European versions and it was 8 weeks of nothing but IKEA catalogs. They were highly optimized so for a language change we only had to switch the black cylinders. The whole IT was bonkers for the time we used SGI workstations for pre press and had like 100 bonded dial up connections for…

I don't think most people appreciate the miracle that is paper publishing. For decades we used to have daily newspapers delivered to our doorstep, and the price was low enough that almost anyone could afford it.

And that they were set by linotype! Whenever I get annoyed at Jekyll or ruby or GitHub pages or whatever not building and needing maintenance, I think back and am suddenly grateful that my problem isn't of sorting funny shaped pieces of metal into exactly the right order.

Re: IKEA Catalogs 1951-2021

#53

Post by driese »

alpinemeadow wrote: post #47
driese wrote: post #34

What a coincidence to see this on the HN front page. I want to use these catalogs for a project of mine, but I first wanted to speak to one of the people of the IKEA museum or IKEA itself to inquire about permissions (outside of the ones on the website). I have been trying to get a hold of them for weeks now, but with no luck so far. If anyone here knows someone at those places, please let me know.

DM me!

I'd love to, but your profile gives no way to contact you? You can find one on mine, otherwise I'd be happy about a link.

Re: IKEA Catalogs 1951-2021

#54

Post by freddie_mercury »

galfarragem wrote: post #28

I'd happily pay for the traditional physical IKEA yearly catalog. I suspect that if they sold it in-store for a few euros (€2?) just to cover printing costs, many people would buy it. It's more than a product list, it’s a cultural artifact, offering a window into the aesthetics, values, and lifestyle of its time. I still keep their old catalogs, and I’m not alone.

> And behind the scenes, work on the next catalogue had already begun – a process lasting several months and involving planning, construction of interiors, photography and filming, all led by catalogue manager Mia Olsson Tunér.

It is naive to assume printing costs are the only costs involved.

I feel comfortable assuming IKEA had a better understanding of the economic fundamentals of the catalogue than HN commenters.

Re: IKEA Catalogs 1951-2021

#55

Post by 112233 »

A bit OT, but why is ikea internet store (any country) designed to be so unusable? Lists of available components hidden in pdfs tucked in obscure menu, no way to find compatible components, search flooded with tens of thousands of "combinations" — I mean, they obviously know what they are doing. What is the goal of making it such way?

Re: IKEA Catalogs 1951-2021

#56

Post by degrews »

freddie_mercury wrote: post #54
galfarragem wrote: post #28

I'd happily pay for the traditional physical IKEA yearly catalog. I suspect that if they sold it in-store for a few euros (€2?) just to cover printing costs, many people would buy it. It's more than a product list, it’s a cultural artifact, offering a window into the aesthetics, values, and lifestyle of its time. I still keep their old catalogs, and I’m not alone.

> And behind the scenes, work on the next catalogue had already begun – a process lasting several months and involving planning, construction of interiors, photography and filming, all led by catalogue manager Mia Olsson Tunér. It is naive to assume printing costs are the only costs involved. I feel comfortable assuming IKEA had a better understanding of the economic fundamentals of the catalogue than HN commenters.

No one is assuming printing costs are the only costs to produce the catalogue. The point of pricing the catalogue at printing costs is to cover the marginal cost of offering the catalogue for sale. The fixed costs of producing the calendar are incurred either way.

Re: IKEA Catalogs 1951-2021

#57

Post by BizarroLand »

ahartmetz wrote: post #18

Crazy how few of their decades old designs look "wrong" today. Their combination of high quality design, low price, and (depending on price...) workable to good build quality is pretty unique.

The more striking thing is checking them against each other.

The 1959 catalog had thin, svelte, curved and up angled designs. The Mid 80's had plump, puffy, overstuffed and was quite tame-loud, whereas the 2020's has "I'm not here, white-black-pop of color" aesthetics.

Re: IKEA Catalogs 1951-2021

#58

Post by torben-friis »

112233 wrote: post #55

A bit OT, but why is ikea internet store (any country) designed to be so unusable? Lists of available components hidden in pdfs tucked in obscure menu, no way to find compatible components, search flooded with tens of thousands of "combinations" — I mean, they obviously know what they are doing. What is the goal of making it such way?

This is completely anectodal, but I have a friend who works there and he talks about a very change-averse culture.

He has to sit through talks about how Ikea is a bussiness that already works very well and the most important thing is to avoid any changes that have even a 0.001% chance of making it not work. Many relatively trivial deployments have to be approved by a lengthy international bureaucracy, with a focus on preventing any automation that can eventually result in workforce not being needed. Things like that.

Re: IKEA Catalogs 1951-2021

#59

Post by silvestrov »

112233 wrote: post #55

A bit OT, but why is ikea internet store (any country) designed to be so unusable? Lists of available components hidden in pdfs tucked in obscure menu, no way to find compatible components, search flooded with tens of thousands of "combinations" — I mean, they obviously know what they are doing. What is the goal of making it such way?

Also: why can't they show all sizes of a product jusst like when choosing t-shirt size on a normal shop?

e.g. this dresser is available in many sizes but you wouldn't know from the product page: https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/storklinta-3-drawer-chest-white...

At best you can then search for "STORKLINTA" but the result list has the other sizes mixed with all sorts of other products such as beds: https://www.ikea.com/us/en/search/?q=STORKLINTA

Re: IKEA Catalogs 1951-2021

#60

Post by Reason077 »

112233 wrote: post #55

A bit OT, but why is ikea internet store (any country) designed to be so unusable? Lists of available components hidden in pdfs tucked in obscure menu, no way to find compatible components, search flooded with tens of thousands of "combinations" — I mean, they obviously know what they are doing. What is the goal of making it such way?

IKEA likes to find ways to get you into their physical stores because they know you’re going to end up buying more than just the items you came for.

So they have a website that sort of teases you, but isn’t actually good enough to replace the physical stores.

You’ll start on the website, but get frustrated with it and eventually just drive over to IKEA to find the items you want. And you’ll also come home with some candles, picture frames, and a couple packs of frozen meatballs.

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