I’m pretty enamored with IKEA. They make a pretty mean couch, but I get excited about their presentation, project versatility, and collaborations with other high-profile designers that I admire. The more I learn about their design process, the more my admiration grows.
My excitement over IKEA reintroducing a collaboration with Teenage Engineering
What struck me the most when learning about IKEA's design ideals was their practice of deciding on the price of an item before beginning the design process. This approach towards mass-produced objects is appealing to me because it likely removes some of the surprises from the design process.
Krokstäde, the business manager at IKEA Sweden told Business Insider:
“We don’t say that a product has to cost exactly $8.50. But we do say we want to design a folding chair in our so-called ‘lower price category.’ Next, we draft a target price, like $7.99. And then we work toward that goal.” (2016)
Ikea sets the prices of its products before they're even designed
Since the price is clear from the start, the designer has the opportunity to focus on manufacturing methods that are suited to that price bracket, and get creative inside these restrictions.
IKEA’s core design process centers around “Democratic Design.” These five traits that a product should prioritize
“The form is for beauty, it’s what attracts the eye, and the object has to be functional, otherwise it won’t be used. When objects and materials last over time, that’s quality. Being mindful of resources is something that has been with us since the start. We don’t like complicated solutions and wastefulness, it’s bad for everyone. Part of sustainability is about using exactly the right materials for the function, and using them sparingly, but sustainability also means taking responsibility all the way through a product’s life. It starts with how we source materials, to the people who produce the product, all the way through to our clients.” (Sarah Fager, Senior Designer at IKEA of Sweden AB)
<aside> 🪑 Function
</aside>
<aside> 🔍 Form
</aside>
<aside> ✨ Quality
</aside>
<aside> ♻️ Sustainability
</aside>
<aside> 📉 Low Price
</aside>
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C285CsXF6mw
Since IKEA is such a widespread brand, it is not uncommon for the DIY community to use IKEA products as basic crafting materials for projects that are meant to be duplicable. This has spawned the ‘IKEA hacks’ genre of DIY.
These sorts of projects consist of finding clever uses for IKEA furniture that go beyond the original intention. I think it’s neat that since this furniture has the same dimensions no matter where you are, so anybody can share the ability to reproduce these projects themselves.
One example of using the ‘raw materials’ of an IKEA product to build something new is my Carry That Skadis project.
IKEA has a product line called Skadis. This pegboard-like modular system has some notable advantages over its round-hole based counterpart. However, the part that excites me the most about Skadis is the ways the 3D-printing community has developed to interface with this system.
Since the attachment profile is a rounded slot instead of a circular hole, attachments can be stronger and more creative mechanically. This has blossomed into a wide appreciation online.
