IKEA Museum
presents

Booming stock markets, shoulder pads and postmodern design. The 1980s were about equal parts decadence and optimism. For IKEA it was a challenging decade, with both expansion and a quest for an identity. Could steel wire furniture be part of the answer?

Revolution year 1968 brought the winds of change. Design and fashion reflected the times with bright colours, optimistic space shapes and modern materials. IKEA kept up too, launching the POP 68 collection in the same year – trendy, colourful furniture made from rational particle boards. Perfect for a young generation with a taste for anything new. The POP 68 collection was followed by several collections aimed at trend-conscious young consumers. Even if the copywriting in the catalogues is somewhat dated, the colourful furniture itself feels just as hip and relevant today.

After more than 30 years in the IKEA range, it’s one of the most used bags in the world. It’s big and strong, and pretty much anything will fit inside, whether you’re shopping, moving, doing the laundry or going to the beach. An iconic tote bag that has also inspired new creations by everyone from keen DIYers to luxury fashion designers.

IKEA is, at its core, collaborative. Be it suppliers or consumers, everyone is invited to join in. Collaboration happens when customers assemble furniture at home, and when creatives like Virgil Abloh and Olafur Eliason develop new products together with IKEA. This film takes a deep dive into the creative process of collaboration, and how IKEA strives to find the right people to seek out the right solutions to everyday challenges.

What is Democratic Design? Is it a road map for product developers, or a communicative tool that brings great ideas to the many people? In true IKEA style, it is of course both. Here, we explore the roots and application of the Democratic Design principle and its five pillars.

Ideas for IKEA products are always inspired by needs and dreams in people’s lives at home. In this film, two generations of IKEA people tell the story of working towards fulfilling those aspirations. It’s about finding the best and most cost-effective solution, guided by all the different dimensions of Democratic Design – form, function, quality, sustainability, and low price.

Ingvar Kamprad loved mistakes, as long as you learnt something and didn’t make them again. “It must be allowed to make mistakes. It is always the mediocre people who are negative, who spend their time proving that they were not wrong,” he wrote in The Testament of a Furniture Dealer in 1976. The way Ingvar saw it, the fear of making mistakes was “the enemy of development” and “the root of bureaucracy”.

IKEA today is one of the best-known brands in the world, and its hallmark is the characteristic blue and yellow logotype. But the logo (or logotype, or insignia, or emblem) hasn’t always looked like this. Because just like IKEA and its business, the logo has constantly been developing. Here we look at the logo’s evolution from 1943 to 2018, when the latest changes were made. So get your magnifying glass out, and join us for the story of the IKEA logo, from letterhead to head of everything!

What do you do if you are told to do the impossible? Say no? Well, in this particular case it wasn’t an option for Paulina Pajak. She is a Product Developer in the Lighting department, which develops the global IKEA product range. The person looking for the impossible was IKEA founder Ingvar Kamprad, who walked into the department and said: “We’re going to sell LED bulbs for less than one euro.”

Following some intensive years of expansion in the 1970s, IKEA suffered serious growing pains. Many new stores had opened in Europe, and the workforce was increasing dramatically. Meanwhile, the organisation itself had barely developed since the 1960s. Communication was slow, and costs rose while quality fell. The oil crisis was just the last straw. A serious concerted effort was now needed, before it was too late.

Swedish manufacturers did not have the capacity to meet Ingvar Kamprad’s demand. And a lot of the Swedish suppliers were also boycotting IKEA. So Ingvar decided to look for suppliers beyond Sweden. He had already begun working with Danish designers and manufacturers, but now it was time to turn towards Poland.

At the end of the 1950s, the IKEA catalogues looked completely different to the later editions, with their styled homes and well-planned rooms. In fact, if we’re honest, the photos in the early catalogues were pretty threadbare. A sofa, a rug and a lamp, pulled together into a little group, sometimes by Ingvar Kamprad himself. All that was soon to change when a certain Brita Lang made an entrance at IKEA.

Before 1989, production behind the Iron Curtain was a cornerstone of the long-term purchasing strategy at IKEA. Ingvar Kamprad came here back in the 1960s when he was boycotted by furniture makers and the sector as a whole in Sweden. Planned economies like Poland had raw materials at low prices, as well as state-owned factories with great capacity and a need to do business with the West, as eastern currencies could not be used in the West or exchanged for dollars. IKEA made major investments in run-down factories, installed machinery and spare parts, and built up skills. So what happened when the Iron Curtain suddenly fell?

Step into IKEA and of course you are met by all kinds of furniture and other stuff, but not before you’re greeted with a huge Hej!, Swedish for ‘hello’, at the store entrance. You might say that the entire corporate culture exists in this hej. Not a slick how-do-you-do-sir-or-madam-what-can-I-get-you, just a simple hej.

In the early 1960s, Ingvar Kamprad started planning for further expansion of IKEA in Scandinavia and the wider world. But before focusing on the company’s journey, he wanted to broaden his own horizons. He went to the US to learn everything he could about distribution. But could the Americans really impress a man from Agunnaryd?

Towards the end of the 1940s, IKEA started selling furniture, and it very quickly became the main business. Always thinking of challenges as opportunities brought about all kinds of innovations in purchasing, finances and distribution. The foundation for this was already in Ingvar Kamprad back in the days when he worked on a small scale with pens and pipes at home – but the power and opportunities in the gap between customer and manufacturer really materialised in the 1950s.

What do you do if you are told to do the impossible? Say no? Well, in this particular case it wasn’t an option for Paulina Pajak. She is a Product Developer in the Lighting department, which develops the global IKEA product range. The person looking for the impossible was IKEA founder Ingvar Kamprad, who walked into the department and said: “We’re going to sell LED bulbs for less than one euro.”

Booming stock markets, shoulder pads and postmodern design. The 1980s were about equal parts decadence and optimism. For IKEA it was a challenging decade, with both expansion and a quest for an identity. Could steel wire furniture be part of the answer?

Ideas for IKEA products are always inspired by needs and dreams in people’s lives at home. In this film, two generations of IKEA people tell the story of working towards fulfilling those aspirations. It’s about finding the best and most cost-effective solution, guided by all the different dimensions of Democratic Design – form, function, quality, sustainability, and low price.

How many brilliant ideas can you get thinking about a hot dog? Quite a lot as it turns out. In the mid-1990s, IKEA realised that the hot dog was a great symbol for good quality at a low price. That may be a lot to expect from a humble sausage, but it became an important piece of the puzzle in thinking freely and innovatively when it came to product development. But let’s start at the beginning, when a hot dog was just a simple hot dog.

IKEA didn’t come up with the idea of packing and shipping furniture in flatpacks. But it was they who made it the linchpin of a revolutionary business model.

On how IKEA, as a large actor in the timber industry, strives for responsible forest management in joint efforts with WWF and others, for people and the planet.

Following the 1980s’ love of luxury and extravagance, the 1990s began with a recession. For IKEA, this meant an increased interest in life’s many everydays. Spectacular design was replaced by a more restrained look, and a group of designers were brought in to create a series of simple basic products for the kitchen, to be used all 365 days of the year.

The story of IKEA is the story of wooden materials. And the story of wood is also a story about gaining the advantage. Find out how IKEA went from traditional hardwood furniture, to utilising everything from pine to bamboo and recycled wood. Always in close collaboration with suppliers and designers, in order to make the most from the least.

Following some intensive years of expansion in the 1970s, IKEA suffered serious growing pains. Many new stores had opened in Europe, and the workforce was increasing dramatically. Meanwhile, the organisation itself had barely developed since the 1960s. Communication was slow, and costs rose while quality fell. The oil crisis was just the last straw. A serious concerted effort was now needed, before it was too late.

In the mid-1990s, IKEA was rocked by accusations of child labour. At the time the company was the world’s largest furniture retailer, with almost 100 stores in 17 countries, and production in 70. As success for IKEA increased, so too did the media’s scrutiny. Revelations of child labour would lead to a new compass – cooperation with UNICEF and Save the Children, and codes of conduct on everything from child labour to environmental impact.

Before 1989, production behind the Iron Curtain was a cornerstone of the long-term purchasing strategy at IKEA. Ingvar Kamprad came here back in the 1960s when he was boycotted by furniture makers and the sector as a whole in Sweden. Planned economies like Poland had raw materials at low prices, as well as state-owned factories with great capacity and a need to do business with the West, as eastern currencies could not be used in the West or exchanged for dollars. IKEA made major investments in run-down factories, installed machinery and spare parts, and built up skills. So what happened when the Iron Curtain suddenly fell?

Ingvar Kamprad loved mistakes, as long as you learnt something and didn’t make them again. “It must be allowed to make mistakes. It is always the mediocre people who are negative, who spend their time proving that they were not wrong,” he wrote in The Testament of a Furniture Dealer in 1976. The way Ingvar saw it, the fear of making mistakes was “the enemy of development” and “the root of bureaucracy”.

When IKEA opened its first store in Stockholm in summer 1965, it was Europe’s largest furniture store. It was big and it looked good, but it wasn’t exactly efficient. In fact you might say that it wasn’t until the store burned down five years later that IKEA really got the hang of the store concept. Along the way there were colourful little plastic balls, revolutionary posters, and a famous museum in New York. But it all began with a king in a muddy ditch.

Ingvar Kamprad’s experiment in selling furniture went well. So well, indeed, that the traditional furniture industry felt threatened by the rebel from the province of Småland. A price war started, boycotts were introduced, and competitors used every trick in the book to stop IKEA.

At IKEA, there should be something to suit all tastes. But how do you create a varied range of products? Part of the answer can be found in a floral pattern from the 1990s.

In the mid-1990s, IKEA was rocked by accusations of child labour. At the time the company was the world’s largest furniture retailer, with almost 100 stores in 17 countries, and production in 70. As success for IKEA increased, so too did the media’s scrutiny. Revelations of child labour would lead to a new compass – cooperation with UNICEF and Save the Children, and codes of conduct on everything from child labour to environmental impact.

On how IKEA, as a large actor in the timber industry, strives for responsible forest management in joint efforts with WWF and others, for people and the planet.

Involvement in philanthropic causes at IKEA can be traced back to the 1950s, when Ingvar Kamprad’s mother Berta fell ill with cancer, and Ingvar started a fund for cancer research. Later on, more funds and foundations were set up for everything from good design and children’s rights, to the climate and well-being for the elderly. What all these things have in common is a vision to create a better everyday life for the many people.

What do you do if you are told to do the impossible? Say no? Well, in this particular case it wasn’t an option for Paulina Pajak. She is a Product Developer in the Lighting department, which develops the global IKEA product range. The person looking for the impossible was IKEA founder Ingvar Kamprad, who walked into the department and said: “We’re going to sell LED bulbs for less than one euro.”

Three IKEA Food veterans meet over hot dogs, plant balls and other yummy IKEA classics. Jan Kjellman, Miriam Swärdh and Michael La Cour talk about the past, present and future – sharing stories about everything from the first IKEA restaurant in 1960, to the Swedish food market and food becoming an integral part of the IKEA identity.

It was not entirely unexpected, but a lot of people were still shocked when it happened. The IKEA catalogue would be no more! IKEA had been discussing whether or not to continue with the printed catalogue for several years, but it took a long while to make the decision to discontinue it. The catalogue was a strong part of the IKEA identity, and was much loved by many people.

What is Democratic Design? Is it a road map for product developers, or a communicative tool that brings great ideas to the many people? In true IKEA style, it is of course both. Here, we explore the roots and application of the Democratic Design principle and its five pillars.

On how IKEA, as a large actor in the timber industry, strives for responsible forest management in joint efforts with WWF and others, for people and the planet.

The story of IKEA is the story of wooden materials. And the story of wood is also a story about gaining the advantage. Find out how IKEA went from traditional hardwood furniture, to utilising everything from pine to bamboo and recycled wood. Always in close collaboration with suppliers and designers, in order to make the most from the least.

Three IKEA Food veterans meet over hot dogs, plant balls and other yummy IKEA classics. Jan Kjellman, Miriam Swärdh and Michael La Cour talk about the past, present and future – sharing stories about everything from the first IKEA restaurant in 1960, to the Swedish food market and food becoming an integral part of the IKEA identity.

IKEA went international and opened a store in Norway. But how did that decision come about? Through a combination of planning, business and instinct. And a pinch of Norwegian anger.

Step into IKEA and of course you are met by all kinds of furniture and other stuff, but not before you’re greeted with a huge Hej!, Swedish for ‘hello’, at the store entrance. You might say that the entire corporate culture exists in this hej. Not a slick how-do-you-do-sir-or-madam-what-can-I-get-you, just a simple hej.

When IKEA opened its first store in Stockholm in summer 1965, it was Europe’s largest furniture store. It was big and it looked good, but it wasn’t exactly efficient. In fact you might say that it wasn’t until the store burned down five years later that IKEA really got the hang of the store concept. Along the way there were colourful little plastic balls, revolutionary posters, and a famous museum in New York. But it all began with a king in a muddy ditch.

In the early 1990s, IKEA began a process to strengthen its identity as a design company. IKEA wanted to get back to its roots and manifest the aesthetic of Scandinavian simplicity. The result was IKEA PS, a recurring collection of innovative design at low prices.

Towards the end of the 1940s, IKEA started selling furniture, and it very quickly became the main business. Always thinking of challenges as opportunities brought about all kinds of innovations in purchasing, finances and distribution. The foundation for this was already in Ingvar Kamprad back in the days when he worked on a small scale with pens and pipes at home – but the power and opportunities in the gap between customer and manufacturer really materialised in the 1950s.

How did a regular young lad from Älmhult become one of the world’s most successful entrepreneurs? Classic Småland ingenuity and stubbornness are probably just part of the answer. Ingvar Kamprad was very much shaped by his childhood, which was filled with love and imagination. A childhood in which the grown-ups had time to play and listen. A safe world surrounded by forest and meagre soil. The ideal place to play businessman.

Go back in time and explore the origins of IKEA and Ingvar Kamprad. Hardship, thrift and ingenuity in Småland, Sweden, and visions of a new life at home for the many people. Simple, functional and beautiful.

Three IKEA Food veterans meet over hot dogs, plant balls and other yummy IKEA classics. Jan Kjellman, Miriam Swärdh and Michael La Cour talk about the past, present and future – sharing stories about everything from the first IKEA restaurant in 1960, to the Swedish food market and food becoming an integral part of the IKEA identity.

When IKEA describes its culture, the terms together and togetherness are virtually always front and centre. And it’s not just co-workers who are invited to be part of that togetherness, but also very much customers and suppliers. In fact, you could say that without togetherness, there would be no IKEA.

After more than 30 years in the IKEA range, it’s one of the most used bags in the world. It’s big and strong, and pretty much anything will fit inside, whether you’re shopping, moving, doing the laundry or going to the beach. An iconic tote bag that has also inspired new creations by everyone from keen DIYers to luxury fashion designers.

Explore two stories about Children’s IKEA. Children and families with children have always been central to IKEA. But it was in the 1990s that things really took off. Find out about the early beginnings, how it works today, and what IKEA puts into making a range for the most important people in the world.

A story of how IKEA uses home visits to get closer to what people want and dream about when it comes to creating a better life at home. After finding out how people live and what they think makes a good home, IKEA can create even better solutions to people’s need for privacy and security, comfort, ownership and belonging.

Who doesn’t want a perfect home? Magazines and social media bombard us with inspiring pictures of beautiful luxury interiors. But who can afford to live like that? Instead, IKEA wants to inspire people with smart solutions to everyday challenges.

During the optimistic 1950s, the idea of the modern home is born in Sweden: light, comfortable and flexible, with space for the whole family. The TV makes its entrance at the end of the decade, while the furniture becomes increasingly airy, light and functional.

This is the age of great change in Sweden. In the 1960s, most people have a better life, well-being and prosperity are on the up, and more and more people are becoming interested in the home and interior design. Increasing home-building in city suburbs, close to nature, means that a lot of people have a bigger home and a real boost in standard.