ikea-nation?
while discussing the pros and cons of a trip to ikea with the ny times' rob walker last night, i was tipped off to this ikea-fanatic site. run by armand b. frasco, a northern illinois resident working in the healthcare field (and creater of "the world's premier fan site for moleskine notebooks"), positive fanastics is the unofficial ikea web journal. here's a description from the site:
"For most of us it starts with the catalog. Or a word overheard. The anticipation builds. Then the inevitable pilgrimage to the yellow-and-blue building. Wherever we heard it first, IKEA intrigues, excite the senses and incites people into action. This web journal will document how the world perceives IKEA, the brand and the lifestyle. This is a site for us to share the latest product news, our musings and photos. It is intended to be fun so put down that Allen wrench for a while and commune with us."
an interesting concept and an even more interesting website from someone who clearly hasn't had the classic ikea breakdown in the kitchen section while debating the merits of a wall-mounted dishrack. the site takes its name an essay ("Positive Fanatics") by ikea founder ingvar kamprad and whether you hate that infamous blue and yellow building or can't get enough of your impossible to pronounce furniture the site is fun to check out. click here to read positive fanataics..it's certainly a trip.. [thanks to rob for the tip]
posted by design*sponge @ 25.1.06
5 Comments:
Yesterday's NYSun has an article about IKEA breaking couples up-- funny (or perhaps-too close-to-home [heh]).
http://www.nysun.com/article/26328?access=678882
i'm not a huge ikea fan except for the plastic dust bins, glassware and dishes (good for parties-- cheaper than plastic, affordable, environmentally safer) and little stuff like that. i kind of consider it like the ramen of interior design! but admittedly it does have its place sometimes. i own a couple of bookshelves...
rube, your nysun reference seems to be a 'theme' going around the world because i heard an 'essay' about it on italian radio before christmas (ikea and breaking couples up).
but because the rest of the free world is cuckoo for ikea, i personally would love for IKEA to do an IPO...they are as good at marketing their stuff as paris hilton is at marketing herself. i allowed my friends to talk me out of google, but with ikea...i'll be there.
you know what they say...once burned twice stupid...
Yeah, I was wondering if I were the only one who thinks Ikea dimishes Scandinavian design. There is so much stunning Scandinavian design, I don't see why so many people are in love with Ikea (except for the prices).
i would disagree that ikea thinks of it's customers as "smart." i'd argue that they think of their customers as people who can do some of the work traditionally handled by retail employees, for them. fortunately, at least, they appear to be passing a good portion of the costs that they save on to the consumer which allows them to sell their products at such competitive rates. the instructions however, are usually extremely lacking and visually incomplete and/or ambiguous - often creating a less-than-smooth building process.
To an extent I feel his pain, but Frasco seems to be better at starting slick and well-publicized blogs than maintaining them. I finally gave up on Journalisimo. Moleskinerie is all right, but occasionally impenetrable. Thanks for the IKEA link - I'll check it out.
(Our nearest IKEA is about 3.5 hours away , and when I lived in the southeastern US, it was quite a bit further. I've never been in one.)
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