IKEA + Verdana = ?

In case you have not heard, IKEA has changed its corporate type style from a form of Futura to the ubiquitous and Microsoft-created – Verdana. Grumbles and backlash over the change have been all over the web. TIME posted an article on the many reasons why the switch has customers and designers in an uproar worldwide. Vitaly Friedman, editor in chief of Smashing Magazine says that IKEA's former typeface reflected the brand's design philosophy and the switch creates a loss of originality and credibility. On the opposing end, Christopher Simmons of Advertising Industry Newswire says that IKEA has built a great brand worldwide and are listening to their core market (along with the economy) by switching to a type style that speaks to "young adults buying their first EXPEDIT, JAVNAKER, or KVART, who have more experience reading their iMac screen and MySpace page than they do reading the New York Times..." The question remains for the switch– business savvy or type travesty? Will the IKEA type style change become the New Coke? ZACH SHIRLEY :: CONTRIBUTOR