Consumer Products: IKEA

courtesy of ikea.com

   
     There is a lot you can glean from careful examination of any consumer product: a reflection of the times and of the attitudes towards design. The IKEA Norden four-seater dining room table couldn't look homier at first glance, a simple chic design for a cool $80. Like a lot of furniture, it boasts perfect symmetry, scale, straight lines  balance, and the absence of a focal point, emphasizing the whole over its parts. However this symmetry doesn't make for a boring piece, for the contrast of the visible lines between the light blond wooden boards emphasize a more rustic look, as if it were a piece you'd find in a country farmhouse.  Each board has asymmetry through the differences in the grain of each board, and knots in the wood here and there add variety, as opposed to a perfectly uniform surface that would seem more cold and clinical. Though these add variety, these repeating elements unify it as well. The different angles of the table also add variety: instead of following the lines of a static cube, the different angles that the legs and the frame make under the top of the table make it look more interesting. 
    Despite all these homey touches, the entire table has a smooth sheen to it, and a protective layer of lacquer protects it and is thick enough so that one can't feel the lines between the each board. Another outside layer is actually the wood of the table itself: only a thin layer of solid wood covering a thick core of particle board. The table, which comes in pieces, is assembled by the consumer, lowering the price. The structure is fairly simple, held together by little screws screwed into particleboard, not solid wood. It's pretty sturdy, and looks good on the outside, but particleboard is not known to hold together as long as solid wood, so I'll probably be buying another one in a few years.
    In terms of the design process, it seems that IKEA really emphasizes the sixth step of production, of polished surface sheen, designing the price tag first and then creating a design that fits it. Though the designers at IKEA probably go back through many of the other steps, this emphasis on the surface first raises many questions. In "making good design available to everyone," it seems they're redefining "good design" as ephemeral, and disposable, nothing but a shiny lacquer over an cheap and empty core. Though more consumers can now afford simple, yet sophisticated products that used to only be available to wealthier consumers, it seems that "making good design on the outside available to everyone" is a more accurate way to put IKEA's philosophy.