IKEA has discovered the font of many blessings: a couch typeface called Soffa Sans. They even let fans and consumers download it from their website if they so choose. And as a marketing strategy, it’s working. To couch it in appropriate terms – sofa, so good!

How it all started

It all started after IKEA fans began using images of the company’s couches to create diagrams of games and other fun shape concepts. According to the Drum, “Each letter of the font is formed of pieces of sofa and created using the home furnishing innovator’s Vallentuna sofa planning tool.” Over 1,430 virtual pieces of furniture are used in the font, which would have cost approximately $132,500 to make with the actual couches.

Marcos Tejedor, Living Rooms Sales Leader IKEA UK & Ireland remarked: 

We’ve been really enjoying seeing the fun that people are having with our sofas, and the innovative solutions they are creating. Inspired by their creativity, we’ve launched Soffa Sans: the world’s comfiest font. Its modular form and relaxed letter-spacing makes it one of the most versatile fonts out there and we’re looking forward to seeing where it’s used.

The importance of choosing your “type”

While font may seem like an insignificant detail, every agency should give thoughtful consideration to their font choice. Questions like what fits the character of our brand? and what gives a unique personality to our voice? should be kept in mind. For some companies, it may make sense to design a personalized font to take branding to the next level, while for others, a careful selection of typeface will be sufficient. You may also want to vary the font for the different content in various places on your webpage. What sort of information is being conveyed, where it is being conveyed, and how you would like it to be received are also factors that should be considered.   

Although Soffa Sans is not IKEA’s company font, IKEA was able to create and utilize it as a genius marketing tool.