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70 Years From Covers to Homes
Course
SCI 6373: Domestic Logistics
Date
2020 Fall
Instructor
Andrew Witt
Team
Biru Cao, Yuhou Yang
Right after releasing its 2021 catalog in October 2020, IKEA announced in December that the publication would be discontinued, making the 2021 edition its last one. And this edition’s circulation, 40 million, is only about one-fifth of what it had been five years ago. From many aspects, IKEA’s decision seems to be a rational one regarding the paper industry’s decline. The print media has been replaced or impacted by various digitalized forms from social media to augmented reality.
Every July, IKEA released its annual catalog. For the catalog’s cover, there are over 1,800 photos shot for selection. 3 And setting up the interior display for the shooting is a four-month-long process in its Sweden headquarter. The catalog’s cover is not only an indication of the furniture fashion trend, but it also serves as a lens to see how people’s domestic space and the living situation has evolved over time. This animation aims to focus on how the IKEA catalogs’ cover shifted over 70 years and its hidden lines.
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