‘To create a better everyday life for the many people… by offering a wide range of well-designed, functional home furnishing products at prices so low that as many people as possible will be able to afford them.’
So starts ‘The Testament of a Furniture Dealer’, an eight page tract written by IKEA Founder Ingvar Kamprad to his staff in the mid 1970s. He continues: ‘we have decided once and for all to side with the many. What is good for our customers is also, in the long run, good for us.’
It’s a startlingly simple, jargon-free capturing of a what has become an enduring mission to democratise good design. Kamprad was a purpose and culture pioneer. In 1996 he followed up with ‘A Little IKEA Dictionary‘, bringing to life IKEA’s culture through detailed explorations of particular words and phrases such as humbleness, simplicity and making do.
Read more: IKEA website
