In Which Ikea Actually Makes Things Simple

The cliché “less is more” is a cliché for a reason. It’s an overused phrase, but the execution of “less is more” still packs a punch.

This Ikea print advertisement grabs your attention right away, from the dual toned color scheme and a pop of yellow in the copy to the effective use of white space. The copy pops not only because of the yellow “kitchen,” but because there is so much white space. The audience is invited to read because there is nothing else in the ad competing for their attention. 

In fact, the copy is so short, the audience can probably catch what it says with a only quick glance. If not, the copy is still short enough that the reader to can commit to reading the whole advertisement without feeling like they’re wasting their time. The text in the bottom left corner and the logo in the bottom right keeps the focus of the minimalistic design on the ad’s main copy. 

The artwork also works really well with the message. The complexity of building Rome — and even setting up an entire kitchen in under one day — is juxtaposed by the simplicity of the ad’s design. This drives home the ad’s message that building a kitchen in one day can be easy with Ikea. Overall, this ad’s design and message have a lot of clarity, which implies that Ikea's products will have clear instructions, too. Although that’s infamously almost never the case, the ad’s simple design grabs your attention long enough to make you think that buying a kitchen's worth of Ikea furniture and appliances will be easy.