Please watch the video rather than just reading the article (there's much more material in the documentary).
Actually, the video made me cry a little bit.
After watching the video, I found https://www.deepakg.com/the-canal-in-ikeas-amsterdam-photo which gives the location and the name of the houseboat. (If you want to see it in Google Street View, a better search is probably Brouwersgracht 56.)
I just tried the co-ordinates for the spot in the link you provided but its directs you to the IKEA store in AMS and not where the photo was taken.
As I'm currently in Amsterdam I might go snap my own photo of it just for the hell of it.
I too thank you. That's such a well produced, well told, compelling story.
As someone a bit older, I almost can't stand how awesome everything is today.
Just one technique that popped out was the timing, animation of the captioning. Done before, sure, but this author's technique somehow adds to the story telling.
There's something about this that resonates with me, in the stark reality of the intersection / tension between art and commerce:
“Finally, I got in touch with the lead designer at IKEA who had picked the photo more than 10 years ago. I ask him why he picked the photo, and he told me that the first thing they design at IKEA is the price.
This photo was just very, very cheap, and that’s why they picked it.”
We {makers | artists | artisans} want to create something that's great, or beautiful, or complete. But commercially, what's viable is the (forgive the cliche) Pareto solution. This photo is 80% of a great photo, at 20% of the price. I tend to forget that the 80% solution is an option to consider when I'm working on a project.
I coincidentally live in Amsterdam and also have been learning photography, not because of any intrinsic interest but because my wife said "buy an SLR because we'll be having kids in a few years, and I want to have nice photos of them." We now have a baby (and many wonderful photos), but I find myself really frustrated that I've put significant effort into learning the technical part of the skillset and she has not. But when I really consider the imbalance, it's true that she can get the 80% result with point and shoot auto or my presets, and there's no reason for me to get judgmental that she doesn't make more of an effort.
> Finally, I got in touch with the lead designer at IKEA who had picked the photo more than 10 years ago. I ask him why he picked the photo, and he told me that the first thing they design at IKEA is the price.
> This photo was just very, very cheap, and that’s why they picked it.
It makes total sense, but seeing it stated directly like that reduces my desire for their art and decor. Not knowing how they do things lets you fool yourself into thinking there's something more there than the cheapest acceptable photo from an archive.
this has been used as a promotional tagline in their catalogues for at least a decade, it's not just some quip an interviewee came up with. If it's the sort of thing that makes you not want to shop at ikea, you probably already weren't shopping at ikea.
It's totally not my thing either. But I still appreciate and respect it deeply.
+400k humans from everyone now have this one thing in common.
I feel the same about sports, church, music, politics. I vividly remember the watch party for the last episode of Seinfeld. Totally not my thing, I didn't even own a TV, my girlfriend dragged me along. I watched the people watching the TV. They related to each other thru this one shared cultural experience. For a brief time, most everyone's minds were synced.
Sometimes I envy people who connect in those ways.
I don't know if Ikea has some rule to not talk about copying, but I would assume that to be the case also here: that they're actually imitating some relatively well known photo.
I find it funny that 400K people have put up a photo with an overflowing trash bin in their living room. We noticed this after we bought and couldn’t stop laughing. We literally hung up a picture of garbage.
En example of why I love the HN community - there's something special in this story that is hard to explain and not everyone will understand. But people here seem to!
[+] [-] schoen|7 years ago|reply
Actually, the video made me cry a little bit.
After watching the video, I found https://www.deepakg.com/the-canal-in-ikeas-amsterdam-photo which gives the location and the name of the houseboat. (If you want to see it in Google Street View, a better search is probably Brouwersgracht 56.)
[+] [-] rosege|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] RyJones|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] random878|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] specialist|7 years ago|reply
As someone a bit older, I almost can't stand how awesome everything is today.
Just one technique that popped out was the timing, animation of the captioning. Done before, sure, but this author's technique somehow adds to the story telling.
What a time to be alive.
[+] [-] benj111|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] unknown|7 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] lordnacho|7 years ago|reply
- "American Girl in Italy" which appeared to be a lady being leered at by a whole load of guys. https://edition.cnn.com/2017/03/30/europe/tbt-ruth-orkin-ame...
- "Lunch Atop a Skyscraper" which is a bunch of guys sitting suspended in the air. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QCYDzsQ_yM
Not sure why those particular two, but I'm almost surprised if I don't see one of them in one of those types of shops.
[+] [-] ddoran|7 years ago|reply
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZEvNYKEnVw
[+] [-] choot|7 years ago|reply
When you are not good looking, leering behaviour is called harassment. So, this painting promotes harassment it seems.
[+] [-] techstrategist|7 years ago|reply
“Finally, I got in touch with the lead designer at IKEA who had picked the photo more than 10 years ago. I ask him why he picked the photo, and he told me that the first thing they design at IKEA is the price.
This photo was just very, very cheap, and that’s why they picked it.”
We {makers | artists | artisans} want to create something that's great, or beautiful, or complete. But commercially, what's viable is the (forgive the cliche) Pareto solution. This photo is 80% of a great photo, at 20% of the price. I tend to forget that the 80% solution is an option to consider when I'm working on a project.
I coincidentally live in Amsterdam and also have been learning photography, not because of any intrinsic interest but because my wife said "buy an SLR because we'll be having kids in a few years, and I want to have nice photos of them." We now have a baby (and many wonderful photos), but I find myself really frustrated that I've put significant effort into learning the technical part of the skillset and she has not. But when I really consider the imbalance, it's true that she can get the 80% result with point and shoot auto or my presets, and there's no reason for me to get judgmental that she doesn't make more of an effort.
[+] [-] matchagaucho|7 years ago|reply
When partnering with a distributor like IKEA, and considering they've sold ~500K of these prints, a "cheap" royalty can be very lucrative.
[+] [-] contingencies|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] tivert|7 years ago|reply
> This photo was just very, very cheap, and that’s why they picked it.
It makes total sense, but seeing it stated directly like that reduces my desire for their art and decor. Not knowing how they do things lets you fool yourself into thinking there's something more there than the cheapest acceptable photo from an archive.
Edit: decor -> art and decor
[+] [-] notatoad|7 years ago|reply
this has been used as a promotional tagline in their catalogues for at least a decade, it's not just some quip an interviewee came up with. If it's the sort of thing that makes you not want to shop at ikea, you probably already weren't shopping at ikea.
[+] [-] specialist|7 years ago|reply
+400k humans from everyone now have this one thing in common.
I feel the same about sports, church, music, politics. I vividly remember the watch party for the last episode of Seinfeld. Totally not my thing, I didn't even own a TV, my girlfriend dragged me along. I watched the people watching the TV. They related to each other thru this one shared cultural experience. For a brief time, most everyone's minds were synced.
Sometimes I envy people who connect in those ways.
[+] [-] gnopgnip|7 years ago|reply
The corollary to that is that by focusing on price Ikea makes the best products for the price.
[+] [-] avar|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Gravityloss|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] pouetpouet|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] tobyhinloopen|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] holografix|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] salmonz|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ekianjo|7 years ago|reply
Sounds like a poor justification. There are tons of pictures in the public domain so it's not like there is no abundance of choice there.
[+] [-] dr_hooo|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] martokus|7 years ago|reply