*On January 28, Feodor Ingvar Kamprad, the founder of IKEA, one of the world's best-known furniture companies, passed away, with a history almost as long as that of its founder.

*His innovation, curiosity, his early commercial spirit (at the age of 5) and his advanced and pioneering foray into the business world (at the age of 17), which led to the founding of IKEA in 1943, can be highlighted.

These biographical data are mixed with others that appear repeatedly in the articles that have come to light in recent days. The most outstanding fact, from the field of design, is his conviction and achievement of its democratization: a simple design , based on the tradition of modern Scandinavian forms, and within the reach of almost everyone. This was possible thanks to its cost-saving policy, based on the 'self-assembly' of furniture and flat-pack packaging, the core topic the group.

There is no doubt of its enormous and successful entrepreneurial spirit that has made IKEA today a great commercial reality in 40 countries around the world. However, I would like to highlight what has been and is cardinal in its history: the commitment to design in a global world. For its founder, design is not only an added value of the product, but also, and above all, a strategy for the economic improvement of the signature and that includes the design of the product, the packaging, the instructions for use, the Catalog, and even the exhibition and marketing system.

It is thus an example of how design has a tangible goal value, which in addition to seeking beauty (undoubtedly important) offers the business other values that obtain different levels of benefit. In this case, Kamprad opted for global design as a tactic to make its product more attractive, but also to reduce costs and optimize commercial logistics, from product design to graphic and service design .

His objects, based on modern forms and values from the Scandinavian design of the 50s, have functionality, simplicity and modular systems as essential premises. As a result of this work with their well-known models: the Billy chair (1978, with 40 years of life, of which about 4.5 million units are manufactured each year), the POEM chair (1976, later called POANG) or the LACK table (1980).

In the field of graphic design , the creation of a universal document for assembly instructions that eliminates barriers and has made it possible to reach more places for less money stands out. The process of construction of its products is explained through the graphic language, the universal language of the creative, that is to say, the drawing.