IKEA FAMILY and Comactiva have already been working together for several years. Comactiva’s translators and translation checkers have been involved in many IKEA FAMILY books, including the classic Beloved Homes! and the BILLY bookcase 30th anniversary book. There have also been various books supporting the BARNSLIG and GOSIG soft toy series, including The Ostrich Learns to Read by Karin Salmson, and It’s an Emergency! and The Little Fox’s Adventures by Ulf Stark.
The latest publication was the delightful Love for Textiles, which needed language checking and translating into nine different languages. The book is a poetic homage to fabrics and textiles in all their forms, while also providing plenty of firm tips and ideas.
“We created the book to encourage people who may not be natural needle workers to have a go and take an assertive, playful approach to working with textiles. Our hope is that people will be amazed at how easy it can be to make changes using textiles,” says Lena Allblom, a product developer for IKEA FAMILY and project manager for the books.
Stefan Carlsson, project manager at Comactiva, adds:
“The book projects tend to be quite intensive for everyone involved. I for example might have up to 17 translators and just as many translation checkers to deal with, and there are often all kinds of questions that need answering quickly. Moreover, these texts can’t just be translated literally like, say, a technical manual, where memory software like Translator’s Workbench can be used extensively. The IKEA FAMILY books demand a far more instinctive approach, both when it comes to linguistic nuances and the cultural differences between countries. These are areas where we excel. I know I can trust our translators and checkers, so it’s easy to maintain focus and do a professional job even despite the time pressure,” says Stefan.
“The main challenge for the translators of the textile book – apart from using the best possible language style – was to examine each of the do-it-yourself projects and then convey the instructions in the simplest and clearest way in their language. And we’re delighted with the results!”
Lena Allblom too is delighted with the partnership:
“We feel safe with our language consultants. Comactiva have a good sense of service and we know each other very well by now. We have a meeting ahead of each new project, where everyone involved has an opportunity to talk through the project and any special characteristics. After that everyone goes off and does what they’re best at.”
Anders Truedsson is the founder and project manager at publishing house TITEL Books AB, which publishes the IKEA FAMILY books. He explains:
“Flexibility and an open dialogue are vital when so many people are involved in the production, from the editor and writer to photographers, interior designers, the art director, typesetters and printers. Everyone sees the project through different eyes so we work very closely together. It’s the combined result of our collective knowledge and experience that make the project a success.”
Love for Textiles is available at IKEA stores from 1 October.
