A mere one day after opening, SF’s IKEA-adjacent food court Saluhall has drawn the ire of an SF illustrator who says their ‘eyes-ears-nose-mouth’ logo is a rip-off of his own illustration published in The New Yorker.
Thursday saw the opening of that gigantic new two-story food court Sulehall, an IKEA-affiliated offshoot in their new Fifth and Market street location. And the London Breed opening video below has been making the rounds, showing Breed urging people to come visit the place, and with its new logo of a disjointed eye, ear, mouth and nose visible on the food hall’s walls, doors, and the staff’s aprons and t-shirts.
The new @IKEA food hall, Saluhall, on Market Street is now open! If you're looking for a reason to head to Downtown for good food, happy hour, or just to sign up for cooking classes, this is a great new spot to check out. This is the energy we love to see happening Downtown! pic.twitter.com/aTZvf61eUf
— London Breed (@LondonBreed) April 11, 2024
That video also made its way to illustrator Tim Lahan, who has a McSweeney’s-published book and has designed t-shirts and tote bags for the New Yorker. Lahan saw the work, and noticed a startling similarity between that ear-eye-nose-mouth logo and a set of illustrations he did for the New Yorker, and he says in today’s Chronicle that Sulehall “blatantly copied” his work.
Have a look for yourself below. On the left, we see Lahan’s work from a series called “Faces” that ran in 2018. On the right, we see the Sulehall logo seen all over that food hall. The latter does look like a rearranged version of the former.
“Something that was created by an artist is not something that should be up for grabs to use for large corporations,” Lahan told the Chronicle. “It’s not OK for this sort of thing to happen.”
Similar art appears on the papers beneath Saluhall food trays.
"Work lunches just got a lot more exciting" for @madwells22 (and for me!) thanks to the new Ikea-anchored Saluhall, which she visited on opening day https://t.co/jypn1RMdEI
— Jillian D'Onfro (@jillianiles) April 12, 2024
While a copyright symbol appears on the work on Lahan’s website, he tells the Chron he has not formally registered a copyright on it. But Oakland-based copyright attorney Andy Jacobson told the Chronicle it could still be considered a “derivative work,” and the use could merit a trademark infringement case.
“Companies can be stopped from using marks or advertising that falsely suggests some association,” Jacosbson told the Chron. “If the artist has enough of a reputation they can say, ‘Hey, people might think that I’m endorsing you and I’m not. You’ve gotta stop this now.’ ”
Saluhall is operated by IKEA’s sister real estate company Ingka Centres. When asked for comment, a Saluhall spokesperson simply told the Chronicle “this matter was just brought to our attention and we are looking into it.”
Related: IKEA-Adjacent Saluhall Opens Thursday: Will SF Clamor For Vegan Tacos and Soft-Serve? [SFist]
Image: Andrea H via Yelp
