Both logos are clean, simple and uncluttered. The classic Gap label - a brand that has been in existence since 1969- that we all grew up with and adored, was a simple, symmetrical, blue box with the Spire Regular font in white. The new logo, Helvetica typeface in bold black on a white background hoists a little blue box in its upper, right-hand corner , almost like a "Go Gap team, Go!" banner. Or maybe, after the commotion caused upon it's unveiling, it's more of a "I surrender!!!!"???Either way, both logos are clean and memorable, whether serif font or sans-serif font, the easy-to-read typefaces and the clean cut black, white and all-American-navy-blue are attractive. But the response the public had upon the Gap company's introduction of it was surprising and swift....Or was it?Genius marketing teams could have either a) truly wanted to spark lackluster sales by creating a new logo for new generations of fashion mongers or b) created a hailstorm of false hype about a brand to stir up new interest in a classic brand- like a wake-up call to Baby Boomers, Gen x'ers and the like to resurrect the dead, "Pay ATTENTION!", give us another chance before we, like many other iconic symbols of past generations- that will die away without so much as a goodbye?Here are 2 articles I found online, amidst a million, that give sway to both pro and con side of this debate....New Gap Logo Controversy
Updated: Tuesday, 12 Oct 2010, 3:56 PM EDT
Published : Friday, 08 Oct 2010, 12:09 PM EDT(CANVAS STAFF REPORTS) - It seems the new Gap logo has left a big gap when it comes to the clothing store's re branding effort.The black text on a white background next to a little blue box has missed the mark in the books of branding experts across the country.Most people found out about the new look by visiting the clothing store's website Gap.com , without any publicity surrounding the switch in logos.According to Gawker.com , the harshest criticism was that going from the iconic white text on a blue background amounted to something "a child created using a clip-art gallery."But, after all the criticism Gap released a statement on its Facebook fan page: "Thanks for everyone"s input on the new logo! We've had the same logo for 20 plus years, and this is just one of the things we're changing. We know this logo created a lot of buzz and we're thrilled to see passionate debates unfolding! So much so we're asking you to share your designs. We love our version, but we'd like to see other ideas. Stay tuned for details in the next few days on this crowd sourcing project."Then, this created an even bigger uproar from Facebook fans, writing responses on their wall: "Asking people to work for free is WRONG! Shame on you, Gap! Shame!"And another disappointed customer told the company: "The original version was a timeless design that truly represented the classic style of the Gap."But another group of designers at ISO50/S has decided to band together to come up with a better logo for the Gap, with a gap redesign contest.The president of Gap, North America, Marka Hansen wrote a blog on The Huffington Post explaining the reason behind the logo change and expressing her gratitude for the shared feedback."We'll explain specifics on how everyone can share designs in a few days," she wrote Thursday evening. "Thank you to everyone who has already shared feedback. I'm excited about continuing the conversation and believe passionately in where we're taking our brand."Updated Tuesday, Oct 12, 2010Clothing retailer Gap said Tuesday it will switch back to its original blue-box logo only days after the company announced a switch to a redesigned contemporary logo that unleashed a fury of negative feedback from consumers.“Since we rolled out an updated version of our logo last week on our website, we’ve seen an outpouring of comments from customers and the online community in support of the iconic blue box logo," Gap Brand North America President Marka Hansen said in a statement.“We’ve made the decision not to use the new logo on gap.com any further."
and, on the other hand......
Both logos are clean, simple and uncluttered. The classic Gap label - a brand that has been in existence since 1969- that we all grew up with and adored, was a simple, symmetrical, blue box with the Spire Regular font in white. The new logo, Helvetica typeface in bold black on a white background hoists a little blue box in its upper, right-hand corner , almost like a "Go Gap team, Go!" banner. Or maybe, after the commotion caused upon it's unveiling, it's more of a "I surrender!!!!"???
Either way, both logos are clean and memorable, whether serif font or sans-serif font, the easy-to-read typefaces and the clean cut black, white and all-American-navy-blue are attractive. But the response the public had upon the Gap company's introduction of it was surprising and swift....
Or was it?
Genius marketing teams could have either a) truly wanted to spark lackluster sales by creating a new logo for new generations of fashion mongers or b) created a hailstorm of false hype about a brand to stir up new interest in a classic brand- like a wake-up call to Baby Boomers, Gen x'ers and the like to resurrect the dead, "Pay ATTENTION!", give us another chance before we, like many other iconic symbols of past generations- that will die away without so much as a goodbye?
Here are 2 articles I found online, amidst a million, that give sway to both pro and con side of this debate....
Published : Friday, 08 Oct 2010, 12:09 PM EDT
(CANVAS STAFF REPORTS) - It seems the new Gap logo has left a big gap when it comes to the clothing store's re branding effort.
The black text on a white background next to a little blue box has missed the mark in the books of branding experts across the country.
Most people found out about the new look by visiting the clothing store's website Gap.com , without any publicity surrounding the switch in logos.
According to Gawker.com , the harshest criticism was that going from the iconic white text on a blue background amounted to something "a child created using a clip-art gallery."
But, after all the criticism Gap released a statement on its Facebook fan page: "Thanks for everyone"s input on the new logo! We've had the same logo for 20 plus years, and this is just one of the things we're changing. We know this logo created a lot of buzz and we're thrilled to see passionate debates unfolding! So much so we're asking you to share your designs. We love our version, but we'd like to see other ideas. Stay tuned for details in the next few days on this crowd sourcing project."
Then, this created an even bigger uproar from Facebook fans, writing responses on their wall: "Asking people to work for free is WRONG! Shame on you, Gap! Shame!"
And another disappointed customer told the company: "The original version was a timeless design that truly represented the classic style of the Gap."
But another group of designers at ISO50/S has decided to band together to come up with a better logo for the Gap, with a gap redesign contest.
The president of Gap, North America, Marka Hansen wrote a blog on The Huffington Post explaining the reason behind the logo change and expressing her gratitude for the shared feedback.
"We'll explain specifics on how everyone can share designs in a few days," she wrote Thursday evening. "Thank you to everyone who has already shared feedback. I'm excited about continuing the conversation and believe passionately in where we're taking our brand."
Updated Tuesday, Oct 12, 2010
Clothing retailer Gap said Tuesday it will switch back to its original blue-box logo only days after the company announced a switch to a redesigned contemporary logo that unleashed a fury of negative feedback from consumers.
“Since we rolled out an updated version of our logo last week on our website, we’ve seen an outpouring of comments from customers and the online community in support of the iconic blue box logo," Gap Brand North America President Marka Hansen said in a statement.
“We’ve made the decision not to use the new logo on gap.com any further."
and, on the other hand......
Why GAP’s Logo Change Was Genius
October 18, 2010
By now you've been inundated with news of Gap's attempt at a logo change, so much so that the words Gap and logo likely feel synonymous. Yes, the graphic change was ugly. Yes, it caused controversy unlike any other attempt at re-branding that I can recall in recent fashion history. But that's exactly why the move as a whole was genius. Yesterday, AdAge called what Gap did "a disaster." As for a cause: "Blame pressure to perform after years of painfully sluggish sales and a desire to signal a new, fresher Gap, which resulted in a remarkably hasty rollout." All of these assessments are true. But thanks to the logo, Gap -- a brand name that has been waning in relevance for years -- has all of a sudden become epitomized by a blue box that consumers are going so far as to beg for to be brought back. By temporarily changing its image, Gap reinforced consumer loyalty to its age-old logo and, subsequently, age-old brand image. 0diggsdigg Yhat’s not say there isn’t room for improvement. Until Gap is able to resurrect the reputation it once had (circa ’Mellow Yellow‘ and a series of similarly brilliant marketing campaigns in the ‘90s), it can take solace in the fact that fashionistas and mainstream consumers alike have been being bombarded with its name and image for the past few weeks. As AdAge points out: “The silver lining of the whole ordeal? It was a cheap mistake, money-wise.” At the end of the day, at least it got people talking about a brand that’s been surrounded by quite a bit of radio silence these past few seasons.
http://www.blackbookmag.com/article/why-gaps-logo-change-was-genius/22892
Either way, all opinions aside, Gap is now back, again, to Before.....
It's hard to pinpoint what was Gap's intention for changing their classic logo. The second article has a big point: it could have been a strategy. If it was, then I must say that it worked really well. The attempted logo change only cemented the fact that Gap has an enormous consumer base and they are strongly attached to the blue box logo.
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