Crap Logo

Gap has been around since 1969. And for the last 20 years, Gap has been remembered by it's sleek and simple clothes behind a logo that was simple, yet it made a statement. On Monday, Oct. 4, 2010, Gap revealed the change of logo to the public and a only two days later did an uproar over the Internet smash the idea into the ground. Bloggers and critics alike have claimed things like "something a child created using a clip-art gallery" (Advertising Age) and The Consumerist said it's "bland and uninteresting as jeans and a black t-shirt. It's not ugly, but it's not memorable or creative, either."

And I agree.

The new logo.

Although I've hardly worn clothes from the Gap in my 21+ years on the planet, I've always recognized the store by its logo. Advertising Age did a good job of mentioning that "of course a brand is more than a logo, but as far as logos go, Gap's is an icon"
Why change it now? And how long did it take the design team to come up with an idea?

The literally changed the type face and color and placed the famous blue square in the corner and made it with a gradient pattern. Any nine year old can do that. If they were going to change the logo, at least have more creativity than that. I stumbled upon a contest held by 99 Designs for a new logo and of Tuesday Oct. 12, 2010, more than 3500 entries poured onto the website. I searched and found particular interest to this entry:

 

Although this entry was not in the top entries of the contest, I believe it would suit the company well by changing it to this design. It holds true to the original design where all the letters are the same size and it also has the original color of the blue square. Not only is this a more modern version of the Gap logo, the "A" in the logo acts as a literal gap between the "G" and the "P," which is a nice play on words.

The contest is now over, but the runners of the contest have a week to choose the winner. You can find the contest entries here and decide for yourself if random people of the world are more creative than the design team of Gap - and I'll think you'll agree with me by saying they are.

With all the hype that Gap received by changing its logo, it makes me wonder if it was nothing but a pure publicity stunt. Facebook pages and even a fake Twitter account appeared, criticizing the logo, and the account holders of Gap's Facebook page went on to say they enjoyed all of the feedback they received from the new logo.

"Thanks for everyone's input on the new logo! We've had the same logo for 20+ 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." - Gap's Facebook page.

There is even a website called Crap Logo appeared within days, where Internet users can create their own "new Gap logo."

Alas, after a week of hype, the LA Times went on to report that Gap decided to change back its logo to its original form. Gap's North American president, Marka Hansen said the change was poorly executed, but the logo will change in the future. 

“There may be a time to evolve our logo," she said, "but if and when that time comes, we’ll handle it in a different way."

So in the end I ask this question: Was the logo change a flawed and poorly executed idea, or a genius way of becoming the talk of the town again?