When I was notified about a logo crime scene, I quickly jumped to it and found myself quickly on site to investigate, feeling with an unsettling anticipation. The whiff of the disturbing image hit me hard, my head immediately jerked backward in shock, I started to blink rapidly hoping maybe it was a hindrance in the way. It turned out to be nothing but reality. These sad cases happen often and the sympathies or the criticisms will start to pour in truck loads.
This is the story: Gap, a long running classic American label. Like its ubiquitous counterparts (Coke, Nike...), the brand is unequivocally recognizable, we can close our eyes and picture the logo: basic blue square, white serif font centered. All is good. Of course, overtime predicted by weak sales and new drive, companies choose to redesign, which is never the easiest job. To design something is hard, to redesign it's tricky. Black and white is easy to achieve but not grey, at least not the grey everyone would like. They will either love it or hate it. If you move a sofa from its long-sitting position, it will look strange no matter where you put it. If a friend legally changes his/her name, they will physically look and feel odd to you. Something isn't quite right. Familiarity is a an invisible force that we cling on to. Is it the unfamiliarity or the tastelessness that's catching us off guard? I say 20% of the former and 80% of the latter. As soon as Gap revealed their new look on the website, it feels as if someone replaced its soul. Logos aim to represent the company's soul and that day, Gap lost of bit of theirs. However, I cannot fathom the pressure that had been felt by the design team to redesign the classic logo. Simultaneously, I also could not fathom what began the process and how it lead them here.
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