A Gap in Thinking
The "Before" and "After" of the now infamous Gap logo change
Every now and then we need a reminder that our brand isn’t ours. It is the sole property of our customers. Something that the Gap is discovering. Their effort to create a different look is backfiring in a global way. If business is on the wane and market share dropping, fix the problem. Putting new type and colors on a bag is not likely to solve problems with competition, products and the elusive and short-lived “hipness factor."
Furthermore the new design is amateurish and looks like a freshman design student’s first assignment. A blue box with Helvetica? It has no concept. No creative idea and is devoid of anything memorable. As a creative director I wouldn’t even show this to my client.
How can anyone imagine that it could rekindle the GAP image? It is sad to think that GAP management thinks that putting a badly designed band-aid on bigger problems will make everything all good again. Even worse, they forgot their most valuable source of new business - their loyal customers.