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Fall into the GAP of Visual Identity Crisis

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Last week, Gap unveiled a new logo in hopes of revamping their company’s visual identity. Hours after uploading the new logo to the website, customers were out raged and requested that the old logo be brought back. Today, Gap re-uploaded their iconic navy blue box logo back onto the website and issued a statement saying:

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

— Adam Tschorn

In corporate communication, it is important for an organization to have a distinct visual identity for its stakeholders to relate to. When changing the visual identity of a corporation, an organization must be careful because they run the risk of losing support from their stakeholders.  To ease the transition companies should explain why they are making this transition.  The visual identity a corporation presents is closely linked with public opinion.

Gap's Old Logo vs. New Logo

There are obvious differences between these two logos. When examining design principles, it is important to know that there is no right or wrong; but more or less, what is right for the message the company is trying to convey.  For starters, the color scheme is different. The old logo uses navy blue and white, while the new logo uses black and a royal blue. In terms of the typography, the old logo uses a serif font that is tall and skinny, while the new logo uses a ticker, san serif font. The old logo is symmetrical and balanced while the new logo is asymmetrical with the blue square in the upper right hand corner.

It could be suggested that the modification in the blue box was meant to modernize the logo while keeping its original foundation. However, the new blue box’s gradient, size, and placement make it virtual unrecognizable, except for the fact that they are both squares. There is no brand coherence between the two.  

A common reason companies change their visual identity is because they feel it is out dated. A vital question corporations fail to ask themselves when faced with this situation is, “Is our visual identity still serving our company the way we want it to?” If the answer is yes, then a change is more than likely not necessary.

Gap has admitted that they did not take the appropriate steps in developing a new visual identity for the company. Enough emphasis was not placed on the research or the design process. Thus, they were unable to appropriately go about modifying the visual identity of their company. This was evident in the reaction of their stakeholders. If there is one thing Gap has learned from this, it’s not how to effectively redesign but the importance of research.

Gracie Anderson, Meghan French

Comments

7 responses to “Fall into the GAP of Visual Identity Crisis”

  1. Brooke Avatar
    Brooke

    In her blog, Marka Hansen, the President of GAP stated, “We chose this design as it’s more contemporary and current. It honors our heritage through the blue box while still taking it forward.”

    That was the only reasoning she could provide for the decision to change the logo.

    In my opinion, this was an act to get attention. In no way did GAP plan on sticking to this painfully plain, Helvetica font logo. GAP simply wanted their brand brought into the limelight, and were successful in that aspect.

    GAP stated on its Facebook page, “Ok. We’ve heard loud and clear that you don’t like the new logo. We’ve learned a lot from the feedback. We only want what’s best for the brand and our customers. So instead of crowd sourcing, we’re bringing back the Blue Box tonight.”

    Belk also recently changed their logo, it is very similar to Gap’s new (old) logo. I am curious to see if they stick with it.

    Reply
  2. Brittany collins Avatar
    Brittany collins

    When changing a logo or anything the involves customer confusion, it must be a smooth transaction. I like how you said that it was an act to get attention because it purely was. Anytime a logo is changed its in order to capture the attention of the consumer not the producer. The fact that GAP didn’t stick to the new logo shows that it upset consumers in such a way that would not have been beneficial in sales. Because the consumer is the most important, consumers must have a choice. GAP should have sent out a survey or an online pole and it would have cleared up any decisions on weather to or not to change the logo

    Reply
  3. Brittany Mossop Avatar
    Brittany Mossop

    I really like how you analyzed both logos and talked about their fonts. The funny thing is to me, these logos are really not that different. Many people complained about the simplicity of the new logo, yet looking at old logo, it’s pretty simply in and of itself. I think this was a pretty great publicity stunt if that’s what it was. Gap has had a reputation of being expensive and has lost popularity since the ’90s, however, what better than an unexpected, uneventful change to your logo?
    This was a lot of free advertising for Gap if they never went through with producing bags and other products with the new logo, so if it was a stunt like you mentioned? I have to admit, it’s pretty ingenious.

    Reply
  4. Micaela Fouhy Avatar
    Micaela Fouhy

    Great Post!
    When Dr. Pursuit showed us the “new” logo for Gap in our into to IMC class, I was astonished. I’ve been shopping at Gap since I was old enough to fit in their clothes. I love that store and I think seeing their logo change kinda saddened me. The first gap symbol was classic and known, however the new one looks like no one put any effort into designing it. The new logo did not look suitable for a clothing company.

    I think Gap did not take the right action in developing this logo and obviously the costumers were not satisfied with it. If they ever do come up with a new logo perhaps they should involve the consumers and see what they say.

    Reply
  5. Stephanie Ruggiro Avatar
    Stephanie Ruggiro

    When hearing about Gap changing their logo, I was extremely surprised. I didn’t really understand why they were wanting to change it because the GAP logo has been around for a long time. I feel like everyone knows GAP because of their logo. The new logo that they had produced made me think of some sort of boring business. The new logo didn’t make me want to shop there anymore. It was boring and looked effortless to make. I think Gap should have done a test run of their new logo and tried to get feedback from their customers. Regardless of what actions GAP took to bring in the new logo, they got a bunch of publicity towards the company. So maybe the company took the wrong approach, but they got a lot more attention out of it.

    Reply
  6. Jessica Berinson Avatar
    Jessica Berinson

    I agree that the company took the wrong approach in attempting to change their logo, but I think it was impressive how the company did so little to get such a large response. Dr. Pursuit talked about this particular outrage in our Intro to IMC class, and I was amazed to hear that such a small act, such hinting at the alteration of a company’s logo, could cause such an enormous public response. In the grand scheme of things, changing the company’s logo really wouldn’t have made much of a difference. However, because people got so worked up, Gap was able to get tons of publicity, merely by suggesting the possibility of a change within the company.

    Reply
  7. Sydney Marion Avatar
    Sydney Marion

    I had no idea GAP released a new logo for their company until Dr. Persuit showed us the changes in class. I personally thought the new design didn’t fit my perceptions of this store because it looks like a logo for something electronic. If the new changes would’ve been concrete, I don’t think it would’ve altered my purchases at GAP however, the original logo is the most recognizable. I think they chose a bad time to change thier symbol because they weren’t having any problems and their customers weren’t warned so it was unexpected.

    Reply

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