GLOBAL, OCTOBER 13, 2010 – Heeding massive criticism and mockery, Gap reverted back to their previous blue and white box logo. In response to the fury over the redesign, Gap’s corporate communications head, Bill Chandler told Fast Company Design, “We love the design, but we’re open to other ideas and we want to move forward with the best possible logo.” Contrary to speculation, he also insists that the new logo is not a PR stunt.
Gap first unveiled a new logo last October 7, 2010 on the company website. An uproar over the update followed, with over 2000 negative comments on their Facebook page and a parody New Gap Logo Twitter, which shoots insults back at detractors. Gap and its president, Marka Hansen, released an official response hours after the fiasco by announcing plans for a crowd sourcing project for a better-updated logo. The following day, they scrapped plans for the project to return to the blue and white box.
Gap’s original logo was a stylized Avant Garde font that read “the Gap”, which graced their very first store in San Francisco back in 1969. The popular blue and white box logo followed after, and has been attributed to Gap ever since. Fast Company has observed that Helvetica, the font used in the controversial new logo, has been used in last year’s Gap ads and even at their 40th anniversary pop-up store in London, but went largely unnoticed by the public.
