Comparison and Contrast: Gap Logo Redesign

Last week in Introduction to Design, Professor Housefield recommended at the daily news for topics to blog about. One of his examples of design in the news is Gap's logo redesign.

Like the Startbucks' logo I mentioned in my earlier post, the comparing and contrasting of the old design and the new design is great a discussion when it comes to logo redesigns. Receiving negative remarks by design critics everywhere, Gap's logo redesign is worthy of comparing and contrasting.

Let's take a look at the two Gap logos:

Gap's former logo (right) displays the company's name within a dark navy blue box. With the use of serifs in the logo's type, the former logo gave the company a sense of sophistication to their clothing line, especially for their well known line of jeans. The contrast of light type on top of a dark form also makes the company's name stand out (as well as the company itself).

Gap's new logo (left) presented itself to the public last week. In the new logo design, the company's name has been changed into a Helvetica typeface, removing their "sophisticated" use of serifs. The well known blue box that encased the company's name has been reduced and placed in the corner of the new logo. Also, the blue box now exhibits a diagonal gradient in contrast to their former solid navy blue box. For its bland use of the font type Helvetica and the reduction of its prominent blue box, Gap's new logo has been slammed by logo designers, said to have taken a step back from their former logo.

Within its day of appearance in the news, the new Gap logo has been withdrawn from the public. 

*Image source: http://www.fastcodesign.com