An Important Lesson On Logo Design From The Gap's Mistake

When a large company updates its brand, the brand's "reboot" attracts attention. When Gap recently updated their logo, the news went viral on the internet within hours. The design community attacked the new logo on blogs, forums, and Twitter accounts. Before long, major news outlets covered the reboot. The problem was, at the time, everyone thought the new logo was horrible. Designers and consumers scratched their heads, wondering how Gap had made such an error. The error has since been "corrected," as the company discarded the new design and reinstated the old one.

And herein lie a few important lessons about logo design. If a large company like Gap can make as big a misstep as they did, smaller companies can certainly do the same. In this article, we'll revisit the design and launch process of Gap's now-abandoned logo to take away a few cautionary notes. When designing and launching your own company's logo, keep the following in mind.

 For Gap, this is where the trouble began. They decided to hire their advertising agency to create the design for their new logo. However, while agencies have talented designers on board, they focus primarily on advertising campaigns that have a short shelf life. The billboards, print ads, and television spots are replaced quickly unless they produce a phenomenal response from the client company's target audience.

By contrast, a logo is meant to last for years, even decades. It serves as the face of the organization for which it is created. The perspective of the design team must accommodate that goal. While it is impossible to know what was going through the ad agency's collective head, it is telling that Gap's new logo was designed with Helvetica as the font. Much of the ad agency's recent work had also been designed in Helvetica. This does not suggest a perspective considering a shelf life that extends decades in the future.

When hiring a designer, make sure the company or individual has brand experience. A professional logo designer will have a longer time frame in mind. This helps ensure your logo will have as great an impact down the road as it does when launched, which brings us to Gap's second mistake.

The launch stage of Gap's logo reboot actually highlights two mistakes. First, the launch was sporadic. The new artwork appeared online, but not immediately on their website. When their site was finally updated, the new logo design was missing from key areas - ironically, one of them was the section where press releases are posted. This created more confusion, which added to the lack of context surrounding the dismaying - and as many suggested, childlike - design.

The second mistake was in the manner Gap responded to the market's initial reaction. They instantly retreated, strengthening the market's first impression of the design. To be fair, Gap's poor launch strategy provided no framework in which to position the new logo. They essentially had little choice but to concede to the public's scorn for the design. Gap's next step marks their third mistake in the fiasco.

The company sought help from the very people who were disparaging their new design: the public. This alone positioned them as oblivious to what was required in a professional logo meant to support a worldwide brand. Worse, they approached the public through a crowdsourcing project; they essentially held a design contest.

Here, they missed a grand opportunity. When an established brand launches a reboot of their logo, a negative outcry from their market is sometimes advantageous. Why? Because the new design becomes instantly memorable - in this case, instantly infamous. And memorability is one of the core tenets of good logo design. This is not to suggest they should have stuck closely to their ill-received artwork. But they may have allowed a branding opportunity to slip through their fingers.

Updating a logo for a recognized brand is always fraught with challenges (especially for one that has inspired so many media jabs and funny stickers over the years), even when an experienced designer is spearheading the project. But, it's worth remembering that much of a new logo's success is determined by the company's response after the design's launch.