New Gap Logo, Despised Symbol of Corporate Banality, Dead at One Week

The new Gap logo, which was unveiled last week to a chorus of caustic criticism, died yesterday at the age of one week. The logo passed after a brief and ignominious battle with stage IV banality.
Brought into the world on Gap.com on October 4, 2010, the logo was supposed to signify Gap’s transition from “classic, American design to modern, sexy, cool,” according to company spokesperson Louise Callagy. The gods of graphic design though, had other plans. “It looks like the emblem of some failed low-fare spinoff of a major airline,” wrote Slate’s Tom Scocca. Refinery29 compared the logo to “that awkward cap-sleeved tee with the rhinestone letters you find while thrift shopping that’s neither vintage nor new, but definitely not cool.” The advent of a create-your-own-Gap-logo Web site called “Crap Logo Yourself” dragged the design ever closer to the brink of death.

After suffering emotional injuries sustained upon reading the satirical Gap Logo Twitter feed, the infantile imprint was rushed to Facebook, where it underwent an emergency resuscitation attempt. “We know this logo created a lot of buzz and we’re thrilled to see passionate debates unfolding!” Gap’s Facebook status reported on October 6. “So much so we’re asking you to share your designs. We love our version, but we’d like to see other ideas. Stay tuned for details in the next few days on this crowd sourcing project.”
Details would come less than one week later; crowd sourcing would come never. “We’ve learned just how much energy there is around our brand, and after much thought, we’ve decided to go back to our iconic blue box logo,” Callagy, the spokesperson, told Bloomberg.com of the logo’s passing.

The new Gap logo is survived by its antagonistic Twitter feed and a dozen “failed branding strategies” slide shows, in which it will be archived in the annals of history. To heaven, the Helvetica now ascends.