Not always about type.

Yesterday an online pal of mine mentioned the new Gap logo and her own disappointment. (I’m not sure if she’d want to be mentioned or not.) And I tweeted about it. An off-the-cuff, without much more thought than a designer’s gut instinct, reaction. It was an honest reaction. But, on the other hand, how rude am I? Who am I to cut a fellow designer off at the knees? Where is the teacher now who said you can’t just say you don’t like it? You have to explain why you don’t like it.

Let me say that until fashion in general took a huge nose dive—I don’t hold Gap responsible alone—and I could actually shop at the mall AND find clothes that I liked, were affordable, and fit; I did shop at the Gap (and their sister stores for that matter). I could always count on them for the basics. What’s not to like? So my knee-jerk reaction yesterday didn’t come about without some knowledge of the brand and their clothes.  

Helvetica and a gradient square are anti-design. (Well I think so anyway.) So maybe I’d expect them to have decided to represent a new overhaul of their lines. Perhaps they are only going to be doing the most simple jeans and t-shirts again. But no! If you look at their new winter line you’ll see they aren’t shunning trends at all. Look at the ruffles and the stirrup skinny jeans! 

Anyway, the reason I feel that the redesign is a big mistake, I hope, will come to be without merit. I hope they roll out some brilliant plan that makes the new logo seem like the perfect solution. Helvetica, gradient square, and all. With all of the love for retro these days I would have thought, as redesign did, that they’d go back to their own roots. 

Others have taken the time to articulate their thoughts on the redesign and I’m thankful for that. How can we improve as designers without honest critique of our work?

Don’t Mind the Gap, or the Square on Brand New
Bridging The Gap on Mat Dolphin’s blog 
The Gap logo redesign on redesign:related 

Those of you who know me will tell me I’m thinking too much about this. (I do that. I can spend hours, days even, on a previous action if it hits me as something I shouldn’t have done.) But I have to put something into words, then I’ll let this rest. So now I can let it rest.