New Gap Logo Fail
Out of context: Reply #419
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I like this!
http://weblog.muledesign.com/201…
Dear Gap,
As you requested, I’ve redesigned your logo. It’s behind the post-it above. It’s unbelievably good. Fantastic, even. I’m convinced it’s what you need.
It draws on the deep history of the brand and evokes the simple understated elegance that the world has come to expect from The Gap. But it also reaches forward. It provides hope and just the right amount of desperate desire and anxiety brought on by fear of loneliness that the Twitter demographic wants. (Yes, men in their mid-30’s.)
Why am I so confident this logo is right for you?
Well, for one, I am very good at what I do. And, secondly, I’m a professional. This is my job.
I researched your customers. Talked to a variety of them, in fact. Asked them not only about The Gap, but about their own lives. Their needs. Anxieties. Their thoughts on the future. I took all that into account.
I also interviewed employees in a few of your stores. (They’re quite dedicated, you know.) I asked them how they felt about the company and about their interactions with customers. Because customer service may actually be the most important part of your brand. And the logo’s job is simply to help evoke those pleasant experiences.
Next I talked to your marketing department. We talked about ‘brand essence,’ sure. But we also reviewed all the practical applications of the logo. Online. Offline. From small print ads, to bus posters, billboards and corporate identity systems. We went over cost projections and risk analysis and forecasted future applications.
Man, that stuff took time. A lot of time actually. And a tremendous amount of effort, as well as expertise. Expertise that came from a combination of training, which I had to pay tuition for, and experience. I’m good at this because I’ve done it a lot. Sure, there’s some natural talent there, but by and large I’ve gotten good at my job the same way every other worker has. By experience, by focused effort and by learning from my mistakes.
Luckily I’ve been able to earn a modest living plying my trade by exchanging my efforts to clients for fair value.
So as much as I’d like to just show you the greatest logo I’ve ever made for anyone (...and trust me, if Paul Rand himself saw it, he would realize he was merely the Pippen to my Jordan.) I’d like to be properly compensated for it. Because I put a lot of time and effort into it. And it’s how I earn my living.
And that time and effort was used to make sure I delivered something that actually met your needs and objectives. You guys have numbers to meet. (I imagine at least a 10% increase to last year’s $14.5B in revenue, and $967M in net income.) And plans for the future based on meeting those numbers. So do I.
And for the sake of full disclosure I should let you know that I’ve also frequently shopped at your stores. You sell good stuff. But never in my experience has any of your employees offered me a free pair of pants because the ones I was wearing looked bad. I wouldn’t expect them to. Their job is to sell me clothes.
My job is to sell design.
I believe we understand each other. I anxiously await your call and look forward to negotiating a fair value for the greatest logo on Earth.