GAP Logo Change

http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2010/10/gap-logo-fiasco-spawns-twitter-parody-accounts/64326

The GAP clothing company changed its online logo this month (October) and the result was much discontent from GAP fans and customers. The company made the unannounced change from their classic blue box with white lettering to a black font and small blue box on a white background. The online logo change caused an online outcry from fans. GAP had experienced a 4 percent decrease in sales, which may have been a reason for their logo change. The logo was going for a more modern look but did not deliver the desired results. It seems that the decline in sales would further with the implementation of the new disliked logo, not to mention the cost to replace all the signage, bags, clothing labels etc. of stores all around the country. The new logo has a simplistic and corporate design feel to it but seems not nearly as effective as the old logo. This shows the importance of brand identity and how long it takes a brand to build up its image. The logo change was a very drastic one and the logos look nothing alike. Perhaps this was part of the problem the GAP made with evolving their logo. There would be no brand recognition with this logo as it appears like a logo for an entirely different company. The old logo is highly recognizable, and many would not recognize the new logo as being for the same company. The company must realize that logo changes are a progressive process and changes to any logo should be minimal and subtle. Many companies like Pepsi and Coke have changed their logos overtime, but the changes have been subtle and more of an evolution than a complete identity change like GAP attempted to do. This whole fiasco has generated more publicity for the company however, getting the company?s name in the media, news, and social media. The fact that the logo change was just an online change means the company did not lose money trying to reinvent themselves and did not have to invest in sign and bag changes. This may actually be a positive thing for the GAP overall if the added publicity ends up generating more purchase for the GAP.

Notepad Project

As part of my digital file preparation course at PSU, I was assigned a project which I was to design a notepad of my chosen size using black ink only. The notepad would be printed 50 sheets a pad and perfect bound. The notepad project was aimed at creating a notepad which would be given to high school students visiting the College of Technology at Pittsburg State University. The notepad was intended to inspire and entice high school students visiting the college to consider pursing a degree in the Graphics and Imaging Technologies department at Pittsburg State University. The process began with brainstorming ideas by use of a word matrix to generate words associated with high school students:

Next I created thumbnail sketches based on ideas I had generated through my word matrix:

The next stage required creating two roughs based on two of my thumbnail sketches. I decided to make my roughs, and ultimately my notepad, 6.5" x 4.25" with one featuring a landscape layout and one with a portrait layout:

Of these two roughs I decided to go with the one depicting the graphics symbols at the top of the notepad. However I decided to leave out the bottom images and leave only the web address because I felt as though these elements did not match the feel of the rest of the piece. Here is a printed proof of the final result:

Notepad Synopsis

The notepad assignment was a 50 page notepad of a chosen size aimed at attracting the attention of high school students visiting the Pittsburg State University's College of Technology. The notepad could be any size and I chose to make mine 4.25" x 6.5". Some of the ideas I associated with high school students were sports, music, electronics, and art. I tried to incorporate these elements in my thumbnail sketches, and then took my two favorites and created roughs. One of the roughs originally had a combination of more than thumbnail, but after a class critique I decided to leave the vector elements at the bottom out of the piece, as it did not seem to relate to the feel of the rest of the piece. I decided to go with the rough that featured elements of the Graphics and Imaging Technologies department, including the images of a camera for photography, a CD for gaming or programming, a paper for page layout, and a computer for imaging. In this rough I used symmetrical balance with the four graphics spaced evenly apart over text reading 'Department of Graphics and Imaging Technologies'. The bottom of the piece is also symmetrical with the centered web address. The other rough, which I decided not to use for my final piece includes symmetrical balance with images from outer space in the corners. My original thought was that this design might appeal to a high school age student's interest in their future as well as possible art interests. In both pieces there is reference to the PSU College of Technology or the Graphics and Imaging Technologies department. I decided to go with the piece that had the vector art of the computer, CD, camera, and paper because I felt that it better related to the Graphics and Imaging Technologies department.

One Color T-Shirt

I have been learning the process of screen printing in a class I am taking through Pittsburg State University, and thought I would post the design of my first design for my first blog post. Here is what the design looks like applied to a t-shirt as well as alone and with placement specifications. According to the tech pack this shirt uses white ink on a gray shirt, however I printed a few different colored inks on different colored shirts. I may post an image of a finished shirt but for now I'll leave it at the tech pack version.