Last week, apparel company Gap, Inc. introduced a new logo on its website, integrating a san-serif logotype with a gradient blue box set behind the “p” against a white background in lieu of its original logo, a blue box with knockout white serif letters. But, after a week of negative backlash from the online community, Gap announced that it will be reverting back to its 20-year-old classic logo.

Gap, Inc. President Marka Hansen addressed the social media backlash in a blog posting on the Huffington Post last week, stating, “We chose this design as it’s more contemporary and current. It honors our heritage through the blue box while still taking it forward.”

Regardless of the reasons behind the redesign, after seven days of criticism the company announced the logo switchback in a press release posted on October 11.

“Since we rolled out an updated version of our logo last week on our website, we’ve seen an outpouring of comments from customers and the online community in support of the iconic blue box logo,” says Louise Callagy, Gap, Inc. media contact. “Last week, we moved to address the feedback and began exploring how we could tap into all of the passion. Ultimately, we’ve learned just how much energy there is around our brand. All roads were leading us back to the blue box, so we’ve made the decision not to use the new logo on gap.com any further.

What other brands have refined their logos over time? Logo Design Love, a website dedicated to logo design and visual identities by Ireland-based graphic designer David Airey offers a great posting on this topic. Airey states “When a logo is used for a number of years, the brand awareness that is amassed can prove a valuable tool in the marketing arsenal of large corporations. With that in mind, logo re-designs often implement subtle changes to refresh the look whilst considering customer recognition.”

Check out some of the examples from Logo Design Love, and click here to read commentary from Airey about why these logo refinements were effective.

Do you have an interest in logo and branding design? Click here to learn more about FIDM/Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising’s Graphic Design/Branding program.