Gap Logo Change?

Gap caused quite a bit of buzz this past week after it revealed, and quickly scrapped a new logo design. This article from bloomberg.com, "Gap Scraps New Logo After Backlash, Revives Blue Box" retells the whole saga, in which Gap fans responded with an "outcry on its Facebook page" causing the company to trash this new design:

Source: Gap.com via Bloomberg

I can see why there was such a poor reaction to this new design. It is underwhelming to say the least; in fact I would categorized it as under-designed. Considering what a large company Gap is, I would imagine they would hire an experienced, creative designer to design something as important as a logo. This new design though, looks like something the designer's middle-schooler child could have created. Not bad for a twelve-year-old, but tacky for a company as big as this. The font alone doesn't read "Gap" at all; it make work with bold red in a logo for Target, but I doubt this redesign was aiming for a "Target" aesthetic. Then there's the tiny blue square; maybe it's a nod to the old "blue-box" design, but here it looks completely useless and out of place. Thankfully the company listened to its customers' disapproval, and is going back to it's classic, old design:

This design is right in all the places the new one is wrong. The solid, bold, navy blue background coupled with the tall, slender, serif-font reads "sophistication" and  "classic" . The real place where Gap went wrong was trying to re-vamp the logo in the first place. I understand that times are tough and the company is trying to "modernize" it's image, but its logo is the one thing that should be untouchable. It is unique, iconic, and perfect for the brand, but most importantly, it is recognizable. This logo is Gap, change that and you might as well change the whole company's name.