Gap’s Logo Fiasco Touches a Nerve; and So Does the DnA With Hodgson and Strauss

Who would have thought that a new logo, for a company that seemed to be waning, would cause such a furore? But people went to the mat over the redesign…

Who would have thought that a new logo, for a company that seemed to be waning, would cause such a furore? But people went to the mat over the redesign of the Gap logo, itself one of multiple variants on previous logos. They also went to the mat over the airing of the topic on this month’s DnA. I was amazed at the number of comments on the station’s FB page from people angry either at GAP or at us for even discussing the topic (but lots of nice response to Mick Hodgson’s comments about KCRW’s logo here)! The takeaway from all of this, however, was that logos matter.

Also on the show was the industrial designer Yves Béhar, of San Francisco-based Fuseproject, who has now realized many a product designer’s dream: creating a chair for Herman Miller. A three-year R & D process with the revered company, known for its products and chairs designed by the Eames, George Nelson, Noguchi, Don Chadwick and Bill Stumpf and many more, resulted in the SAYL chair, shown above (photo by Nicholas Mercure).

This relatively light and affordable office chair is made with a mesh-like, urethane plastic back — supported by a Y-shaped spine — that is stretched and molded to be strong enough to support the back while doing away with the usual supporting structural frame around the chair back.

Last week I got to see Yves and try out the chair at Herman Miller’s LA showroom, a natty venue in a warehouse district just East of Culver City. One of the cute treats at the party — that played into the theme of materials lighter than air — were sorbets made with nitrogen, shown below (photos: Nicholas Mercure).

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