iTunes logo

          In class today, Professor Housefield mentioned the article about the release of the Gap logo change last week which produced a lot of negative feedback. I noticed, upon reading the comments on the article, that there are many people who did not care or see the importance of it. The Gap logo is iconic. I remember the logo the way it has been since I can remember, and I know that it's is older than I am. It's surprising to see how commercial icons like Gap affect society today, which reinstates what we've been studying in Design 1 on how "image is power!" The dramatic change from the older, more sophisticated logo to one that "looks as if it were done in Microsoft Word," stirred up a lot of people. Fortunately, the Gap logo has been changed back to its original now, and the world seems to be a little more peaceful. It goes to show how the iconography and aesthetics have the power to move people, change the way they think, and incite change.
         Last month, I downloaded the upgrade for iTunes 10 and noticed that they changed the default icon to a design in which the musical note is now black inside a blue circle. It is no longer has the simple blue/green musical note placed in front of a CD-design. The radial gradient from a blue to a cyan in the new icon is appealing and cool compared to the plain image of a CD, but I have yet to get used to it. I miss the simplicity of the old designs, but I don't necessarly dislike the new one either.

          Even the subtle changes between the emerald green music note and the blue music note were considerably noticeable to me. I feel like I had to rewire my brain to get used to the changes. It seems that at times, the human brain rejects change automatically unless the new change is more aesthetically appealing. It's fascinating to see the evolution of icons throughout the years and how it changes with technology. I know Apple's decision to change the icon was driven by the coming obsolescence of CDs because music can be easily purchased digitally nowadays. The "out with the old, in with the new" mentality is applicable to iconography, but at least the same elements (the music note and circle shape) stayed with the icon through its evolution.

Gap logo article (October 7th): http://finance.yahoo.com/family-home/article/110957/gap-changes-logo-why?mod=family-kids_parents
Gap's logo article (October 12th): http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Gaps-logo-back-to-blue-after-apf-3578440916.html?x=0
[image] New iTunes icon: http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2010/09/steve-jobs-itunes/
[image] Old iTunes icon (blue): http://www.techdigest.tv/apple/3.html
[image] Old iTunes icon (green): http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/blogs/index.cfm?blogId=4&entryId=106517