The Syfy channel rebrand by Loyalkaspar is tied together with bold, bespoke typography

Date
27 June 2017

New York and LA-based design agency Loyalkaspar has rebranded the Syfy channel, focusing on typography to convey the identity’s strong personality. Having worked with CNN, ESPN and Hulu, the designers brought experience in TV branding to the NBC-owned channel, first overhauling its logo to better reflect Syfy’s content.

“The new brand isn’t just about science fiction and space but the entire genre, including fantasy, horror and superheroes,” explains CCO Beat Baudenbacher. “So we didn’t want to lean too much on one visual vernacular. It needed to be bold, without being authoritative or exclusive, and neutral enough to live with the different sub-brands.

“The geometric, bold letterforms (of the logo) felt risky at first but the more we worked with it, it felt right in almost any context. It looked cool on a T-shirt and a book cover, so that’s when you know you’re on to something. The blocky letters also lent themselves to being stacked in different ways without adding too many odd angles or negative spaces. A flexible logo system like that is extremely useful in the multi-platform universe we live in.”

For the custom typefaces, Syfy Hero and Syfy Sidekick, the agency looked to magazines and newspapers for inspiration. “We wanted to give the brand a clear visual voice, and looking at brands like Wired and The New York Times we saw the importance of a recognisable, simple and consistent type system,” says ECD Daniel Doernemann. “We wanted to nod to headline fonts, since so much of the communication centres around news and event coverage. The typeface is extremely flexible but lets the message take centre stage. In that sense, the typeface is the core visual vehicle to convey the personality-first approach of the brand.

“We were joking that, if the editorial idea is the heart of the brand, the typography is the blood that runs through it all, connecting all parts and every message back to the brand.”

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Loyalkaspar: Syfy rebrand

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Loyalkaspar: Syfy rebrand

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Loyalkaspar: Syfy rebrand

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Loyalkaspar: Syfy rebrand

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Loyalkaspar: Syfy rebrand

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Loyalkaspar: Syfy rebrand

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Previous Syfy logo

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Jenny Brewer

Jenny oversees our editorial output across work, news and features. She was previously It’s Nice That's news editor. Get in touch with any big creative stories, tips, pitches, news and opinions, or questions about all things editorial.

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