'Crank' The Face Off That Type!

When you notice a small snippet of a design element, whether it be the passing glance of a book cover in the shop window or the brief glimpse of a fantastic packaging item in the trolley of a fleeting fellow supermarket shopper, you want more. You want to understand what it is, why it caught your attention, you want to buy in to its aesthetic attraction – at least I do.
During the regular morning peruse of design news and affiliated scanning of portfolios, I stumbled upon a full rebrand project carried out by the design studio 'Proud'. What caught my attention on this particular occasion was the typography.

Firstly, the 2D representation.

How fluid of a typeface is that...? Each individual letter flows smoothly in to the next. Just imagine placing a ball on the top arc of that 'S' - it would roll effortlessly on to the neighboring 'y'

The font is 'Crank 8', reworked to create the unique and bespoke typeface of 'Syfy'; a science-fiction channel.

The customised typeface is so beautifully balanced. If the letter distance were removed the sandwiched 'f' would just melt in between both 'y's'.

I thought it may be of use to highlight the letter dimensions for closer analysis.
The letter 'f' floats above the baseline, for personal reasoning I believe it allows for that floaty-like/light quality. Had the designers sat it on the baseline the word as a whole would appear heavier and grounded which moves against the ethos of the brief;

"The brief asked for an ownable and distinguishable brand identity; retaining the positive associations from the genre of science fiction, whilst appealing to a broader audience and embracing the benefits of imagination."

The 3D representation.

In context I do feel that the 3D outcome of the brand leans dangerously towards a copycat version of Channel 4's 'E4' brand but this is due to the amalgamation of associated 'E4' deep purple colour combined with the overlaying thick white text.

However, it is visually stunning and as a television ident it will no doubt be easily accepted and appreciated.