The new SyFy (Sci Fi) branding sucks!

July 7th, 2009 Tom Okeefe

Syfy.com

Syfy.com

Back in March Sci Fi announced they are re-branding and changing its name to SyFy. Landor Associates was the branding firm hired by Sc Fi. They can’t take credit for the whole project though…

Yes, we worked with the SciFi Channel, and it hired us to consult on the project. However, Syfy was a name generated internally and pre-tested at the channel before our involvement, 

 Yes Sci Fi paid a large sum of money for the name SyFy to Michael Hinman. Was it was worth it? Um, Nope!

 My question to Landor is…

 Can you guys at least take credit for designing a god awful looking web site?

Come on now are you joking me? This has to be one of the worst re-branding site designs I’ve seen in a long time. I thought re-branding brings out better and more creative designs not the other way around. Maybe you didn’t do it or maybe you will try to pass blame for this as well.

SyFy Imagine Greater? No I cannot for the life of me imagine the re branding being great!

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  • godspeed2048
    At least the suckiness of their branding strategy accurately reflects the suckiness of their programming content. The lineup is as drab and boring as their lame website.
  • It seems to be a site design that confuses "simple" with "soft."

    I hate "soft" and "weak" looking sites (when they aren't supposed to be).
  • corimica
    I think when making an Alice in Wonderland adaptation is like some rite of passage, or a hazing. Maybe it's a secret game they play with some kind of steep wager to it. Or simply a way to pass the time and take an awesome tax write off at the end of a year.
    marirea penisului
  • The name "SyFy" is bad enough alone. i didn't want to trust my eyes when I first saw it and I didn't even know that in Poland it's slang for syphilis.
    I sometimes really wonder why some of this people get payed at all. They're hired to change something and than get payed Millions for coming up with stupid names or (that's the worst I've hurt once) only changing the colour. And not from Red to another, no from one red to another red.
  • Let's not forget that they have a presence in Poland where the term "syfy" is slang for syphilis. I can just imagine the jokes made at their expense. In a CNN article, the person interviewed said that they did extensive research on the name but I think it was not extensive enough.

    And don't even get me started on "imagine greater." That's just hideous grammar and I find it a little insulting that they think their viewers are so ignorant that they'll never notice how bad a slogan that is.

    Mike Hinman has to be laughing his bum off about all this. He was paid a lot of money for the name. It was a fine name for his SyFy Portal website, now Airlock Alpha but it's not so fine the way NBC/Universal are using it.
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