Actually, I read that comment as being nothing to do with a visual similarity, but current BBC 2 & post-1996 C4
respectively
being in a similar situation in their individual cases: the figures not being used for their original functions.
So it's probably not relevant to compare the two on images; I think there has been some confusion... These are two separate cases being referred to, and from two different periods - but, there is the parallel of both having been removed from the intended purpose of their numerals.
As it stands now, Channel 4 has returned to the function the '4' was designed for - utilising its 'puzzle blocks'. Whereas BBC 2 has larely been stripped of its, (as in post #36) which drew the comparison with post-96 Channel 4, as I see it. If I've called that wrong, I apologise.
Personally, I think the 2D '4' worked just as well on screen, albeit was not the focus of the action. The ident designs were kept simple and bold enough to be effective, and compared to BBC 2 (which has become so defined by a '2' as sole symbol for the best part of 40 years) I think it seemed more natural for Channel 4 to visually re-invent itself along a certain idea.
And they did that well - for the (under-rated) 1996 rebrand, the small feat was achieved of expressing exactly the same 'publisher-broadcaster' concept in the symbol really well - only it worked in a way that no longer required the animated blocks aspect of the 4.
Really? The very first batch were almost all a 2D figure on the screen - to me they always appeared as a cut piece of sheet metal; in the case of Silk under a sheet.
I'm not sure if that relates to what I was saying about the flaw of the current set - 'Paper Cut Out' was the only example where the 2 was a 'window' or hole rather than a solid object. But yes - when the camera is filming it straight-on, it is difficult to gauge the depth.
IIRC the figure in 'Paint' was a block of polystyrene, 'Sign' 2 was effectively a case to house the lights, and 'Glass' was a prism - so not 2D there. However 'Copper Cut Out', 'Blade' and 'Shadow' definitely are - it was a mixture.
I believe a Sign-style ident with the 2 shown at an angle was originally considered during the initial ideas stage, but it was rejected. It took until 1993 for symbols such as 'Dog' to try that, but the earliest stings preceded it, and they were making some good use of its properties.
