VPRO

Background
Founded in 1926 as the Vrijzinnig Protestantse Radio Omroep (Liberal Protestant Radio Broadcasting Corporation), the organization started broadcasting radio programs comissioned to Protestantism themes. By the 1960's, however, a new generation of program creators managed to get a statute modification, which resulted in the "flower power generation" getting the leadership of the company. VPRO started to get in charge of airing culturally revelant programs, documentaries and films, as they started airing through the public Dutch TV stations. Today, VPRO aims for a demographic oriented at highly creative and educated people.

1st Logo (1971-1981)
Nicknames: "The Ribbon Text", "The Many Faces of VPRO"

Logo: The VPRO logo, which is the text "Times New Roman" with several of the letters having extensions made on them, is seen in various depictions, see below.

Trivia: All of these idents were created by Jaap Drupsteen using a hybrid of early analog computer and hand-drawn graphics (sometimes with live-action).

Variants: There are quite a few variants for this logo:
 * Normal Variant: We see the VPRO logo on a cloudy red and white background. The clouds move by and the logo remains static.
 * Stars: We see the VPRO logo in blue while shifting colors to purple and red while stars can be seen flashing around the logo on a gray background with the logo having a shadow.
 * Gong: We see a man walking up to a gong, and commences striking it. However, he puts the mallet down and smiles awkwardly towards the viewer as the music slows down.
 * Gong 2: We see the same man from before walking up to the same gong, but striking it fully this time.
 * Gong 3/Hand: We see the same man but without his mallet and walks up to the same logo but the gong is missing. The man walks up to the middle of the logo and poses, while a hand is seen coming out of the hole on top where the gong was and hits the man which quickly falls out of the screen and the hand comes back in the hole.
 * Sun: We see the same VPRO logo and setting as the gong variants expect there is no gong similar to the "Gong 3" variant and instead there is an orange sun placed in the hole which has rays that extended in and out of the VPRO logo. Also there is no gong man in this variant.
 * Dots: The VPRO logo is shown in white, on a gray background with various disappearing and appearing dots, with a blue circle in the center of the backdrop along a yellow star that rapidly extends its rays in and out of the VPRO logo.
 * Melting VPRO: We see the VPRO logo made of some sort of semisolid substance. The sides of the logo become red, and the logo slowly falls apart.
 * Blurry VPRO: The VPRO is shown in red and blurred, shaking throughout the logo.
 * Flashing VPRO: We see the VPRO logo, but with flashing black and white swirling lines filling in the logomark.
 * Indian VPRO: We see an Indian statue head rocking its head back and forth. The VPRO logo is seen below on a yellow background, as well as having fast-paced red and white stripes in the border of the wordmark.
 * Flashing Stars: The VPRO logo is shown in beige on a black background with flashing blue stars.
 * Kissing Mouth: We see the red drawn lips of a mouth on the circle, seen straight. A female voiceover then says "And I'll give you a kiss...", and then the lips fade into them kissing the viewers, as it moves into a closeup. The word "einde" (which means "end" in Dutch) then fades the lips away. Another version has live action lips and a space background.
 * Pulley: The VPRO logo is orange, on a black background with stars, above it in a circle is a pulley, which is pulled, and the text "einde" appears.

FX/SFX: Whatever is going on in the logo, which is almost too ahead of its time (if the date is listed correctly, more evidence is required).

Music/Sounds: Depending on the variant.
 * Normal Variant: A triumphant sounding fanfare that calms down in the second half.
 * Stars/Sun: None.
 * Gong: A bombastic fanfare similar to the normal variant, of which slows down when the man is about to strike the gong.
 * Gong 2: The same fanfare from before, but now complete. The sound of a striking gong is heard as well.
 * Gong 3/Hand: A theme that seems to be played with flutes and some other instrument while a gong can barely be heard. When the hand hits the man, a low-toned gong is used.
 * Dots: A weird synth whirring sound.
 * Melting VPRO: A guitar strum is heard at first. After this, sounds of what almost seems to be constipated groaning are heard. Deep droning, echoing synths are heard throughout and become more harsh as the logo moves on.
 * Blurry VPRO: A bizzare synth tune.
 * Flashing VPRO: A strange rock theme that goes up in down in clarity and volume.
 * Indian VPRO: A different rock theme from before, but slightly distorted. A warbled, indistinguishable shouting is heard at the end. (This is actually part of the song "Here Come the Fleas" by The White Noise).
 * Flashing Stars: Another bombastic fanfare, more upbeat and light in tone.
 * Kissing Mouth: Some sort of a jazz-funk ditty at first, the female voice, and a male vocal group holding a note as the lips get close to us. (Again, part of the song from the Indian VPRO variant).
 * Pulley: A slow fanfare.

Availability: Extinct.

Editor's Note: When the logos were discovered, they quickly became notorious. The animation is quite busy, bizarre, and nonsensical in most of the variants, and can be seen as unnessecary. In particular, the "Melting VPRO" variant was considered to be creepy by many.

2nd Logo (1972-1981)
Nicknames: "The Ribbon Text II", "The Many Faces of VPRO II"

Logo: The concept is similar to the previous logo although with different idents.

Trivia: See above.

Variants: Again, there were numerous variants, and here are the most notable ones:
 * Twentieth Century VPRO: We see the VPRO logo atop a 20th Century Fox tower-like structure, with searchlights in the background. During the Christmas season, there are no searchlights, the logo is covered in snow. and the background is covered in stars, with a large star over the logo.
 * Piano Hands: We see hands playing on a piano, but reversed horizontally so that the fingers extend both ways if they reach out.
 * Electric Hammer: We see a ragged-looking man sitting atop an orange, blurry version of the logo with streaks on the extensions, on a stormy cloud background. He is holding a large hammer, and strikes the "Times New Roman" in the logo, causing "electricity" to strike out of it.
 * Sunglasses: We see different types of sunglasses moving around, facing the viewer on a blue background. The camera zooms into one of the pairs of sunglasses, and one of the lenses breaks as an eye appears. A stylized cutout then appears around this, which then fades to a screen with telephone numbers and a circle with the VPRO logo in it, flashing red and white stripes.
 * Singing Mouths: We see many chroma-keyed mouths singing melodies of some sort. The melodies overlap in a fashion so that they echo over each other. The camera stops as one of the mouths remains open, and the same cutout from before appears, except it's just the logo in red and clouds appear in the background.
 * Parakeets: We see five parakeets standing on a red round rectangular border with the "Times New Roman" logo on top while all of it is on a yellow background. The parakeet in the middle jumps off the border but then comes back up at the end.
 * Aquarium: We see a live-action video of a aquarium. A yellow VPRO logo with a red border "swims" across the screen twice, at different times.
 * Marching Band: Several instruments are seen above the VPRO logo, which is golden and appears to be made of trimming and felt, along with the border around it. The instruments move around on their own, with the drum being beaten.

FX/SFX: Same as before.

Music/Sounds: Depending on the Variant:
 * Twentieth Century VPRO: A moderate fanfare slightly based off of the TCF fanfare. Bells and a choir are heard on the Christmas version.
 * Piano Hands: A soothing piano tune.
 * Electric Hammer: A loud rumbling, complete with a banging sound (reminiscent of thunder).
 * Sunglasses: A theme sounding like it came out of a horror movie, ending with a glass-shattering sound.
 * Singing Mouths: A melody that would be soothing if it weren't for the unpleasant echoing that it produces.
 * Parakeets: A calming and beautiful flute theme.
 * Aquarium: A soothing string theme.
 * Marching Band: A marching band theme.

Availability: Extinct.

Editor's Note: Like the last logos, these ones are very bizarre and avant-garde. In particular, the "Sunglasses" and "Singing Mouths" variants were considered creepy by several viewers.

3rd Logo (1974-1981)
Nicknames: "The Ribbon Text III", "The Many Faces of VPRO III"

Logo: Same as the 1st and 2nd logos, but with, once again, different concepts.

Trivia: See above.

Variants: Yet again, there were numerous variants, but a lot less strange than before:
 * Wheat Field: We see the VPRO logo in a orange circle above a wheat field. There are also sunbursts rotating around the circle.
 * Generic: On a different background (like moving lines or even the UK and US flags), the VPRO logo is seen in a circle.
 * Nighttime: Similar to the Generic, but the logo is on a nighttime sky, with the actual logo on a black-blue gradient circle with an orange logo. The logo zooms out and a triangle grows under it. "Times New Roman" ("LATE" in Dutch) then appears in giant letters over the space background in the logo. Another version has a lighthouse in the triangle, with an orange background and black logo. Here, the text zooms up in a ghostly white. The closing variant has the backgrounds reversed and the word zooming out, revealing "Einde".
 * Triangle: Similar to the Generic and Nighttime variants combined, but the triangle is upside down or unchanged. Sometimes, "Einde" will appear.
 * Tears: A orange VPRO logo is seen on a light blue gradient circle which is on a space background. Tears start to appear from the hole in the logo as "Einde" flashes in near the end.
 * Balloon/Crow: Another orange VPRO logo, this time on a yellow circle, appears and rocks back and forth, before the "Times New Roman" unravels and blows out air, like a balloon. The logo then spins and flies out of control before popping and "Einde" appearing. Another version has the logo turning into a crow instead and flying away into the background.
 * Bowing: Curtains open up to reveal a VPRO logo, which bows a few times and the curtains close.
 * Stairs: Here, the triangle is set up as stairs, with junking pouring down from it. Some even go out of the triangle! Once again, "Einde" appears. Another one has a women coming down the stairs, but falls off at the bottom.

FX/SFX: It depends on the variant.

Music/Sounds: At this point, it's hard to describe them all.

Availability: Extinct, but all 3 sets of logos air at around the same time.

Editor's Note: These logos are not as busy as the previous ones.

4th Logo (1981)
Logo: We see a video feedback version of multiple colored dots while electricity sizzles. It then fades out, fades back in and the ball becomes smaller again. Then on the sidelines we see the word "EINDE".

FX/SFX: The colored dots combined with the video feedback effects, the logo fading-in, and "EINDE" appearing.

Music/Sounds: A proud synthesizer theme.

Availability: Extinct.

Editor's Note: This logo is much better and more "normal" than the previous ones.

5th Logo (1981-1983)
Nicknames: "The Triangle", "Here Is The New VPRO"

Logo: On a black background, various orange and blue lights scroll across the screen. They then recede, revealing a blurred object over blurred blue lines. Another row of glass moves out, clearing the picture. Here, the logo is completely different, being a glowing orange triangle with "VPRO" in white with orange borders in front of the logo.

FX/SFX: The lights forming the logo.

Music/Sounds: A overly saturated synthesizer theme with beeps at the beginning. The synthesizer theme comes from the first 24 seconds of "Here Is The News" from Electric Light Orchestra's 1981 album Time.

Availability: Extinct.

Editor's Note: This logo was a favorite of many in its era, thanks to its ahead of its time animation and music. It's also far less crazy than it's "avant-grade" (or drug-age) phase.

6th Logo (1983-1985)
Nicknames: "The Triangle II"

Logo: On a black background, a yellow line is drawn below, made to shape the bottom of the logo. Shadows of the triangle and text scroll up before copies then wipe in and form the logo.

FX/SFX: Similar animation techniques from before, but still outdated.

Music/Sounds: Same as before, but with an announcer at the end.

Availability: Extinct.

Editor's Note: None.

7th Logo (1985-1987)
Nicknames: "The Triangle III", "Seizure Shapes"

Logo: On a black background, various shapes in various colors fly across the screen. Then, red, blue, and yellow shapes scroll across the screen as a flashing VPRO logo fades in. The shapes also change and the top row also says "nederland 1/2" in various colors and fonts, flashing at random times.

FX/SFX: The flashing shapes.

Music/Sounds: A hard jazz tune.

Availability: Extinct.

Editor's Note: None.

8th Logo (1987)
Nicknames: "The Triangle IV", "Here Is The Bad News"

Logo: On a blue background, a white triangle scrolls along, with a yellow outline and black outlines to separate them. A red outline of the logo zooms out, followed by a smaller black outline as the text in blue scrolls along. A man with an antenna scrolls in and fires a ball of static at the logo, making it static as well as h scrolls off screen. Later on, a white background with a yellow stripe is added in.

FX/SFX: The scrolling, the logo turning to static.

Music/Sounds: A horn or synth remix of the 4th logo theme.

Availability: Extinct.

Editor's Note: The remixes of the 4th logo's theme were poorly regarded.

9th Logo (1987-1989)
Nicknames: "The Triangle V", "Art Scramble"

Logo: On a white background, several painted objects and art rotates and flashes in sync with the beeps. A red square with stuff in it choppily rotates and reverses with the rings. A eye appears and the rings appear again, rotating jerkily, with the cardboard side appearing again. A brown spot then appears with the VPRO logo flipping up. A yellow circle with a cameraman flies across the screen and the spot fades out.

FX/SFX: Jerky 3D animation, but that was probably intentional.

Music/Sounds: Same as the 4th and 5th logos.

Availability: Extinct.

Editor's Note: None.

10th Logo (1989-1992)
Nicknames: "The Triangle VI", "Art Scramble II"

Logo: On a white background, several paint strokes move and rotate around the screen. We then cut to more rotating black and red paint strokes with static. More paint strokes appear, with the VPRO logo flipping up and being filled with static as a yellow ball passes over it.

FX/SFX: Same as before.

Music/Sounds: Same as before, but abridged.

Availability: Extinct.

Editor's Note: None.

11th Logo (1992-1999)
Nicknames: "The Triangle VII", "Art Scramble III"

Logo: Similar to the 8th logo, but the animation is more cluttered and the logo flips in with no brown spot.

FX/SFX: Same as before.

Music/Sounds: Same as before.

Availability: Extinct.

Editor's Note: None.

12th Logo (2010-)
Nicknames: "The Triangles VIII"

Logo: Like the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd logos, various concepts are used, but with a new logo. This logo now has 2 triangles and the text in lowercase and in a new font.

FX/SFX: The animations of the logo.

Music/Sounds: Same as before, but usually shortened.

Availability: Current

Editor's Note: This logo is somewhat similar to the first three in the use of various concepts, but they are generally much less bizarre. A good logo.