CollegeHumor Originals

From the Audiovisual Identity Database, the motion graphics museum




Background

CollegeHumor is an Internet comedy company originally founded in December 1999 in New York as a humor website by Josh Abramson and Ricky Van Veen (with help from Jakob Lodwick). It was owned by InterActiveCorp until January 2020, when IAC withdrew funding, causing the website to shut down. CollegeHumor is currently owned by Sam Reich, who has previously served as President of Original Content at the company, and helped move CollegeHumor from New York to Los Angeles, California in 2014. The company also operates the video game-focused off-shoot Dorkly, and the Dropout streaming service. On September 26, 2023, 5 years after Dropout was launched, an announcement was released stating how the CollegeHumor name would be phased out in favor of that of Dropout, effectively ending the CollegeHumor brand after 24 years.



1st Logo (October 23, 2006-October 1, 2007)

Visuals:

  • Opening: On a light green background with a splat on it, there is a joker's face (wearing a graduation cap) moving back and forth like a beating heart. Under the joker's face is "CollegeHumor" in its trademark cursive-like font. Under that is "PRESENTS" in a tall bold font with a white-yellow gradient in it. The joker's face then turns and zooms up to the screen as the screen is covered with black splats.
  • Closing: Just the CollegeHumor website logo on a black background.

Variants:

  • A version exists where "CollegeHumor Originals" replaces the CollegeHumor wordmark, the colors gave more contrast, the joker icon is bigger, and the text lacks a drop shadew.
    • On skits made by the sketch comedy group Elephant Larry or Scott Gairdner, "ELEPHANT LARRY" or "SCOTT GAIRDNER" replaces "PRESENTS".
  • On season 1 of Street Fighter: The Later Years, a pixelated version of the closing logo (without ".com") is used, which shines briefly. This is a parody of the 1st Capcom logo.

Technique: 2D animation.

Audio:

  • Opening: A short downtempo hip-hop tune featuring a trumpet sample.
  • Closing: A voice groans "Ooh!", known as the "HUH!" sound.

Availability: First used on Flipping Off Hot Girls and last used on Minesweeper - The Movie.

2nd Logo (October 15, 2007-March 4, 2009)

Visuals:

  • Opening: The screen zooms towards a CRT TV in a dark environment tuning in to a blurred tricolor image of the joker from before, but outlined and the lower half of his face obscured by a CRT TV with "CHTV" written in a tall bold font on its screen. The TV's screen lights up and the logo appears on a brown background, with "COLLEGEHUMOR ORIGINAL VIDEOS" sliding up underneath. The logo then fades out via a "dust" transition.
  • Screenbug: The "CHTV" TV from before and the website url, both with a white-yellow gradient and casting shadows, slide up from below one at a time. staying briefly before sliding down at once.
  • Closing: The CHTV logo is seen on a black background, with "SEE MORE ORIGINAL VIDEOS AT..." above and the website URL below, both in the same font.

Technique: 2D animation.

Audio:

  • Opening: A breakbeat entry with a hiss when the screen turns off.
  • Closing: Same as before.

Availability: First used on the Clock Suckers episode "Stinkin' Whores" and last used on the Condomned episode "Ninja Condoms?".

3rd Logo (March 16, 2009-January 13, 2011)

Visuals:

  • Opening: On a faded blue background, the screen zooms out to see multiple TV screens arranged in 3x3 turning on to show parts of the CollegeHumor logo, which now also has "ORIGINALS" written in a jagged square font on a red brushstroke on its bottom-right. The camera then turns and zooms out rapidly to show more screens with the logo on them, while a strong flash of light appears in the center. These screens then arrange themselves into uneven lines, which scroll through very fast. When the last screen goes out of view, the CollegeHumor Originals logo zooms in quickly, then continues to pan until an old fashioned camera shine transitions the logo away.
  • Screenbug: Same as before, only the CHTV icon is replaced by the "ORIGINALS" brushtroke, the text is white, casts a less obvious shadow, and the URL is written in title-case.
  • Closing: There is the logo with a light behind it and "SEE MORE ORIGINAL VIDEOS AT..." and the website URL below.

Variants:

  • A zoomed-in version can be seen at the end of the Jake and Amir episode "Ground Rules".
  • On the Very Mary-Kate episode "Vegas (Part 3)", the outro has a more saturated color effect.

Technique: CGI.

Audio:

  • Opening: A guitar chord, followed by a rapid techno beat with faint gibberish and a bang, ending with a flickering noise.
  • Closing: Same as before.
    • Later in the logo's life, it was replaced a quick electric guitar strum.

Audio Variant: At the end of the Hardly Working episode "Goodbye 'HUH!'", the outro audio is replaced by a person performing a lip-flapping sound.

Availability: First used on Inappropriate DirectHD Commercials and last used on the Hello My Name Is episode "Perry Martin".

  • The outro strangely appears on the Very Mary-Kate episode "Vegas (Part 3)", despite it being one of the few episodes to use the 2011 logo.

4th Logo (January 14, 2011-March 8, 2013)

Visuals:

  • Opening: The word "ORIGINALS" slides in from the right on a rectangle, which then slides out while the CollegeHumor wordmark flickers above "ORIGINALS", then appears permanently. A purple circle briefly appears, then "ORIGI" fills in half in color, switching with "NALS", while a still of a growling bear appears in the top-right in a white triangle. The purple circle reappears, then the triangle expands to the top third of the screen. The bottom third gets occupied by a moving-left sorting of colored slanted lines, while "ORIGINALS" flickers out in the middle third.
  • Closing: There is the all-white logo still on a gray gradient background with "SEE MORE ORIGINAL VIDEOS AT" and the website URL in all-caps below.

Variants: The overall color scheme, the word "ORIGINALS" flickers to and the actions happening in the top-third differ depending on the type of video/show the logo appears on.

  • Sketch: The main color is blue, and in the top third, the bear "sinks" and a shark's fin appears moving along.
  • Animation/Cartoons: The main color is green, and in the top third, a three-image cartoon of two men appears. The left man hands a dynamite to the other, and covers his ears. Instead of the dynamite however, the man explodes, while the other looks unenthusiastically.
    • The "Cartoons" variant has the text in a bolder weight.
  • Music Video: The main color is purple, and in the top third, an animated purple boombox blasting notes is seen.
  • Jake & Amir: The main color is red, and in the top third, Jake Hurwitz and Amir Blumenfeld are seen. Amir yells into Jake's ears, who covers them while Amir grins.
  • Troopers: The main color is dark gray, and in the top third, two of the troopers (Larry and Rich) are seen. One of them whispers something to the other, and while we don't see their faces, it appears the other trooper is shamed.
  • Bleep Bloop: The main color is light gray, and in the top third, the show's co-hosts (Jeff Rubin and Pat Cassels) are seen.
  • Full Benefits: The main color is dark gray like the Troopers variant, and in the top third, the show's main characters (played by Sarah Schneider and David Young) are seen, who are about to kiss each other, before noticing the camera's presence. Sarah tries to cover the act.
  • Hardly Working: The main color is yellow, and in the top third, two or three pictures of the CollegeHumor cast are seen, changing on beat with the music.
  • Hello My Name Is: The main color is red like the Jake and Amir variant, and in the top third, various shots of Pat Cassels and Josh Ruben are seen, while the latter wears a wig.
    • Like the Cartoons variant, a version with bolder text exists.
  • Very Mary-Kate: The main color is purple like the Music Video variant, and in the top third, various shots of Mary-Kate Olsen (played by Elaine Carroll) and her bodyguard (played by Luke Sholl) are seen, striking slightly different poses and expressions.
    • Like before, a bold version exists.

Technique: 2D animation. This was designed by Casey Marie Crowe.[1]

Audio:

  • Opening: A complex breakbeat theme.
  • Closing: Same as the previous logo's later variant.

Audio Variants:

  • Some of the variants described above remix the second half of the theme.
    • Animation/Cartoons: The theme is played on higher-pitch synths.
    • Hardly Working: The theme is remixed to include more breaks.
    • Bleep Bloop: The theme is rendered with video game sounds.
    • Jake & Amir: Similar to the Hardly Working variant, but remixed to include more kicks. A screaming sound is heard, on time with the action on screen.
      • Starting with "YouTube", a short intro quip is said by Jake and Amir, like the show's previous intro.
    • Hello My Name Is: A brief beatbox fill, ending with the same chords as the regular version.
    • Very Mary-Kate: A quirky/mischievous organ and bell-led jingle, the melody of which is interpolated from the show's intro.

Audio Variants Trivia: Depending on the device, the lead synth on the Animation/Cartoons variant might not be heard. This is likely due to the specific frequencies of the synth.

Availability: First used on If Movies Had Internet and last used on the Dinosaur Office episode "Traffic".

5th Logo (March 12, 2013-June 21, 2018)

Visuals:

  • Opening: The "CH" monogram in yellow quickly zooms in, while many small circular clock wipes appear over it (white lines arranged in a circular pattern briefly appear around the screen's edges), before one of them iris-wipes into a yellow background. In it, the letters in the word "ORIGINALS" (in the same font as before) appear, with different effects. The CollegeHumor wordmark (slightly redesigned) is situated on top to the left of the word. It stays like this until a quick iris wipe transitions the logo away, changing its colors while it does.
  • Closing: The "CH" monogram is seen in a close-up, before cutting to a smaller size.

Trivia: If one looks closely, one can see that the letters in "ORIGINALS" are slightly misaligned.

Variants:

  • On Adam Ruins Everything webisodes, only the CollegeHumor logo is formed at the end, as it segues to the show's intro.
  • On Quickies, the logo plays in warp-speed and "ORIGINALS" is replaced with "QUICKIES". It also cuts off instead of animating.
  • An unused variant for "Supercuts" exists[2] where after a bit, the letters in "ORIGINALS" start to shift with different animations while the screen briefly glitches, transitioning into the word "SUPERCUTS". After this, the logo rewinds and glitches away, staying on a black screen.

Technique: Same as before, [1] animated by Bill Bergen.[3]

Audio:

  • Opening: A remixed version of the Hardly Working variant of the previous logo's music, with many varied quick sound effects over it.
  • Closing: Synthesized electronic whirring.

Audio Variants:

  • On Adam Ruins Everything webisodes, the music cuts off earlier than usual, immediately followed by the show's intro tune.
  • On Quickies, the music is double-pitched.
  • In the unused Supercuts variant, the music briefly pauses to a few random synthesized SFX before resuming, it then rewinds, followed by an old computer sound effect.
  • In The Most Disturbing ASMR Video, the theme is replaced with rapid whooshing and page flipping-like sounds, accompanied by a person shushing.

Availability: First used on Homeland RPG and last used on Can You Throw Our Ball Back?.

6th Logo (June 23, 2018-)

Visuals:

  • Opening: The CH monogram in white on a blue background appears with a similar effect as before, before the rest of the wordmark slides out if it. After this, a close up of the wordmark is seen with switching colors, sliding from left to right. while a word (see Variants) appears, split into two colors, one of them being italicized, which then switches around. The word briefly appears by itself over a dark gray background in a bolder weight, alternating colors again. This cuts to the final result, the CollegeHumor wordmark in ark gray over a colored background (see Variants) while the word slides down next to the wordmark. The logo ends with a similar affect as before.
  • Closing: Same as before, but the monogram is white and the background is blue, and it quickly zooms out instead of cutting.

Variants:

  • Like with the 2011 logo, the overall color scheme and the word forming next to the CollegeHumor logo differ depending on the type of video or show the logo appears on.
    • Sketch: The main color is green.
      • On Adam Ruins Everything webisodes since 2019, this variant is seen with word "SKETCH" being absent. Pre-2019 webisodes use the regular variant, with a "Presented by Adam Ruins Everything - truTV" screen.
      • Sponsored skits feature a card appearing (similarly to the pre-2019 Adam Ruins Everything variant) featuring the sponsor's logo.
    • Unscripted: The main color is red/orange.
    • Series: The main color is purple.
    • Podcast: The main color is yellow.
  • Shows on the Dropout streaming service have a card featuring the show's logo on a dark gray background, usually with "DROPOUT EXCLUSIVE" near the bottom of the screen.
    • Breaking News has two variants: An earlier one with s custom made wordmark with the wors next to each other, and a later one where the words are stacked.
    • Such is the case with Um, Actually: an early variant featuring the shows early logo, and a second variant featuring the show's later logo
    • Such is also the case with Ultramechatron Team Go!: an early variant featuring the show's original logo from its initial run as a sponsored YouTube series, and a second one with the logo's revised logo from its Dropout run

Technique: 2D animation, designed by Paula Searing and animated by TJ Gonzales.[4]

Audio: A ding with rising whirring, followed by a quick uptempo breakbeat entry.

Audio Variants: Shows on the Dropout streaming service feature a quick jingle going along with the show's card, usually interpolated from the show's theme song.

Availability: First used on ABC CEO: "No More Racist Shows" and has been seen on most CollegeHumor content since.

References

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