Gaia, Inc.

Background

Gaiam is an entertainment and health product company that releases yoga and general interest DVDs (and prior to 2006, VHS tapes) alongside other fitness and everyday products. In 2012, Gaiam purchased Vivendi Entertainment and renamed it into the in-name-only Gaiam Vivendi Entertainment. In 2016, the Gaiam brand and fitness equipment unit were sold to Sequential Brands Group; the former Gaiam then renamed themselves to Gaia, Inc., and began focusing heavily on their titular alternative medicine video service.

Background Trivia: The term "Gaiam" is a portmanteau of "Gaia" and "I Am".

1st Logo (1995-2001)

Visuals: Over a black background, the logo starts with our planet Earth slowing rotating. A few seconds later, the text "GAIA" flashes in with another piece of text, "IAM". Then the two pieces of text merge to form "GAIAM". After that the text rises closer to the globe, which becomes the Gaiam logo, consisting of flower petals surrounded by a circle border. Then another flash occurs, adding ".com" to the text.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: A choir, followed by a synth note making its presence like a drum beat. There is whooshes for the flashing text, nature sounds following that.

Availability: Seen on some yoga specialty products from the time.

2nd Logo (2001-2006)

Visuals: Unknown.

Variant: Unknown.

Technique: Unknown.

Audio: Unknown.

Availability: Appears on yoga and fitness DVDs and VHS tapes released by the company from the time.

3rd Logo (2006-2010)

Visuals: On what seems to be a blurred background loop, there is another rotating Earth globe, this time with a mid-transparent Gaiam logo overlapping it. Below, the text "GAIA" and "I AM" merge just like the 1st logo. Then the globe fades out and "a lifestyle media company" fades in below the already merged "GAIAM". The Gaiam logo then inverts colors and parts of the logo change from sky blue to yoga-related photos.

Variant: There is a variant which replaces "a lifestyle media company" with the URL "http://community.gaiam.com".

Technique: CGI.

Audio: A nature tune with male voices singing "Gaiam, I Am...", the opening/closing theme, or silent.

Audio Variant: Sometimes, a female choir with a note playing throughout the logo takes the nature tune's place.

Availability: Seen on yoga specialty products/online videos and distributed films and shows under the Gaiam banner.

4th Logo (2010-2014)

Visuals: There is the Gaiam logo quickly spinning while zooming out from a close-up distance on a peach-white background with the Gaiam logo tiled on the background. After the logo makes a sudden halt, it flips like a coin to switch to a "G". The "G" shifts to the left while the letters "AIA" slide out of the "G", reading "GAIA". Then an "M" fades in, making the logo read "GAIAM". Then "IAM" slides to the left of the screen, ridding out the "GA" and reading "I AM". The logo fades to white and then to a woman backbending over a slowly zooming-out blue background (again with the Gaiam logo tiled on the background) reading:

I AM

FIT

We then switch to multiple yoga activities, then to a woman facing the screen in nature holding a plant, set over the same peach-white background from the beginning of the logo, reading:

I AM

HEALTHY

Then it cuts to the following:

An On/Off switch for a blender, set to "off". A woman flips the switch and we cut to the blender itself.
Someone cutting a pineapple
A woman using large leaves as a fan to cool her down
A garden with someone holding a basket of plants
4 quick video shots of food preparation
Someone cutting a plum
A grass plain with trees on a dark cloudy day

The screen then cuts to a woman standing on one leg, stretching out her right arm and holding on to her left foot, set over the same blue background from the "FIT" section of the logo reading:

I AM

BALANCED

Then it cuts to:

A clip from A.M. Yoga For Your Week
A line of people practicing yoga
A desert landscape with 2 women squatting down
Believed to be another clip from A.M. Yoga For Your Week
A purple-painted yoga classroom with women going into the cobra pose

Then it cuts to a woman meditating in a waterfall landscape over a grayish-yellow background (again with the Gaiam logo tiled over the background) reading:

I AM

AWARE

Then it cuts to:

Two men and a woman holding hands over a hillside (a helicopter door is slightly visible on the left of the screen)
A woman walking on the streets
A man and a woman over a grassy plain holding hands

After that is solar panels on top of a house, set over the same peach-white background from before, reading:

I AM

GREEN

Then it cuts to:

A man holding a piece of hardwood flooring
Two men unfolding a green carpet (or rug)
Men installing a solar panel
A woman examining plants
Three men finishing a paint job, welcoming the viewer
A man installing a compass wind
Unknown.
Someone digging up a garden Someone removing pieces of hardwood flooring
Clip of men cleaning up a wood pole, then sticking it back
A woman juggling oranges

Then we see the hands of someone meditating over a green background (again with the Gaiam logo tiled) reading:

I AM

OPEN

Then it cuts to:

A woman meditating
Another woman spinning around happily
A man with red glasses facing the camera
A woman holding her hands in prayer position
A man instructing yoga
A man and a woman (Trudie Styler) in a Buddha temple doing the Ballet Barre workout
Unknown.

Then we see a woman making what seems to be a textured blanket over the same greyish-yellow background from one of the previous parts of the logo reading:

I AM

MAKING A DIFFERENCE

Then it cuts to:

Unknown.
Another woman making a blanket (as it seems)
Someone painting flower petals (similar to the Gaiam logo) on something the shape of a plate
Unknown.
A woman circling strings of yarn
Yet another woman making a blanket (as it seems)
Two men smiling and carrying plates and pots

After all that, the screen cuts to a a slowly zooming-in green background with the Gaiam logo tiled on the background. On it, there is the text "I AM". Below it is "FIT", which changes to "HEALTHY", and then "BALANCED", following that: "AWARE", "GREEN", "OPEN", "HAPPY". When "HAPPY" appears, the text slowly zooms in and fades out. While that happens, the background suddenly fades to a variety of yoga-related photos (exactly 9 for those eagle-eyed viewers). On the 9th photo, we play the beginning animation in reverse, but with a difference. The "M" does not fade out.

Variants:

There is a variant where the logo starts from the end.
There is also a variant where the sequence starts from the beginning and end with the same beginning animation in reverse. The zooming out is noticeably smaller and the flipping being slightly faster.
A variant where the sequence starts with "I Am, Gaiam", additionally adding a URL link, "GAIAM.com", also exists.

Technique: Mostly live action.

Audio: A calming indie-esque guitar and drum tune with vocals. During the logo (end of the logo for the long version) a female announcer says "I Am, Gaiam". Otherwise we hear the opening theme.

Availability: The long version was only seen on a promotional ad for Gaiam's specialty products. For the short version, see the previous logo.

5th Logo (2014)

Visuals: On a white background, there are three Gaiam logos stacked on top of one another, one is black, one gray, and one green. Then the logos merge together, forming a neon-lit version of the Gaiam logo, which zooms in.

Technique: Computer animation.

Audio: The ending theme.

Availability: Seen on promotional ads for Yoga Rising.

6th Logo (2014-2015)

Visuals: On a green background, yellow flower petals come into view to form the Gaiam logo. Then the logo spins, causing the logo's colors to invert. After that, there is the yellow text "IAM" fade in, and later "GA", forming "GAIAM".

Variants:

There is a monochrome variant of the logo.
A short version which starts with the text fading in has been spotted.

Technique: Computer animation.

Audio: The opening/closing theme.

Availability: Seen on some of Gaiam's programming promos.

7th Logo (2015-2016?)

Visuals: Just a still logo with the Gaiam logo on a white background, which can either nearly fit the screen or leave a lot of space.

Technique: A still graphic.

Audio: The ending theme.

Availability: Seen on some of Gaiam's programming.