KQED

Credits

Descriptions by
gshowguy and thehugetvfan

Video captures courtesy of
GDelva2003 and SloshedMail

Background

KQED (abbreviated "Quod Erat Demonstrandum", which is Latin for "which is what had to be proven") is a PBS affiliate located in San Francisco, California. It was founded in 1953, and signed on a year later. However, they did not use a logo until 1974.

1st Logo (1974-1980)

Nickname: "Another Skyline"

Logo: Over a blue-tinted live-action shot of the downtown San Francisco skyline and Pacific Ocean, we see "KQED", in a yellow stylized font zooming in towards us, followed by "PRESENTS" in an italic yellow Helvetica font.

FX/SFX: Live-action, except for the logo text.

Music/Sounds: Wind blowing, and a four-note Moog synth tune.

Availability: Probably extinct. It was seen on Soccer Made in Germany.

Legacy: The zooming in is horrendously choppy, even by '70s standards.

2nd Logo (1980)

Nicknames: "Morphing KQED", "KQED Liquid Pipe"

Logo: On a black background, the word "FROM" appears on screen in a cerulean tube-shaped font. Pieces of the word scroll left and right, leaving the screen. Then, more pieces scroll left and right, entering the screen, to reveal the then-current KQED logo, also colored cerulean. "SAN FRANCISCO" flashes below, colored baby blue, and in an Arial-like font.

FX/SFX: '70s Scanimation effects.

Music/Sounds: Unsure, but it may be a Moog synthesizer tune or the end theme of the show.

Availability: Very hard to find. This can be seen on a MAGI Synthavision demo reel from 1980.

3rd Logo (1980-1988)

Nicknames: "KQED Shine", "Shining KQED"

Logo: We see a very dark image of the KQED logo from the previous logo, colored silver over "SAN FRANCISCO", in a font similar to "KQED", against a black-light blue-orange gradient background. The logo suddenly lights up and shines, then a light moves in the logo.

Variant: A shorter version starts at the light moving up.

FX/SFX: The shining of the logo.

Music/Sounds: For the long version, we hear a deep synth bass note being held, then a 7-note Moog synthesizer tune. The short version has a six-note Moog synth tune, with a small drumbeat.

Availability: Extremely rare. The short version can be found on One Village in China. It was also seen on the original PBS broadcasts of The Making of Raiders of the Lost Ark and From Star Wars to Jedi: The Making of a Saga. The long version was seen on Over Easy.

Legacy: The animation is this logo is fairly impressive for the era, and appears to be animated with either Scanimate or early CGI lighting effects.

4th Logo (1988-2001)

Nickname: "The Smoke"

Logo: We see a more rectangular version of the KQED logo (along with "San Francisco" underneath), colored silver, flip up against a navy blue-tan gradient background with what appears to be smoke on the bottom.

Variant: As with MPT and WGBH's logos, there's a longer version used as a local ident. It starts with a bird's-eye view of the earth over a map of the San Francisco Bay area. Dots light around the image as the globe slowly turns sideways. We zoom upward, as the words "KQED 9" flip upwards and faces us, on a space background, similar to the background of the regular version, but with the tan part of the background being pink.

FX/SFX: The animation was really advanced for the 1980s!

Music/Sounds: The short version has a breathy-sounding synth orchestra fanfare, whereas a local funding bumper, an announcer announces the funders from that day. Around 1995, it was changed to a small whoosh with a five-note synthesized horn theme, as well as an announcer saying "A production of KQED San Francisco" over the music.

Music/Sounds Variant: The longer version starts with a whoosh, then a descending piano chord which goes in sync with the dots appearing, accompanied by string and percussion instruments, and finally ends with a three-note synth-chime tune. If you listen closely in the background, you can hear a slow and remixed version of the aforementioned jingle above. An announcer says "This is member supported channel 9. KQED San Francisco."

Availability: Some local shows produced by KQED have the short version at the beginning. Jacques Pepin's cooking shows had this logo, but at the end. Does not appear on their short-form program Green Means.

Legacy: The logo was impressively & visually ahead of its time, and still looks like it could be made today. No wonder this ran for so long.

5th Logo (2001-2006?)

Nickname: "Bulging KQED"

Logo: We see a blue light start to shine, just as the letters "KQED" kinda bulge one at a time rapidly with light. It fills up the bottom half a white outlined rectangle. That half has blue and black as well as a black line on top. Below we see a line partially crooked with a dot at the end. Above is the same line, but tilted 90° degrees clockwise. Above the box is a line of what looks like a white, small, and blurry version of the DirecTV logo.

Variants:

• Sometimes, the “San Francisco” text would be replaced with “Presentation”, “Production”, the cities KQED operates in, or no text.
• An extended version exists.
• A version exists where the logo is shortened and colored brown, this can be seen on bumpers from KQED at the time.

FX/SFX: The "KQED" animating.

Music/Sounds: The five note theme from the previous logo and an announcer saying "A Production of KQED San Francisco" at the end of programs, or "The Following is a KQED Television Production” at the start of programs. Sometimes, it’s silent or contains the end of the program’s music.

Availability: Rare. Can be found on The Weather Underground, Muhammad: Legacy of a Prophet, This Week in Northern California and on Jacques Pepin's cooking shows like Jacques Pepin’s Summertime Celebration.

Legacy: This is a cool looking logo, although the music doesn’t really fit with the logo too well.

6th Logo (2005?-2014?)

• 

Logo: We see blue circles echoing outward as a "Q" zooms out and pans slightly to the right. Once in place, the letters "K", "E", and "D" appear around the "Q" and rotate to the left in place, spelling out "KQED", and then the words "San Francisco" fade in below. The logo is in a 2.35:1 screen with dark blue pillar boxes on the top and bottom.

Variants:

• Sometimes, "PRODUCTION" is put in place of "SAN FRANCISCO".
• As an opening, the text reads "PRESENTS".
• Another variant has the boxes missing.
• There is also a variant where the golden words "high definition" zoom out right beside the logo.
• There's a still version.

FX/SFX: The circles echoing, the letters fading, moving, and rotating.

Music/Sounds: Same as the previous logo, but without the voiceover.

Music/Sounds Variants:

• In some cases you may hear the announcer from the previous logo saying "A KQED Television production".
• The high definition variant has either a synth note, or a whoosh, a male choir, and reverberated synth notes with an announcer saying "The following KQED production was produced in high definition".

Availability: Uncommon. Seen on China from the Inside and KQED's official YouTube channel. The still version can be found on The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That!.

Legacy: This logo is a lot more disappointing and simpler in comparison to the previous logos.

7th Logo (February 1, 2010-2013)

Logo: We see a (possibly) helicopter-shot live-action clip of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco panning towards the right of the screen. Over that, on a transparent red tinted background, we see multiple yellow circle outlines rotating slowly. In the center of the screen is the usual KQED logo with the text "production" or "San Francisco" below the logo slowly zooming in towards the screen.

Variant: On high-definition programs, we see the bold text "HD" right beside the KQED logo.

FX/SFX: The background panning, the rotating circle outlines, the logo zooming.

Music/Sounds:

• Original Variant: Same as the previous logo. Sometimes there's a different announcer with the same spiel as the previous logo as used occasionally.
• HD Variant:
  • Opening: The last part of the HD variant of the last logo and a male choir. In some cases you may hear the announcer saying the same lines from the HD variant of the previous logo.
  • Closing: The normal 1995 tune, but this time the announcer says "A KQED HD production".

Availability: Uncommon. Can be found on prints of KQED programming at the time.

8th Logo (2012)

Logo: On a white background, the usual KQED logo fades in. The inside of the "Q" later reveals part of the program playing, and then we zoom into the "Q", revealing the rest of the program.

FX/SFX: The fading, revealing, and zooming.

Music/Sounds: The beginning of the program. On some of them, the 1982 KQED logo theme plays, as the 1982 logo itself is being obscured by the "Q".

Availability: Can be seen on KQED's archive uploads on YouTube, as well as a "Thank You" notice from the station, and a few others.

9th Logo (2012-)

Logo: On a blue gradient background, we see the KQED logo with "Production" underneath, aligned to the left and set over a rotating lava-lamp like substance.

Variants:

• Different Colored Variants:
  • There is a turquoise-limegreen background variant where the KQED logo is shifted to the left and the text "Science" is below the logo. We zoom in after the usual logo animation.
  • There are also 3 orange-yellow variants:
    • One variant is used for KQED Arts. Sometimes it has the URL.
    • Another variant has the station identifications for KQED, KQEH, and KQET and has Q's shooting from the "Q".
    • On one occasion, the regular textless variant's background was orange.
• In some cases the logo lacks the use of "Production".
• Starting in 2015, the text reads "Public Television".
• Sometimes the text reads "Presents".
• A longer version exists where the logo zooms out rapidly.

FX/SFX: The substance rotating.

Music/Sounds: The 1995 theme, or the closing theme of the show.

Availability: No longer current.

10th Logo (2014-2015)

Logo: On a black background, we see the KQED logo composed of line rays, with the exception of the "Q", which is black and is shooting out sun rays. Behind the KQED logo we see 3 pink-tinted circles.

FX/SFX: The rays shining.

Music/Sounds: Same as the previous logo.

Availability: Can be seen on KQED Arts videos.

Legacy: This logo is an eyesore to watch.

11th Logo (2018-)

Logo: Against an action green background, several transparent circles flip towards the middle left of the screen. Once the circles have merged, the circles morph into the letter "Q" in white as the rest of the logo fades in.

FX/SFX: The circles flipping in and merging.

Music/Sounds: An extremely generic sounding "airy" piece.

Availability: Seen on modern KQED productions.