Logophobia: final words (hopefully)

Some (really late) closing words including my personal experiences. 2024, Mar 14

Okay, so the school semester has started on my side in case you were wondering. I actually had this blog idea for some time, right after that last one about the "S from hell". I really need to move on from this topic.

To everyone born 1990's onwards, we are thankful to live in a world where production logos are made to not scare the crap out of us. Some examples I can think off include Lyrick Studios, PBS Kids, Treehouse, Disn~I'm just being weird now am I? Anyhoo, long gone are the days where the end of your favourite TV shows were punctuated with, say, a giant letter "V" flying at your face. Some of these new logos sometimes literally look like they can become your friends. The effect may also probably be mutual, with the creators and the audience having played roles. The Screen Gems logo was made using some pretty advanced tech for the time, assembled from the output of Scanimates and Moog synths, I'd imagine. All pretty alien stuff in 1965, especially to the average kid. By the 90's however, not only was tech able to produce less uncanny outputs, but it has gotten more mainstream, too. Closing logos were no longer the product of black magics, but rather, a product of common tools, maybe even like the beige box on your desk, perhaps?

While I have recovered from my traumatic experience, I can't help but remember the times I somehow was scared at this new wave of arguably benign logos regardless. They wern't TV logos, but...game studio logos? Do Budge Studios and Toca Boca count as games studios? I remember a scene while I was on holiday many years ago where I'd start up a game on my iPad in a small room which I'd then run out of before the logo intro started to play. I think it was more likely a Budge game. The logo does have a monster in it, but it's very into the kooky kind of monster, so I have no idea what I was so scared of.

And for Toca Boca, I was a bit freaked with some of the face's transformations, especially the Toca Train one. Again, I don't know why. I did have a nightmare of sorts with the logo, though. I was in a car driving down a dark road. We came to a junction, I think, and the car's headlights reflected off a road sign (the non-electronic type BTW). It looked relatively new. The Toca Boca logo started playing on it, sound and all, but, instead of ending in a smile as normal, there was...hmm... the face crying, tense "psycho"-ish violin music, car tyre screeching noises, and the overall impression that the Toca Boca logo was being dragged along after colliding with a car. I think I was scared of road signs for a while after that.

What's the takeaway from all this?

Well, I can then spew some pseudophilosophy on how nothing is really scary until one makes it scary or something. But then that would be very stupid. And unhelpful. Especially after you're already had a run-in and are scared to death. But then again, there isn't anything intrinsically scary about the Screen Gems logo. It's just shapes. Also, the music really is somewhat chill. I realised that it was the possibility of a scarring run-in that really scared me the most.

Alright, I got it. Presentation is important. Maybe first impressions, too. It was because I watched a scary video that I went through being scared by this logo. Also, every time when I watch videos about lost media, the presenter's always like: "For many years, this episode was almost a myth. Just this screenshot and comments form people who saw it. However, a Reddit user...." you get it. It really adds to the effect when I see the recreation/found footage. I actually wanted to make a series deconstructing horror tropes in horror media to combat this, but then, after Guby, I thought it was slightly stupid.

Other than that, this really is just anecdotes and juvenile silliness through and through. I wonder if people still do get scared of logos as children, and if they did, what kind of videos would they make. However, I hope it's not the scary kind.

'Cause that would be scary.

..........

Okay, that's a wrap!