Acceptable Logo Duration

[Jean Hauptman]

Dave, if there is a strong narrative (like the intro to the old Anna Nicole Smith show where they illustrate a rundown of her life story), I’d say :30 tops. And :20 is probably better. TV show intros that I’ve designed that are pure flash and eye candy, have 3 to 5 seconds of animation. If talent or additional information is introduced, animation can go as long as :15. To hold attention beyond that would take either a breakthrough visual idea or an evolving story. That’s just my opinion.

[Joseph W. bourke]

I agree with Jean. It depends totally upon the content of the piece you’re intro-ing. If you’re doing a piece for sales oriented content, you want to be into the body of the piece as soon as possible, so 3 to 5 seconds is great. I’m currently working on a news magazine format open in which there’s an upfront open that’s about :08 seconds long, followed by teases for what’s coming up in the show (which I consider to be part of the open). I’m making sure that the animated bar that brands the teases has the same strong production values as the open. Opens that I do for News have to be short and splashy, so I make sure the logo for the story is parked by :02 to :03 seconds in at the latest, then I let the motion-graphics do their thing for :15, so that the Directors have “panic pad”. Usually they’re out by :04 or :05 though.

If you’re doing long-form opens, the sky’s the limit, and you might want to use the logo animation to somehow set the stage for the upcoming content; that is, images/thematic content from the show built into the logo animation, that sort of thing. It’s art I tell you!

Joe Bourke
Art Director / WMUR-TV

[Del Holford]

Often the end user defines the length of corporate logos. PBS national allows :03 at the end of a production for the presenting station’s logo. On our local productions we go wild and hold if for :05 and put it at the top.

If the series is corporate/training video, then maybe :10 – :15 would be viable as part of the intro for each show in the series. I’ve learned that good taste doesn’t necessarily coincide with what the client wants. I try to creatively suggest ways to give them what they want within the bounds of good taste. Sometimes they agree, sometimes they don’t. I always ask them what the target audience will think about the show: Will what they are trying to communicate be received by the audience based on the way they want the show to go together?

Del

[David Paul]

Thnak you gentlemen,

Very good advice. I have a lot of cutting to do, but have to explain to him that the longer cinematics of the logo/image/character of his company before each and every presentation he makes shouldn’t be so long it takes over, ya know?

I will work with him.

Thanks again!

David