WGVU

Credits

Captures by
Chow Woon Gan and Camenati

Editions by
Chow Woon Gan

Video captures courtesy of
SimplifiedLogoHistories and capnvid47

Background

WGVU is a PBS station serving West Michigan from Grand Rapids, along with WGVK, which is from Kalamazoo. Meijer partially owns both stations.

1st Logo (1989-2004)

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  Engage Veterans: The Deadly Fuze

Visuals: On a light blue blanket background, the logo for Grand Valley State University, which consists of a combination of the letters "GV" in white and "GRAND VALLEY STATE UNIVERSITY", also in white, fades in. The logo then fades out as a large blue scribble "W" draws in, with "est" rippling in a blue script font before fading out. An "M" in the same style then draws in, with "ichigan" also appearing in the same way. This makes it spell out "West Michigan", which slightly zooms out. A gray tube swings in as "PUBLIC" rotates around the bottom left in an arc, along with "BROADCASTING" in the upper right. The tube then ripples out, revealing a smaller tube against the "WM" scribble, with the blue numbers "52" and "35" flying and spinning around each other. They rest on the tube in separate corners, flashing at the place where the "5"s meet to make one overlap the other. Below, "WGVU-TV 35 Grand Rapids" and "WGVK-TV 52 Kalamazoo" appear below stacked as the background and logo shine.

Variants:

• The station ID had the "WM" scribble drawing in first, followed by the tube flipping in and the numbers appearing over it, followed by the text below. The logo and scribble have different designs and the station text is black.
• On Engage Veterans: The Deadly Fuze, the logo is in black and white.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: Starts with silence, followed by a low humming. A timpani then plays before a cymbal crash ends the music.

Audio Variant: The station ID has an announcer saying "This is WGVU Grand Rapids, Michigan and the satellite station WGVK Kalamazoo, Michigan. WGVU channel 35 and WGVK channel 52, are non-commercial, viewer supported public television stations, serving West Michigan."

Availability: Can be seen on Engage Veterans: The Deadly Fuze. Was also used as a station ID.

2nd Logo (2004-January 6, 2015)

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Visuals: There is a gray watery background, then a wide rectangle starts to appear and a large water ripple is seen in the middle of the screen, which triggers the rectangle to turn black after the ripple and the text "WGVU" in yellow starts to wipe in on the left along with the text "PRODUCTIONS" in red on the right. Then a spark appears between both the text and disappears as two gray slanted lines are seen appearing at the spot where the spark was.

Variants:

• A short variant exists where it cuts to when the water ripple forms.
• A shorter variant also exists where it cuts to when the two slanted lines appear.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: Throughout the entire logo, a tone similar to the Windows 98 theme and outdoor sounds are heard along with a whoosh and a ding.

Availability: Can be seen on West Michigan Week, Ask The... and the documentary A Coast Guard Tribute.

3rd Logo (2014-)

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Visuals: On a white background, it quickly shrinks into a light blue background with white particles flying around. Shards of the current WGVU logo rotate and zoom out, eventually connecting together. The logo consists of "WGVU" in a bold blue font with "PUBLIC MEDIA" above "VU" and "A Service of Grand Valley State University" below it. "PRODUCTIONS" forms under the text as the logo slowly moves back, with a diagonal shine over the entire logo and a blue light across the bottom part of the text. The logo fades to white.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: A breathy note when the logo zooms out, then a shining sound when the logo shines. Sometimes, the beginning of the program plays instead.

Availability: Seen on GVSSR, Newsmaker, and Kalamazoo Lively Arts.