The MTV Network IDs.

Alan Goodman & Fred Seibert, MTV IDs 1981-83 from fredseibert on Vimeo.

Here’s a compilation of the very first two years of MTV animated logos.

From the minute I went to work for Bob Pittman (he was 25, I was 27) at the Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment Company in May of 1980, he told me about the company’s plan for a television channel that would be exclusively rock videos and how he envisioned the TV equivalent of radio jingles: network identifications (‘IDs’) short, wacked out pieces of animation that would reveal the network logo. Not like the staid CBS Eye (“You’re watching CBS.”) but rock’n’roll wrapped up into a little picture explosion.

As soon as we started working on what would become MTV: Music Television a month later I started thinking about these IDs and realized they could be the album covers of the new generation of music fans. For baby boomers the album cover came of age with the first American Beatles album representing every phase of their cultural development. I had bemoaned my lateness to that party, but my self-importance hoped the MTV network IDs could serve the same purpose.

Little did I know they’d achieve an almost equal prominence, and more. For me and Alan Goodman, my first partner in the enterprise (and countless more), they led the way for how we would become the first people to ‘brand’ American cable television networks throughout the 1980s. First as employees at MTV, then for our clients at Fred/Alan, we made over 1000 more of these 10-second visual operas for networks ranging from Nickelodeon and Comedy Central to TMTV in Japan and Lifetime. We worked with some of the greatest indie animators the world had to offer (some we’re still doing projects with today) and started a lot of companies on their way. These IDs might have been the most fun I had during the years we were doing television branding. (And for me, inadvertendly, they began what was to become a late life career change into producing cartoons.) 

Not for nothing, I need to stress the crucial role of Manhattan Design’s innovative MTV logo on the amazing work of each and every designer, artist, and filmmaker involved in making these films. Not just for the years we were directly involved, but for the last three decades. Without the initial inspiration of their groundbreaking conception, no one would give a flying hoot about any design that’s come out of MTV.

Update: I just got around to editing a new compilation of the IDs, using better quality video sources and adding more spots. 

MTV IDs compilation, 1981-1983
Alan Goodman & Fred Seibert, Creative Directors
Alan Goodman, producer for MTV
MTV logo by Manhattan Design, NY

One Small Step (Concept, Fred Seibert; Animation, Buzzco Associates, NY; Music by Elias/Peterson Associates, NY; July 27, 1981)
Alphabet Lesson (Buzzco Associates, NY; March 26, 1982)
Club M (Broadcast Arts, Washington DC; April 28, 1982)
French Fries (Colossal Pictures, San Francisco; Voice overs: Marcy Brafman, Alan Goodman, Richard Schenkman; February 19. 1982) 
Atomic Era (Colossal Pictures, San Francisco; July 16, 1982)
Bonnie (Tom Pomposello, NY; April 1, 1983)
Chainsaw (Colossal Pictures, San Francisco; February 18, 1983)
Swick (Broadcast Arts, Washington DC; July 27, 1981)
Dot to Dot (Silver Cloud Productions, Los Angeles; Music, Bill Johnson; September 27, 1982)
Bubble Gum (Broadcast Arts, Washington DC; July 27, 1981) 
Freddie Buys It (Broadcast Arts, Washington DC; June 29, 1982)
Altered M (Colossal Pictures, San Francisco; June 29, 1982) 
Hairy M (Broadcast Arts, Washington DC; Frank Olinsky, illustration; April 28. 1982)
M Factory (Colossal Pictures, San Francisco; February 19. 1982)
Pre Christmas Card (Concept & design, Manhattan Design, NY; Animation, Jerry Leiberman Productions, NY; December 18, 1981)
Post Christmas Card (Concept & design, Manhattan Design, NY; Animation, Jerry Leiberman Productions, NY; December 18, 1981)  
Raiders of the Lost M (Colossal Pictures, San Francisco; February 19, 1982) 
Street Life (Jerry Leiberman Productions, NY; Lou Brooks, illustration; October 6, 1983)
Electric Wet (Broadcast Arts, Washington DC; August 12, 1981)
Construction Worker (Concept & storyboard, David Burd; Animation, Edward Bakst Productions, NY; Voice over, Alan Goodman; July 26, 1982)
M Motel (Colossal Pictures, San Francisco; August 6, 1982)
Dancing Cats (Buzzco Associates, NY; Sam Steinberg, illustration; February 18, 1983) 
Dancing Pants (Buzzco Associates, NY; Sam Steinberg, illustration; February 18, 1983)  
Jackson Pollack (Broadcast Arts, Washington DC; July 27, 1981)
MTV Birthday ID (Design, Manhattan Design, NY; Animation, George Griffin, NY; July 26, 1982)
Suburbia II (green) (Tom Pomposello, NY; April 1, 1983) 
White House (Tom Pomposello, NY; April 1, 1983) 
Top of the Hour 1984 (Concept, Fred/Alan, NY; Animation, Buzzco Associates, NY; Music, Tom Pomposello, NY, Del Fuegos, NY; May 14, 1984)

Click here for my other posts about MTV.