Media Studies - Radio Logo Research

All research featured in this blog post was done by me (Maxi). The finial logo featured at the bottom of this blog was made by Theo.

A radio's logo is an essential part of its brand and aesthetic. Here are a few logos from different bands and radio shows and what I like about them.

On the right, we see the logos of some of the most popular alternative pop bands of the 21st century. Many bands featured in this image perform/create the songs that will be played on our radio show.

Logos that attract my attention include the logo of the 'Arctic Monkeys', 'The Neighborhood' (House on top right), 'Twenty One Pilots' (Below the neighborhood), and 'Panic! at the Disco'

'Arctic Monkeys' and 'Panic! at the Disco' stand out to me primarily due to the fonts they use. The arctic monkeys' logo flows and captures the space around it, conveying a sense of freedom. As well as the wavy sound waves below the text that represents the bass tune's they prominently use in their music. Meanwhile 'Panic! at the Disco's' logo uses a font of cursive text that stands out compared to other bands as you wouldn't expect a pop band to use fancy-looking cursive text as their logo. It perfectly connotes the unorthodox style of their music and as well as serving as a logo that resembles something you'd see at a night club, which gives them the stylish theme that is often associated with their music.

On the right here, we have the logos of the top radio shows in the UK. 

Here, the logos that I find most appealing would be of Heart and RadioX.

These stand out to me in particular because of their simplistic design, especially for RadioX. The X represents a "cool" and "hardcore" vibe. Additionally, the X is not written in the same font of as the rest of the logo, however it is written in little lines that come together to form an X. These little lines can also be interpreted to represent sound waves.

For Heart, the font is attractive and creative, as the "a" in the word Heart is replaced by a literal heart shape. This, along with the red shading of the letters give it a warm and romantic vibe. It is also simple and scalable and doesn't use complex and hard to understand shapes.

On the left, we see some logos form the top radio shows in Indonesia.

However, there is nothing in particular that stands out in this group of logos. If anything, most of them are incredibly unpleasing to the eye.

For example, Logos of Rodja, Life, Dahla, 99ers, RD, DJFM, Maestro, and many more use far too many colors and apply stale and bland typefaces that don't appeal to the eye. They are also mainly un-scalable and look overcomplicated, with too many aspects trying to be fit into one logo.

On the right are the logos of the top radio shows in the United States of America. The most attractive of which would have to be RAZA.

This is for a variety of reasons. Raza is a radio show that mainly play the top rap hits in the US. The typeface they use for their logo strongly resembles text that had been graffitied on a wall. This matches well with the rap vibe, as graffiti/vandalism and listening to rap music are often strongly associated. Using this, RAZA is able to appeal to its target audience very well.

Here are some of my first drafts in making RegentsX's radio show logo. I particularly like the logo in which I tried to use a cursive type face, but it might not accurately portray the alternative pop music that we will play, as it may also connote a "classic" or "posh" type of music. I think the logo where I drew Rx with the X written below the R is the best logo out of the bunch as it most appropriately reflects our radio genre.

Here in the image attached below is the final logo that my Team and I came up with. After doing our own research and development, we decided that Theo's concept was the best. Thus, we told him to continue with his initial draft and make a final logo, and ended up with this. We chose this logo because it looks professional, simple, and cool. By having a radio mic imbedded underneath the R in RX, it clearly connotes that this is a radio show's logo. Along with the "98 FM" below it. 

I believe this logo will appeal to our audiences as its not overly extravagant, or childish. It feels classy and to the point, and thus I believe this is a perfect logo to represent the RegentsX radio show.