What makes a logo cool?

So much has been written about what makes an effective logo—simple, memorable, timeless, versatile, appropriate (trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave … whoops, nope, that’s something else)—that you could blog about the subject indefinitely. But what makes a logo cool? “Coolness” is in the eye of the beholder.

One of the concepts we at RWA believe contributes to a logo’s coolness factor is a little hidden something that blows by most people. And, no, we’re not talking about the controversial subliminal advertising stuff. We’re talking the hidden symbols intentionally incorporated into logos that give the image a little extra oomph and may just work on a subconscious level to some extent.

This first one has gotten a lot of press, so you may already know about it. But it’s cool nonetheless. See the arrow imbedded between the orange “E” and “x?” It reinforces that “express” message.

 How about this one? Refocus your eyes from the tree to the white space that captures the likeness of a gorilla and a big cat face to face. Pretty cool, huh?

C’mon, this logo for Le Tour de France is epic. See the guy biking?

This one is a little tougher to see as well as to get. If you look closely, however, you can see a bear on the left side of the Matterhorn standing on his hind legs. The candy hails from Bern, Switzerland, a city, as the story goes, named after a bear.

Here we have a simple acronym for the London Symphony Orchestra. Or is it so simple? Upon closer inspection, you’ll see that it’s also a conductor with a baton in his right hand.

There are countless other examples in corporate America, but we thought showing you a few might get your thirst going for finding others on your own. At RWA, we crank out logos for small- to mid-sized businesses all the time, and while they don’t all contain hidden symbols, they’re effective and pretty darned cool—at least that’s what our clients and peers say.

So whether it’s time for a total rebranding or you’re just thinking about freshening up your image, RWA has the creative team to make your logo memorable and your business 

Has Newspaper Advertising Become Obsolete?

There’s no doubt about it: With the advent of the Internet, newspaper readership, in general, is dramatically waning—especially where dailies are concerned. Many papers around the country have folded and the remaining players have staffs and newspapers that are likely a fraction of their former size. However, there still are benefits to newspaper advertising and situations when buying display space makes sense.

When making your advertising decisions, think about the following to help determine if newspapers might fit into your campaign.

* A newspaper ad is tangible, and concepts read from a hard copy versus other mediums, especially electronic, are often easier to understand and remember. That’s one of the reasons why, still to this day, most anything created electronically that absolutely must be free of errors includes a round of proofing on paper.

* A newspaper ad tends to hold the reader’s attention longer than some other forms of advertising. Sure, you can always turn the page, but electronic media encourages taking in smaller bits of information faster than the concept of reading a newspaper. A new Web page or television station is just a click away. People tend to take time with a newspaper.

* Studies indicate that newspaper readers are generally an older, better educated and more affluent demographic, which, depending on your product or service, can be a real advantage.

* An upside to the newspaper industry shrinking is that there are fewer ads against which to compete, so you can expect better exposure than in the past.

* Consider where very large companies—those who likely know best where to spend their ad dollars--advertise. Online? Of course. Television? Radio? Certainly. However, open your daily paper and you’ll see they are there as well. Why? Because given the right timing, display size and a product or service suitable for a newspaper’s primary demographic, newspaper ads pull.

Sure there are a lot snazzier, sexier medias to advertise in these days, but don’t count newspaper out of your media mix. Print can still play a very effective part of your company’s marketing plan given the right message aimed at the right audience. Not sure who or what that is? We know some people who can help you with that.

Ryan William’s Agency recognized in 2011 ADDY Awards Competition

The dresses weren’t as elaborate as the Golden Globes, but the “who’s who” of South Florida advertising all came out for the 2011 ADDY Awards Competition this past Thursday night. The American Advertising Federation’s annual competition recognizing creative excellence, the ADDY Awards are our industry’s equivalent to the Golden Globes, minus the diamonds and designer ballgowns.

We were thrilled to be recognized not once… not twice…, but NINE TIMES for work Ryan William’s Agency completed this past year.

We took home two Golds and two Silver ADDYs for Downtown at the Gardens projects including window graphics, posters and displays for Downtown’s new carousel.

We also took home Gold for work completed for Carpenter’s Roofing and Sheet Metal, Seacrest Services and even our own stuff!

Once a year at the ADDY Awards we get to enter campaigns that we thought were great, but never saw the light of day. The judges thought our pitch to the South Florida Fair was as good as we did and gave it a Gold ADDY. Maybe next year Fair board?