Two radio-related sites, two very different ways to feature a logo.
With its recent redesign, WNYC, the celebrated home of Radiolab (perhaps the best radio show … ever), followed in the footsteps of Newsweek and placed its logo in the top right-hand corner of its website. While in this case, the overall effect is very sharp (the entire redesign is, really), don’t expect too many news sites to follow suit. WNYC.org is unique in that it uses the area in the right rail, above the fold for content, rather than ads. (Directly beneath their logo, WNYC.org features its radio shows.) I doubt too many sites that have ads above the fold in the right rail are going to be rushing to put their logo above them.
This brings me to another radio-related site that I happened upon recently, ThisAmericanLife.org. They have chosen an entirely different approach to their logo, which is quite large and situated beneath the top navigation and in the left rail. What I found interesting is that the logo and the top navigation bar never move, regardless of whether the user has to scroll down. It works.
Both placements have their drawbacks. In case of WNYC.org, perhaps it’s doing too little for their logo, while This American Life could be accused of doing too much. But they both represent bold choices that give their websites a unique flavor.
