Here's what I think would move Entry # 48, which we like a lot, up towards the top. The mike depicted is a old fashioned public address mike. Not at all like what you'd see in a modern radio station.
I'm not sure you could put a recognizable and modern type of mike in the "R" and still get the same effect.
We have to worry about how it would render in reduced size AND, very importantly, how this would look in black and white?
Entry #139 and its grayscale counterpart, #140, are getting very, very close.
I'm thinking that the design is strong enough without the pearl-like graphic on the left. It could stand on its own merit . . . looking modern and corporate.
How could you do this so it would look good in a strong reflex blue and black/gray?
Reason I ask is that we have a sister company that we co-promote with and at the conclusion of this contest, I was thinking of doing a tournament to update the sister company. It is one color and has been for two decades . . . again, Reflex Blue . . . so I hate to get colors that are so disparate that it won't look good.
What you've done here is really coming along. Thank you.