Effects, whilst not a staple of Illustrator as in Photoshop, are certainly handy in a pinch and over the years the Gaussian Blur effect has come in handy many times, performing a uniform blur around the edge of an object. Conversely, the Radial Blur has always proved more troublesome, with the effect seemingly having a complete absence thereof. With some new brand guidelines being introduced at work though, this unlikely effect would become my saviour.
Brandon King Design 