The Hartford Courant is a 250,000-circulation daily in Hartford, Conn. It was also named one of the world's best in 2000. The SND judges this year said:

This paper is a standout in the American newspaper market. The Hartford Courant distinguishes itself with an enduring elegance in design and typography. Though conservative in their approach, designers engage readers with the bold use of visuals. The contrast between their quiet, understated style and the gutsy photography and illustrations create a tension that captures the attention of readers.

More pages after the jump, and other World's Best-Designed Newspapers entries here.

Continue reading "World's Best-Designed Newspapers:
Hartford Courant"

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Der Tagesspiegel is a 150,000-circulation daily in Berlin. The SND judges said:

An elegant, sophisticated, yet newsy German paper that presents its content using a strong but subtle hierarchy. Der Tagesspiegel’s editors and designers show the best practices in building visual narratives through excellence in the use of typography, images, color and graphics. As a result, designers offer a pleasant, page-by-page news-enriching experience that rescues the value of broadsheet newspapers.

More pages after the jump, and other World's Best-Designed Newspapers entries here.

Continue reading "World's Best-Designed Newspapers:
Der Tagesspiegel"

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Svenska Dagbladet is a 189,000-circulation daily in Stockholm. The SND judges said:

This is a Swedish daily that flourishes like a broadsheet despite the constraints of a compact format. Svenska Dagbladet’s structural design, color-coding and typographical hierarchy allow the reader to seamlessly navigate through the sections. The page grids accommodate even the smallest vertical charts and captions, helping designers build stories and create contrast with a sense of scale.

More pages after the jump, and other World's Best-Designed Newspapers entries here.

Continue reading "World's Best-Designed Newspapers:
Svenska Dagbladet"

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Marca is a 386,000-circulation sports daily in Madrid. The SND judges said:

This sports daily faces the challenge of engaging a testosterone-laden audience with a design that is as lively and passionate as sports itself. Designers and editors use intense color and bold typography to nest narratives throughout the paper, scoring with a clever application of its logo as a design element. And then, in a time of sorrow and reflection, the paper is able to set aside its celebratory sensibility to display the Madrid train tragedy in a way the sports fan can appreciate.

More pages after the jump.

Continue reading "World's Best-Designed Newspapers: Marca"

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I'm going to start posting a selection of pages from the winners of the World's Best-Designed Newspapers category of the recently judged Society for News Design's 26th Creative Competition. These pages aren't necessarily what was entered in the contest. The Die Zeit and Marca pages are from one of the weeks papers had to choose entries from, and the Courant pages are culled from designer's portfolios at News Page Designer, so some of those pages might have been entered. The Der Tagesspiegel and Svenska Dagbladet pages are from the last few weeks. Still, it should give a sense of the winners.

There were 423 newspapers entered in the category, with five receiving the unanimous vote of the judges. They are Die Zeit, Hamburg, Germany; Svenska Dagbladet, Stockholm, Sweden; Der Tagesspiegel, Berlin, Germany; Hartford Courant, Hartford, Conn.; and Marca, Madrid, Spain.

The SND press release on the awards says:

While these papers represent an array of format, scope and structure, they succeed because of their clarity of purpose and their commitment to engage their audience.

The winners excel in design — maintaining the highest standards of typography, page design, photography, illustration and color use. While each newspaper has a unique voice, all of them demonstrate passion, intelligence, imagination and rigor.

The judges were: Eduardo Danilo Ruiz, president of Danilo Black, SA de CV in Monterrey, Mexico; John M. Humenik, editor of the Quad-City Times in Davenport, Iowa; Leland F. "Buck" Ryan, associate professor at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, Ky.; Sharon Roberts, assistant managing editor, Austin American-Statesman, Texas; and Bonnie Scranton, senior art director of Newsweek magazine in New York, N.Y.

(Also check out SportsDesigner.com, where Rich Boudet has a Q&A with a judge from one of the other categories.)

First up is Die Zeit, a 450,000 circulation weekly in Hamburg. It was also named one of the World's Best-Designed in 1998, 1999, 2001 and 2002. This time the judges said:

A weekly newspaper with refined design and strong typography. Die Zeit invites readers to slow down and explore the many facets of life. Bookish in its design, this paper reflects the country’s history in fine typography and printing through the elegant, yet practical use of art and text. Designers at Die Zeit succeed in the creative use of a strong grid structure, but also know how to break it to seduce the reader.

More pages after the jump.

Continue reading "World's Best-Designed Newspapers:
Die Zeit"

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SND has announced the World's Best Designed Newspapers portion of the contest. They are:

Die Zeit, Hamburg, Germany, circulation: 450,000
Der Tagesspiegel, Berlin, circulation: 150,000
Svenska Dagbladet, Stockholm, circulation: 189,000
The Hartford Courant, circulation: 250,000
Marca, Madrid, circulation: 386,413

Hartford's win gives the U.S. a representative on the list after two years with no American winners (San Jose and Norfolk won in 2001). Hartford also made the list in 2000.

Die Zeit has probably been on the list the most, also making it in 1998, 1999, 2001 and 2002.

I'm happy to see Marca, one of my favorites, on the list. The judges especially noted their display after March 11 (shown above).

The rest of the awards, which were judged separately by different judges, should be announced in a few weeks.

There is a VisualEditors.com discussion thread underway here.

Congrats to all!

>World's Best-Designed Newspapers™ for 2005 [SND]

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