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Winners from the publications entered in the 24th Edition of The Best of Newspaper Design™ Creative Competition, the World’s-Best-Designed Newspapers™ for 2002 comprise of one daily and three weeklies. Ultimately, to our surprise, all winners are from outside of North America.
We examined more than 351 newspapers from 37 countries. What distinguishes these four?
- Pages showed a real sense of place and reflected their communities’ voices.
- These newspapers do not play it safe. They embrace wide-open story-telling — tradition sometimes be damned.
- Inside pages reflected as much attention to detail as covers and demanded the same level of excellence.
- Whether large or small, these newspapers pushed their resources to the fullest.
- Many pages were crafted with bold, dynamic illustrations in myriad styles.
- Each publication was readable and legible, displaying a refined typography.
TWO JUDGES from the general judging finish voting on a category
while others vote for publications on the other side of this room. Long
tables are filled with thousands of entries before the three-day judging
is done. The World's Best-Designed™ judging takes place in one room
at the hotel and involves five judges while the general judging involves
the remaining 21 judges in five rooms.
Disappointments were few and, indeed, the sense of fun and discovery we experienced during the judging made our four days at Syracuse University less like work and more like design camp. With that said, what was missing from the publications making them fall short? A few things:
- Revolution or innovation.
- Interaction with readers and public service.
- Outstanding infographics.
- Imaginative use of photography.
- Quantity and quality of weekend magazines.
It was interesting that most middle-circulation newspapers (75,000-175,000), for whatever reasons, seemed less likely to achieve excellence than small- and large-audience publications. Certainly, that trend is reflected in our world’s-best selections. The weeklies — Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung, The Independent on Sunday and Die Zeit — all share a sophistication and elegance, while the daily Récord captures the excitement and immediacy of the sporting game. These are newspapers that are so inviting we launched into them eager to examine, learn and discuss design and stories.
The shuttle Columbia broke up during our first morning of judging. We were sobered and reminded of the important role newspapers play in explaining what happened, what it means and what is next.
JUDGES AND ASSISTANTS board a bus to be taken to Drumlins Country
Club on the Syracuse University campus for the first day of judging.
The day starts at 8 a.m. and runs until 10 or 11 p.m.
