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WORLD'S BESTS PROVE SUCCESS POSSIBLE
26th Edition World’s Best judges’ comments:
If the design and architecture of a publication compose its score, then excellence is achieved through its performers. Of the 423 newspapers in this year’s competition, five newspapers deliver an accomplished and inspiring performance.
After evaluating a record number of entries, the judges unanimously recognize the following publications as the World’s Best-Designed Newspapers™. 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.
And to each publication — Bravo!— John M. Humenik, Sharon Roberts, Eduardo Danilo Ruiz, Buck Ryan and Bonnie Scranton, judges
The five World's Best-Designed Newspapers™ for 2004 are:
Die Zeit
Hamburg, Germany
Circulation: 450,000A 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.
Svenska Dagbladet
Stockholm, Sweden
Circulation: 189,000This 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.
Der Tagesspiegel
Berlin, Germany
Circulation: 150,000An 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.
The Hartford Courant
Hartford, Conn.
Circulation: 250,000This 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.
Marca
Madrid, Spain
Circulation: 386,413This 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.
