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2005 Better Newspaper Contest — Page Design

contestheader

Division 2, Dailies
Division 3, Dailies
Division 4, Semiweeklies
Division 5, Semiweeklies
Division 6, Weeklies
Division 7, Weeklies
Division 8, Weeklies
Division 9, Weeklies
Division 10, Weeklies

Page Design

Division 2 Dailies 7,000 to 99,999

1st Odessa American - This entry was outstanding. It has a very clean look, great use of space; fabulous use of photos with a creative flair that really adds character and excitement. Also, the attention to typography and using the text as graphic elements is quite powerful. Great use of wrapping text. It isn't always easy to do and keep it readable, but you've mastered it. Job well done and keep up the excellent work.

2nd The Galveston County Daily News - This paper has the highest quality of reproduction, with super clean photos. Very impressive. Great use of strong, bold headlines. Really like the use of weather icons, team logos, etc. without overpowering or cluttering pages. Mastheads are simple and clean. Just the right amount of space separating articles too. Super paper!!

3rd The Beaumont Enterprise - The great use of photos really caught my eye. I only wish the color reproduction and registration was tighter. Great, clean paper. Outstanding use of both graphics and typography on the sports page. "Clipping font" is wonderful and humorous. Masts are airy and consistent. Great use of space!

4th Kerrville Daily Times - Wonderful paper. Really like use of graphics throughout. Clean team logo and other icons are nice touch. Great job of silhouetting the guys on sports page. Awesome and interesting technique. Text wrapping around the pet leash is well done. Really enjoy the extra elements, like the leash to make pages more creative. Not liking the several different fonts, sizes, weights for headings. Overall, great job.

Division 3 Dailies Less Than 7,000

1st Mineral Wells Index - Great color on front page with heart-tugging photo. Excellent use of large color photos on lifestyles pages to tell the story. Clean clear opinion page layout.

2nd Waxahachie Daily Light - I like the boxes to break up front page stories. Lots of stories on page one. Clean clear opinion page. Great use of color photos on lifestyles page. Good use of color photos for sports.

3rd Athens Daily Review - Good use of color photos on front page. Love the action photo on sports, really grabs attention. Clean opinion page layout with innovative placement of editorial cartoons. Good dominant photo for lifestyles page.

4th Sweetwater Reporter - What got my attention was the unusual use of reverse type on the front page. Also the in brief column on the right. Good opinion page with easy to read list of local officials. Lots of color photos on lifestyles page. Good sports photos but could have used color.

Division 4 Semiweeklies 4,001 or More

1st Williamson County Sun - Loved the consistent clean look. Photo placement is interesting. Fonts are different than any other paper I've seen - that's a good thing. Super job!

2nd Wise County Messenger - Use of space and photo content is excellent. Great use of color on front page. Easy to read, great design job!

3rd Hood County News - Good use of space and layout. Loved the lifestyles page. Excellent color and design and fonts. Overall, too black and too many fonts on other pages.

4th Uvalde Leader-News - Color in balloons burst off the front page. Great photo content draws readers in. Overall great look, although some too dark fonts.

Division 5 Semiweeklies 4,000 or Less

1st Mansfield News-Mirror - Great front page, well laid out. Good use of color. Sports has great color with dominant photo. Opinion well laid out and easy to read. Interesting clean and readable.

2nd The Canyon News - Great front page with eye-catching dominant photo. Good color and briefs column. Lifestyle page is bright and colorful. Clean opinion page with list of officials indicated. Good sports photos.

3rd The Highlander, Marble Falls - Enjoyable front page, well laid out. Dominant color photo. Lifestyles very attention getting and drew my eye. Great color. Commentary page well laid out, clear and clean. Good sports page, lots of color innovative placement of large photo.

4th Lampasas Dispatch Record - Front page is dynamic and easy to read. Lots to see and great color. Editorial page has lots of content. Great sports photos, would love to see in color. Lifestyles page has lots going on and varied content.

Division 6 Large Weeklies

1st Park Cities People - When your masthead tagline says "best weekly," you aren't kidding. This was the strongest paper in this category. I have no suggestions, except to keep up the incredible job. White space, fabulous graphic elements, superb color reproduction, prefect text flow, attention to typography all make this superb! Stunning!!!

2nd Houston Business Journal - One of the cleanest papers I've seen. Real attention to layout and ease of navigation make this a real winner. Typography is an art form and this paper has mastered it. The graphic elements that "cut in" or overlap simply enhance the handsome package that makes this award-winning. Excellent work.

3rd Pleasanton Express - I really enjoyed the tight column widths of this paper, along with careful usage of both justified and justified left columns. Interest was added by well-cropped photos and excellent headline and subhead fonts and sizes. Very clean and readable paper. Nice job!

4th Wylie News - The graphic treatment to the "spotlight on Wylie" page made this a winner. What great photo treatments. Really draws your attention. Add a touch of that feel to the rest of the features and you'll have the top award winning paper.

Division 7 Medium Large Weeklies

1st The Community News, Aledo - This paper is doing a nice job with page design. Pages are interesting, readable and colorful. Nice job!

2nd Colorado County Citizen - Page design overall with this paper is not fancy, but they do many things very well. No full color, only spot color, but it is used with emphasis and works well. The photos are excellent! The reproduction is terrific! Some other artwork/design features could use some updates.

3rd Clifton Record - This paper has some very good elements mixed with some average elements.

4th The Free Press, Buda - Nice use of color photos. Page is fairly easy to navigate. Could utilize some additional graphic elements.

Division 8 Medium Weeklies

1st West Austin News - Abundant color photos and colorful masthead commands the reader's attention.

2nd Van Alstyne Leader - Very colorful front page with lots of photos inside, particularly sports photos.

3rd The Springtown Epigraph - Large photos, both color and black and white, draw the interest of the reader.

4th Leader News, Lytle - Good use of typography makes for easy reading. Excellent photos.

Division 9 Small Medium Weeklies

1st The Clarendon Enterprise - Clean design. Great photos. Easy to read.

2nd Lexington Leader - Clean design. Great photos. Columns on editorial page too wide - a little hard to read. Great sports page.

3rd The Citizen, Clear Lake - Clean design. Easy to read. Too many stories on front page, a little cluttered. Picture of Bush not necessary, just a headshot. People know what the president looks like. Great opinion page.

4th The Canadian Record - Easy to read. Great design on inside pages. Front page a little cluttered. "Thanksgiving" doesn't really fit with the picture. Great opinion pages!

Division 10 Small Weeklies

1st East Bernard Express - This paper is designed with the reader in mind. Easy to read and navigate, it makes good use of white space to play up major art elements, and the big text is easy on the eyes. While the headlines are easy to read, they could be punched up. Otherwise, nicely done.

2nd Anna Melissa Tribune - Great headlines, nice looking front page. The color reproduction was a little off on the weather graphic but other design elements are used well, and helped elevate this newspaper to the top of the pack.

3rd The Morton Tribune - Good, clean front page that's easy to navigate, but the inside pages became muddled. Headlines were big and easy to read.

4th The Eldorado Success - Clean look, effective use of white space and cutout photos. The flames above the fire photo cheapen a truly tragic moment in the lives of the people in this community.