2002 Better Newspaper Contest — Page Design
Division 2 Dailies
1st. Odessa American – Really nice and balanced. Great reproduction.
2nd. The Paris News – Lots of news well laid out. Overall just bad press work, but design is there if lazy press operators can make it work.
3rd. The Galveston County Daily News – Great photos and layout. Like editorial photo.
4th. The Beaumont Enterprise – Add some news to page 1 and sports. Graphics are great!
Division 3 Dailies
1st. Texas City Sun – Front takes the biggest story and makes it readable. Like the use of city named to target stories. Perspective page clean and readable; like the access given to readers. Living page also easy to read and pleasant; good consolidation of one of those “little things” with which we all have to deal but have no “big news value.” Reunions are important to the readers involved. Very good sports. Football, high school football, is still king on Friday night and it is showcased well.
2nd. Seguin Gazette-Enterprise – Strong front! Like the five photos under the flag. They put a personal face to things. The strip at the bottom excellent. Sports a tad jumbled up, would be better if more crisp. Quote box good element. Fantastic “image” page. Caught the mood and emotion well. You let that big picture speak for itself. Thank you. Opinion okay, doesn’t excite me, but okay. How about coming up for air?
3rd. Taylor Daily Press – Nice! Very easy to read, pleasant to the eye and brain! Like the information at the bottom of Viewpoint. Handy for reader. Good use of strong art on Sports. Easy to get to briefs that are important to families. Front page looks as though clear thinking was involved in the planning. A minus sign on the ads on page 1, but that appears to be quite the rage…just a personal peeve. The concise info on front of page 1 very good. Even without the use of color this is very good! Crisp, clean easy to read, logical.
4th. The Huntsville Item – Good use of the photo on page 1 and the story on the local witness. Why not make that ATTACKED even more bold. The left hand column very good. Opinion page crisp, easy to read. Sports good, like the photo … just where was the ball going? Great use of photos on Life, good design. You allowed the photo to speak loud and clear. Type a tad hard to read, glad to have my “granny glasses!”
Division 4 Semiweeklies
1st. Wise County Messenger – Quality, excellent pages. You should be proud! Excellent original photo (local) for front page!
2nd. Hood County News – Sports large photo impressive. Editorial layout (Editorial page) excellent. Graphics on Lifestyles attention-getter.
3rd. Round Rock Leader – Attractive Sports page layout and Living page layout. Photos colorful. Makes front page pop!
4th. Port Lavaca Wave – Excellent page layout for all sections! Lifestyle page great ideas for holiday time!
Division 5 Semiweeklies
1st. Mansfield News Mirror – Nice clean layout. Don’t be afraid to use a dominant photo. Both photos on front are nearly the same size. Lines are great and make it easy for readers to follow where the story goes. Opinion page is clean but think about varying column widths to avoid six columns all the way down the page.
2nd. Gonzales Inquirer – Opinion page is clean and easy to read. Photos are good, but choose one to be dominant, run the rest smaller. Think about using a bold version for your cutline type. It will make the page less gray.
3rd. Moore County News Press – Avoid using color in headlines. Nice front page with dominant art. Good work. Sports page is well-designed, but “Inside” box needs more space between box and text. Church feature, one photo of Sinclair would have worked just as well.
4th. Lamesa Press Reporter – Color use is appropriate, although I’m not sure you gain much by coloring the “inside” box. Feature page is nice, but don’t be afraid to change column widths on this page. Pull-out quotes are attractive.
Division 6 Weeklies
1st. The Azle News – Your color reproduction just blew me away! Balloon photo’s color was outstanding. Nice color on sports, too. Layout throughout the paper is strong. Very nice product.
2nd. Duncanville Today – Your paper got better and better as I got deeper into it. Nice chimney and use of color photos above page 1 flag. Wonderful cheerleader features. Nice sports color. Cross country photo was outstanding.
3rd. Rockdale Reporter – Nice work on fade away top front picture. Paper shows not afraid of different uses of type, but doesn’t try to overpower reader with it.
4th. Hill Country Recorder Boerne – Spot color used well on page 1. Changing of chief story is very strong. It could easily run on page 1. Good spot news story on suspicious letter. Very nice volleyball photo! Football photo package and graphic is very nice. Well done Russell Hawkins. Strong lifestyle page.
Division 7 Weeklies
1st. Colorado County Citizen – Crop photos tighter. Watch crowding at bottom of page. Number 1 in entry.
2nd. The Cameron Herald – Bump up the body type size. Bottom of front page seemed crowded. Good white space.
3rd. The Free Press Buda – More white space on gray pages. Front good design.
4th. The Pittsburg Gazette – Bump up type size. Work for non-sports, non-posed pictures.
Division 8 Weeklies
1st. Ellis County Press – Very well-designed. Loved photo illustration on front (FYI would label as such). Nice use of typography. Very clean opinion page. Great sports photo and solid page design. Keep up the great work. P.S. Top photo on front left why put credit on image? Didn’t see it anywhere else. Takes away from photography.
2nd. Pilot Point Post Signal – Nice paper. Good use of white space. Need a bold font that is a bit bolder for contrast, but good bold sizes. Also, to make centerpiece packages “pop” try a two point border on the box or use rules. Hope opinion cartoon is local.
3rd. Monahans News – Pretty solid paper. Try a bit more white space and larger headlines, especially with packages i.e. Coke story.
4th. Cedar Hill Today – Photo page is designed well, however, there are no cutlines with the images. Not a good idea. Need more white space between horizontal items. Design has tons of potential. Same folks must also produce DeSoto Today.
Division 9 Weeklies
1st. Lancaster Today – Excellent use of color. Easy to read layout. Editorial page info easy to find, good use of sports info in relation to photo and story.
2nd. The Canadian Record – Easy to read, good use of photos, good use of white space.
3rd. Midlothian Today – Very good use of color in photos and layout. Nice sports page. Editorial layout easy to read, info easy to find. Photo credit on community page a bit too prominent, detracting from photo.
4th. The Clear Lake Citizen – Good use of color; top of front page provides lots of info about inside. Good overall design on all four pages submitted.
Division 10 Weeklies
1st. Benbrook Star – Best layout in this class. Photo reproduction could be improved. Add a half or one point border to help define photos. City council headline on page 1 should be closer to story. Society page fireworks photos are repetitive. On editorial page, drop ads below fold when possible. Dog-pile sports photo not very clear. Good headline type selection.
2nd. The Clarendon Enterprise – Good color photos on page 1. Bottom half of page needed for headlines or other elements. Nice looking editorial page. Good type variety and use of white space. I like the right hand column. Society page design good. Nice, clean overall design.
3rd. The Eldorado Success – Good, clean overall design. Page 1 nameplate looks cluttered. Photo collage on page 1 works well. Page 1 photos balanced. Reverse headline boxes tend to detract from design. Cropping ads below the fold would allow better news design on top of page. Sports and society pages held this entry back.
4th. Burnet County Citizens-Gazette – Page 1 elements balanced, but five different headline types are detracting. Chamber photos need to be cropped. Smith photo at top needed to be bigger. On inside pages, page number line looks lost. Why not put it above or below page heading. Second football photo looks displaced from story. I like column photo with heads on editorial page. Society page layout looks too tight.
1st. Odessa American – Really nice and balanced. Great reproduction.
2nd. The Paris News – Lots of news well laid out. Overall just bad press work, but design is there if lazy press operators can make it work.
3rd. The Galveston County Daily News – Great photos and layout. Like editorial photo.
4th. The Beaumont Enterprise – Add some news to page 1 and sports. Graphics are great!
Division 3 Dailies
1st. Texas City Sun – Front takes the biggest story and makes it readable. Like the use of city named to target stories. Perspective page clean and readable; like the access given to readers. Living page also easy to read and pleasant; good consolidation of one of those “little things” with which we all have to deal but have no “big news value.” Reunions are important to the readers involved. Very good sports. Football, high school football, is still king on Friday night and it is showcased well.
2nd. Seguin Gazette-Enterprise – Strong front! Like the five photos under the flag. They put a personal face to things. The strip at the bottom excellent. Sports a tad jumbled up, would be better if more crisp. Quote box good element. Fantastic “image” page. Caught the mood and emotion well. You let that big picture speak for itself. Thank you. Opinion okay, doesn’t excite me, but okay. How about coming up for air?
3rd. Taylor Daily Press – Nice! Very easy to read, pleasant to the eye and brain! Like the information at the bottom of Viewpoint. Handy for reader. Good use of strong art on Sports. Easy to get to briefs that are important to families. Front page looks as though clear thinking was involved in the planning. A minus sign on the ads on page 1, but that appears to be quite the rage…just a personal peeve. The concise info on front of page 1 very good. Even without the use of color this is very good! Crisp, clean easy to read, logical.
4th. The Huntsville Item – Good use of the photo on page 1 and the story on the local witness. Why not make that ATTACKED even more bold. The left hand column very good. Opinion page crisp, easy to read. Sports good, like the photo … just where was the ball going? Great use of photos on Life, good design. You allowed the photo to speak loud and clear. Type a tad hard to read, glad to have my “granny glasses!”
Division 4 Semiweeklies
1st. Wise County Messenger – Quality, excellent pages. You should be proud! Excellent original photo (local) for front page!
2nd. Hood County News – Sports large photo impressive. Editorial layout (Editorial page) excellent. Graphics on Lifestyles attention-getter.
3rd. Round Rock Leader – Attractive Sports page layout and Living page layout. Photos colorful. Makes front page pop!
4th. Port Lavaca Wave – Excellent page layout for all sections! Lifestyle page great ideas for holiday time!
Division 5 Semiweeklies
1st. Mansfield News Mirror – Nice clean layout. Don’t be afraid to use a dominant photo. Both photos on front are nearly the same size. Lines are great and make it easy for readers to follow where the story goes. Opinion page is clean but think about varying column widths to avoid six columns all the way down the page.
2nd. Gonzales Inquirer – Opinion page is clean and easy to read. Photos are good, but choose one to be dominant, run the rest smaller. Think about using a bold version for your cutline type. It will make the page less gray.
3rd. Moore County News Press – Avoid using color in headlines. Nice front page with dominant art. Good work. Sports page is well-designed, but “Inside” box needs more space between box and text. Church feature, one photo of Sinclair would have worked just as well.
4th. Lamesa Press Reporter – Color use is appropriate, although I’m not sure you gain much by coloring the “inside” box. Feature page is nice, but don’t be afraid to change column widths on this page. Pull-out quotes are attractive.
Division 6 Weeklies
1st. The Azle News – Your color reproduction just blew me away! Balloon photo’s color was outstanding. Nice color on sports, too. Layout throughout the paper is strong. Very nice product.
2nd. Duncanville Today – Your paper got better and better as I got deeper into it. Nice chimney and use of color photos above page 1 flag. Wonderful cheerleader features. Nice sports color. Cross country photo was outstanding.
3rd. Rockdale Reporter – Nice work on fade away top front picture. Paper shows not afraid of different uses of type, but doesn’t try to overpower reader with it.
4th. Hill Country Recorder Boerne – Spot color used well on page 1. Changing of chief story is very strong. It could easily run on page 1. Good spot news story on suspicious letter. Very nice volleyball photo! Football photo package and graphic is very nice. Well done Russell Hawkins. Strong lifestyle page.
Division 7 Weeklies
1st. Colorado County Citizen – Crop photos tighter. Watch crowding at bottom of page. Number 1 in entry.
2nd. The Cameron Herald – Bump up the body type size. Bottom of front page seemed crowded. Good white space.
3rd. The Free Press Buda – More white space on gray pages. Front good design.
4th. The Pittsburg Gazette – Bump up type size. Work for non-sports, non-posed pictures.
Division 8 Weeklies
1st. Ellis County Press – Very well-designed. Loved photo illustration on front (FYI would label as such). Nice use of typography. Very clean opinion page. Great sports photo and solid page design. Keep up the great work. P.S. Top photo on front left why put credit on image? Didn’t see it anywhere else. Takes away from photography.
2nd. Pilot Point Post Signal – Nice paper. Good use of white space. Need a bold font that is a bit bolder for contrast, but good bold sizes. Also, to make centerpiece packages “pop” try a two point border on the box or use rules. Hope opinion cartoon is local.
3rd. Monahans News – Pretty solid paper. Try a bit more white space and larger headlines, especially with packages i.e. Coke story.
4th. Cedar Hill Today – Photo page is designed well, however, there are no cutlines with the images. Not a good idea. Need more white space between horizontal items. Design has tons of potential. Same folks must also produce DeSoto Today.
Division 9 Weeklies
1st. Lancaster Today – Excellent use of color. Easy to read layout. Editorial page info easy to find, good use of sports info in relation to photo and story.
2nd. The Canadian Record – Easy to read, good use of photos, good use of white space.
3rd. Midlothian Today – Very good use of color in photos and layout. Nice sports page. Editorial layout easy to read, info easy to find. Photo credit on community page a bit too prominent, detracting from photo.
4th. The Clear Lake Citizen – Good use of color; top of front page provides lots of info about inside. Good overall design on all four pages submitted.
Division 10 Weeklies
1st. Benbrook Star – Best layout in this class. Photo reproduction could be improved. Add a half or one point border to help define photos. City council headline on page 1 should be closer to story. Society page fireworks photos are repetitive. On editorial page, drop ads below fold when possible. Dog-pile sports photo not very clear. Good headline type selection.
2nd. The Clarendon Enterprise – Good color photos on page 1. Bottom half of page needed for headlines or other elements. Nice looking editorial page. Good type variety and use of white space. I like the right hand column. Society page design good. Nice, clean overall design.
3rd. The Eldorado Success – Good, clean overall design. Page 1 nameplate looks cluttered. Photo collage on page 1 works well. Page 1 photos balanced. Reverse headline boxes tend to detract from design. Cropping ads below the fold would allow better news design on top of page. Sports and society pages held this entry back.
4th. Burnet County Citizens-Gazette – Page 1 elements balanced, but five different headline types are detracting. Chamber photos need to be cropped. Smith photo at top needed to be bigger. On inside pages, page number line looks lost. Why not put it above or below page heading. Second football photo looks displaced from story. I like column photo with heads on editorial page. Society page layout looks too tight.
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