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2008 Better Newspaper Contest — Page Design

contestheader

Division 2 Dailies 7,001 to 99,999
Division 3 Dailies 7,000 or Less
Division 4 Semiweeklies 4,001 or More
Division 5 Semiweeklies 4,000 or Less
Division 6 Large Weeklies
Division 7 Medium Large Weeklies
Division 8 Medium Weeklies
Division 9 Small Medium Weeklies
Division 10 Small Weeklies

Page Design

View Winners' Slideshow

Division 2 Large Dailies

1. Odessa American — Your 1A is the best I’ve seen today. I really like the puzzle graphic, and I think it’s great to run an analysis on 1A. Very edgy, I think.

2. The Galveston County Daily News — Awesome story Sara. I wanted to read the rest. Great attention to important issues on 1A. Fantastic volleyball photos.

3. Victoria Advocate — Great job illustrating a tough but important issue on 1A. Lots of easy-to-soak-up information.

4. Laredo Morning Times — I like the diagram of the kids’ uniforms and clothes. Good story idea. The “film” design on the model photos is cool, too.

Division 3 Small Dailies

1. Taylor Daily Press — Nice and clean. Good use of white space. Easy to read. I like the “heads” on the side but I would put some short briefs below all of them like you did sports (sports briefs) or datebook (happy birthdays). Holiday photos excellent! Editorial: love staff underneath, front page photos and design solid. Nice job!

2. Terrell Tribune — You made it easy to read this paper. Good use of graphics. Good photos. Opinion page well done but lacks art. Neighbors, good head, nice art.

3. Henderson Daily News — Nice graphics on front. Layout on page 1 sound. Color on op/ed page 7 wow! “They said it” nice! Piano potpourri on family well done but too many photos of same person. Sports, layout good a little busy but readable.

4th. Sulphur Springs News Telegram — Sweet truth well done. Sports record page good. Opinion page needs spark.

Division 4 Large Semiweeklies

1. Wise County Messenger — The photos with the opinion piece was hilarious (probably unintentionally so) and all the reproduction throughout was great. Nice font choice on ‘holistic healing’ nice color, solid work. Kudos to the press operators, too.

2. Hood County News — The front page headline says it all. I loved the Brazos River music fest layout, great color. I also liked the photo on the opinion page.

3. Williamson County Sun — Great reproduction on sunflower photo, nice rip-off of “the birds” for county life section — good use of white space on opinion page, although I think “what’s it” should be somewhere else.

4. Fayette County Record — Nice variety of font and headline styles. Good work, just not in top 3.

Division 5 Small Semiweeklies

1. The Sealy News — Great effort on mock front page. Wonder how the readers took it, but good use of the newspaper to play in with the simulation.

2. Wimberley View — Nice change-up in headlines with color and different fonts.

3. Copperas Cove Leader Press — Very nice, clear type on headlines. Clean, symmetric design.

4. The Highlander, Marble Falls — Very creative use of text box as shape to help illustrate story. Lake Country life is great use of color with strong photo. Maybe a little more headline hierarchy on front and the opinion page could use some sort of graphic element.

Division 6 Large Weeklies

1. Alpine Avalanche — Designs are bold and engaging, some new things. Good variety of designs. Quality carries down throughout paper. This is the paper I’d probably have the most fun reading.

2. Port Aransas South Jetty — Great use of photo and simplicity in design. Very readable … Lots of photos a plus. Great color, easy to read. Information presented with good placement. Fun to read.

3. Wylie News — Love the column of vacation photo, vacation theme. Page not as strong below the fold. Good readability throughout. Spotlight page is great, but the others just aren’t as interesting to look at. Cover and sports are very easy to read, however.

4. Fredericksburg Standard Radio Post — Great lifestyles page. Like the touch on sports where the top of the building shoots out.

Division 7 Medium Large Weeklies

1. Westlake Picayune — You have made a tab format work well. Nice color, good use of photos front and sports pages. Opinion page bylines look good. Some bold head too compressed.

2. Elgin Courier — Nice color photos. Bold head on page 1, right column a little compressed. Need more variety in headline sizes.

3. Duncanville Today — In general good news and sports photos. Nice heavy headlines. Nice design on cancer walk. Opinion page letters might look better, in a four or five column format.

4. The Community News, Aledo — A lot of good photos. Headline type is just bold enough to stand out. Layout in B section a little cluttered, no dominant photo.

Division 8 Medium Weeklies

1. The Canadian Record — Excellent use of contrast and reverse design elements. Tight fonts contrasting with large create an exciting visual impact that isn’t overwhelming or too busy. It is a well-done design that shows thought and planning intent.

2. Cedar Hill Today — Very good use of photography to help tell the story. White space as a design element is excellent. The “less is more” design philosophy works here.

3. The Clifton Record — An all-over clean design to this paper makes it visually appealing. The simplicity of design doesn’t create a needless distraction from the stories.

4. Hill Country News, Cedar Park — The use of white space as a design element is an important reason this paper made it to top 4.

Division 9 Small Medium Weeklies

1. The Albany News — Super color photos. Text and headline type faces work well together. Nice bold presentation catches reader’s attention.

2. West Kerr Current, Ingram — Really good front page with nice use of photos. Like bold headline type face. Page headers well used on inside sections.

3. The Gladewater Mirror — Nice presentation. Elements work well together. Nice photos on front and sports. Liked the looking back page.

4. The Clarendon Enterprise — A good overall design package. Opinion page needs update, should have type size and style that stands out more.

Division 10 Small Weeklies

1. Malakoff News — Very nice front page, pages generally attractive, without elements competing for attention.

2. Alvarado Star — Generally cleanly designed pages with a dominant element on most pages.

3. Murphy Monitor — Easily readable attractive pages.

4. Princeton Herald — Front page needs dominant element. Top and bottom seem to be competing for readers eye. Sports page was maybe a bit too much, but I liked the dominant element in center. Editorial cartoon with ducks was pixelated (edges of thing should be smooth rather than jagged) Graphically recipe page is nice but “holiday gift guide” headline does not match content.