Unanimous winning entries were eligible for recognition beyond a bronze medal, with silver or gold medals awarded for outstanding work that pushes the boundaries of design and technology and helping define the state of the art for the industry.
Gold:
Overall Portfolio, Organization The Pudding
https://pudding.cool/2018/01/chyrons/
https://pudding.cool/2018/02/stand-up/
https://pudding.cool/2018/04/birthday-paradox/
https://pudding.cool/2018/08/pockets/
https://pudding.cool/2018/09/jordans/
https://pudding.cool/2018/10/city_3d/
https://pudding.cool/2018/11/dearabby/
https://pudding.cool/2018/11/boy-bands/
Judges said: One of the distinctive things you find is that they’re very selective about story form. Each piece is designed to tell a specific story, not constrained by any type of branding.
Overall Portfolio, Organization The New York Times
Killing Khashoggi: How a Brutal Saudi Hit Job Unfolded
One Building, One Bomb: How Assad Gassed His Own People
An Israeli Soldier Killed a Medic in Gaza. We Investigated the Fatal Shot.
How a Gang Hunted and Killed a 15-Year-Old in the Bronx
Judges said: All the elements that used to be poured into newspaper reporting and then visualized are now extracted from visualized are now extracted from visuals. It is unique, and the Times has pioneered and expanded the form.
Information graphics: 3B Gender/Identity & Society
“Extensive Data Shows Punishing Reach of Racism for Black Boys” | The New York Times
Judges said: This piece sparked a meaningful and lively discussion among readers. It wouldn’t have reached the same audience without its adventurous design decisions.The way they sliced and diced data was extremely illuminating. It does push the boundaries, it is really good use of animation. It humanizes the data in the best way. I can’t imagine a better way to do it. It is one of the strongest infographics in itself in telling the full story.
Story Page Design: 2B Business/Finance, Science, Technology, Transportation, Environment & Health
“Katie’s New Face” | National Geographic
Judges said: They don’t shy away from the honest truth of the experience. There’s such a powerful narrative integrated in that it feels cinematic in its presentation.
Information graphics: 3B Local
How 2 M.T.A. Decisions Pushed the Subway into Crisis | The New York Times
Judges said: It goes out of its way to creatively present the data. I really like that time is presented vertically – while we often shy away from doing that because it’s unconventional, it really works here. It’s a great learning experience – it explains not just how, but why. There’s a clever integration of svg animations. I couldn’t think of any more perfect way to do this. It sets a high standard for what we do. This is an ambitious story told in its best possible form.
Silver:
Graphics: 3A Breaking News, International
“Lucky 13” | Reuters
Judges said: It was the whole experience with the dark mood. We’ve seen a lot of pieces on this Thai rescue, but the horizontal graphic really pushes it forward.
Features: 2B Arts, Entertainment, Food, Travel & Lifestyle
“Art in an Instant” | The Washington Post
Judges said: This one feels like a story that was conceived for this medium. It feels incredibly smooth. It’s fluid, it’s engaging, it doesn’t get in it’s own way.
Features: 2B Arts, Entertainment, Food, Travel & Lifestyle
“Why Songs of the Summer Sound the Same” | The New York Times
Judges said: The practiced restraint, not giving you too much info and keeping it centered on the music.
News: 2B International
“Italia” | TASS Russian News Agency
Judges said: They did a lot of different approaches to draw you into the story. There are a lot of different elements, but they tie together really well.
News: 2B International
“Kidnapped as Schoolgirls” | The New York Times
Overall Portfolio, Organization
The Lily
https://www.thelily.com/the-lily-staff-portfolio/
Judges said: It has a very consistent aesthetic. There’s no hesitation about the design at all. There’s an identity, no matter what product they’re show you … That’s not easy to pull off.
Features: 2B Gender/Identity & Society
“45 Stories of Sex and Consent on Campus” | The New York Times
Graphics: 3B News Features, International
“How the monsoon could devastate Rohingya camps” | Reuters
Judges said: I appreciate how many datasets they used. There was a lot of color, and things happening, but it didn’t break.
News: 2B Local
“The Four Days in 1968 That Reshaped DC” | The Washington Post
Judges said: Each piece complements each other under the big banner of 1968. It’s just a smooth experience all the way through.
News: 2B Local
1968 (line of coverage; 2, 3) | The Washington Post
Judges said: I’ve seen a lot of scrollers and this one is very, very smoothly implemented. The maps in particular were really well integrated.
News: 2B Local
“Barna vi Sletter” (line of coverage; 2, 3)| Adresseavisen
Judges said: They have a style and stuck with it through each of the elements. It is a really pretty piece for an incredibly dark story.
News: 2B Local
“Unbroken” | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Judges said: The pacing and the experience was fantastic. In terms of storytelling, it was one of the strongest.
Features: 2C Format, Use of Illustration
“A Visual Journey Through Addiction” | The New York Times
Judges said: There are ideas that we talk about but a lot of people cannot visualize … The problem they are trying to solve is a pretty big task.
Features: 2C Format, Use of Illustration
“When Having a Child Doesn’t Make You Happy” | The New York Times
Judges said: The story that they are trying to tell is a pretty complicated journey. The illustrations support the story completely.
News: 2B Sports
“Body 10” | ESPN
Judges said: It is done really smartly and you see behind the scenes. They use the full space, and it is such an explicitly visual piece.
News: 2B Sports
“Game Changers” | ESPN
Judges said: The very bold use of colors and typography really stands out. This does a really good job for someone who doesn’t get why the elements of basketball are important … It was one of the most fun ones we saw.
Graphics: 3C Format, Use of Maps
“The Stones in the Road for China’s 2025 Plan for Electric Vehicles” | South China Morning Post
Judges said: The end product is useful and aesthetically beautiful. You have to be creative in how you collect and present data in China — this piece did a great job of showing that.
Graphics: 3C Format, Use of Maps
“Borderline” | The Washington Post
Judges said: The direction it gives — it’s just very well thought out. It’s a wonderful interactive map, I thought the UI was really good — I didn’t feel lost.
Features: 2C Format, Use of Multimedia
“To See How Levees Increase Flooding, We Built Our Own” | ProPublica, Reveal and Vox
Judges said: How you can control the flow, and see how levees react is a really engaging way to show this information
Social Media: 5B Social Media Stories or Threads
“Mozambique” Snapchat Discover| The New York Times
Judges said: Of all the social things, some of them tackled really difficult topics, but this did in a way that didn’t feel wrong for the platform.
Social Media: 5B Social Media Stories or Threads
“Families-Divided Crisis” | The Texas Tribune
Judges said: The Trib’s job is to get information out there in a way, on any platform, and this effectively did that.
Graphics: 3B News Features, National
“‘Hell on Earth’: The First 12 Hours of California’s Deadliest Wildfire” | The New York Times
Judges said: They manage to capture really well the spread and how fast it went, which was the problem with the fire. I like the details of the scale on the left as it burns down and the minute-by-minute chronology.
Graphics: 3B News Features, National
“Borderline” | The Washington Post
Judges said: Seeing this for the first time, I learned a lot. It was very anecdotal and very human.
Graphics: 3B News Features, National
“America is More Diverse Than Ever – But Still Segregated” | The Washington Post
Judges said: I feel like they took a widely accessible date set, which is the census data, and did something very comprehensive with it.
News: 4B Special events, Elections
“These Wealthy Neighborhoods Delivered the Democrats the House Majority” | The Washington Post
Judges said: Obviously the map is very well designed, and there are many layers of information … but you don’t feel overwhelmed.
Social Media Portfolio, Organization
Snapchat Discover | VICE
We Asked an Expert Why you Think Cannibalism Is Gross
Undercover Police On the Most Dangerous Situation They’ve Been in
Saving Face: My Plastic Surgery at Age 13
People Told Us the Highest They’ve Ever Been in Six Words
The Man Who Almost Killed Me Only Did 120 Days in Jail
Yes, You Can Be Addicted to Weed
How Online Harassment Changed My Self-Image
Snapchat Curation: Embarrassing Memories
Judges said: They’re doing their own style, putting a lot of work into it, taking the platform seriously … it’s just great storytelling.
Graphics: 3B News Features, Business/Finance, Science, Technology, Transportation, Environment & Health
“Building Katie’s New Face” | National Geographic
Judges said: It’s very elegantly done. Restraint was important. They paid attention to being flashy given the subject matter.
Graphics: 3B News Features, Business/Finance, Science, Technology, Transportation, Environment & Health
“West Virginia” | ProPublica and The Charleston Gazette-Mail
Judges said: I really like how the map doesn’t really slam you. It very gradually loads those things in to give you time to process what you’re viewing.
Graphics: 3C Use of Data
“How Connected Is Your Community to Everywhere Else in America?” | The New York Times
Judges said: They took the Facebook data and had a really unique angle of analyzing it. They had some enlightening discoveries. I couldn’t stop reading.
Graphics: 3C Use of Data
“Facebook Political Ad Collector” | ProPublica
Judges said: They did a really good job collecting data themselves, and they made it easy to explore.
Story Design Portfolio, Organization
The Washington Post
Alt Story Telling
DC Riots 1968
Charlottesville
Human’s Have Made Wildfires Worse
Glenstone Museum
What Unites US
Science Behind Improv
Too Many Men
Judges said: They do a great job to make all of these pieces feel in touch with each other, but they’re not all built with the same template. They all fell united and it’s really impressive.