In 2021, both our Print and Digital Creative Competitions were virtual gatherings, the first time in our history of the competitions. More than 40 judges moved their judging process onto computer video cameras and in disparate locations.
Over a period of three days, the judges were inspired to see a maturity in visual journalism that is durable and sustaining in a year of unimaginable challenges.
The 42nd competition ended with the jury of 27 judges awarding one judges’ special recognition, five gold medals, 59 silver medals and nearly 900 awards of excellence.
At the conclusion, 5 judges in the Society for News Design’s Best of Print News Design competition, named two publications as World’s Best Designed. One of them was de Volkskrant.
Like 2020, we were not able to celebrate the amazing accomplishments of de Volkskrant in person. Now, we will. SND will gather to celebrate de Volkskrant, and many other World’s Best winners on Oct 21, 2022, in Washington DC at our awards dinner, SND Honors.
A limited number of tickets are still available, if you would like to join us in celebrating our SND winners registration closes Oct, 6, 2022.
Let’s take a look back at what the Best of Print News Design competition judges had to say about de Volkskrant.
The Dutch daily de Volkskrant surprises at nearly every turn of the page. Its bold front pages and section covers are inventive and invite readers inside for an excellent visual chronicle of reportage with highly creative use of illustration, photography and graphic details. The compact pages are used to full effect, with a confident balance of space, typography, image and data to create highly dynamic layouts throughout.
The paper achieves brightly contrasting rhythms that boldly define sections and the story types within them. The skillful photo editing and art direction work to bring contrast to its pages with careful attention to detail. Typographic texture balances with consciously defined white space. Brand-defining use of icons, quote marks, and spot illos are used throughout the publication, sharpening personality and adding to a cohesive visual voice. Graphics are used sparingly but purposefully—as is color, which lends the publication a crispness and clarity.
This is a publication that has abandoned the traditional packaging by subject. Instead, the mix seems created for readers who also scroll feeds: An in depth look at an upcoming election on Saint Maarten, the Dutch constituent country in the Caribbean, is followed immediately by a display of art photographs of children.
A feature on racial justice protests yields to a spread featuring a large chicken in illustration. Coronavirus is represented as a pincushion cactus, beautiful and treacherous. The paper uses photographic series to bring honesty and intimacy to stories about the challenges its readers face amid the pandemic.
The pages of de Volkskrant show what truly collaborative teams can achieve when editorial and creative direction work together in unison. It’s an exhilarating experience to dive into a publication that manages to provide such finely balanced cohesion with continual surprise—and make it look so effortless.