Stephen Case is art director of the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong and is a Visuals judge for the 35th Best of News Design™ competition. To get to know him better, we posed three questions:
Are you glad you’ve traveled so far to help out with judging SND35?
To be honest, when I first received the invitation to be a judge, my immediate reaction was to go “I don’t want to do this” because I know how arduous a job it is and how much responsibility comes with it. Don’t get me wrong, there was never a doubt I wouldn’t do it. How could I possibly miss an experience like this? But I never took it lightly. It’s been exactly how it was explained to us, tough work, long days but thoroughly enjoyable. I found when you were in the midst of judging you were fine, but once you finished a round and stepped back you realized how taxed you were. I loved our group, thought we all got along well. Everyone had a point of view and opinions but it was very comfortable to speak your mind. Overall I’d say we were on the same page and we had a great time doing it.
What are your thoughts on what was entered?
The entries are a mixed bag but the cream naturally rose to the top. Some work really jumps off the table and it was great to see those rewarded. A trend I saw was the entries that worked best for us were the ones that grabbed your attention visually, both simple and complex, but then held your attention with smart ideas. Trends for the work were big stories get big hits by papers and that’s when visual people really get a chance to shine.
What’s your favorite movie?
One of my favorites is The Big Lebowski and I often get accused of imitating him.
Society for News Design
Society for News Design