Holly Braford is a New York-based freelance designer and illustrator and is on the team judging long-form entries for the 35th Best of News Design™ competition. To get to know her better, we posed three questions:
Any surprises being a judge at SND?
I cannot believe how emotional some of the entries made me. It’s no big deal to tear up at home with the newspaper, but I was embarrassed at first by how emotional I became during the medal discussions. Isn’t that what it’s really all about?
Do you have any advice for people entering next year?
Edit your entries in long-form categories. You don’t have to put every single page of a project in the entry. I voted out many entries that were diluted by pages that just didn’t elevate the entry to excellence. Don’t be discouraged if your work loses. It’s probably still good. You’d be astonished by how many pages out 2-3.
What are your passions outside of work?
I love state fairs. Sadly, I’ve only been to Ohio, Florida and Minnesota. Look out New York! Hide your fried cheese curds!
Society for News Design
Society for News Design