The Society for News Design is proud to announce that four winners have been awarded the World’s Best Designed distinction in the SND46 Creative Competition. After three days of discussion, The Washington Post and The Pudding have been named World’s Best Designed Digital and de Volkskrant and Politico Europe have been named World’s Best Designed Newspaper.
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World’s Best Designed Newspapers
A panel of six judges from the Society for News Design’s 46th Creative Competition has selected de Volkskrant and Politico Europe as the World’s Best Designed Newspapers, the highest honor that can be awarded to a print publication from SND.
The judges said:
de Volkskrant
de Volkskrant sets the bar for front to back excellence in storytelling among daily print publications. Their consistency would be baffling, but the proof is on the pages. De Volkskrant’s deployment of the fundamentals of news design is virtuosic, from their use of the grid and white space, to their masterful deployment of hierarchy in their layouts. But the elegant result is not cold. It’s modern and alive, leaning into a rich visual language unafraid to mix restraint with humor and excess. De Volkskrant’s broad mastery of visual devices — from photography to illustration — assembles a news report that is sharply edited, impactful and delightful.
Politico Europe
Even among a strong class of finalists, Politico Europe rises above with best-in-class art direction, impeccable illustrations and consistency in storytelling across every page. The overall execution is bold and intentional, with rigorously gridded pages anchored by strong visuals and flooded with white space. They know how to make every cover stand out with impactful, conceptual illustrations that set the tone for the rest of the book. Subtle details — like typography layered into the murky wake of a boat for a story about spilled oil — enliven every page.
World’s Best Designed Digital
A panel of six judges from the Society for News Design’s 46th Creative Competition have selected The Washington Post and The Pudding as its World’s Best Designed Digital honor – the highest award that SND can bestow on a publication.
The judges said:
The Washington Post
The Washington Post demonstrates what every news organization strives for with their digital presentation, a mastery in storytelling in their design. From the illustrations, videos, audio, graphics and typography, the Post provides a variety of content that pushes the limit. With elegance and restraint, the Post has an understanding of how readers engage with different content on any device. From the long-form series to the bite-sized morsels of information, the core values of the news shine throughout. Every piece is done with great thought and intention for their audience, providing readers with the expected news and unexpected surprises. This body of work was flawless.
See their portfolio: After a borderland shootout, a 100-year-old battle for the truth | The ‘perfect’ predator | How Trump built his victory, vote by vote | They took the children | The plants used to make the world’s best mezcal are disappearing | Seeing America by train | How Trump has become angrier and more isolated on Truth Social | AI is spawning a flood of fake Trump and Harris voices. Here’s how to tell what’s real. | Simone Biles made her name in women’s gymnastics with these skills
The Pudding
Newsrooms often look to designers and art directors like us for creativity and innovation. But where should we seek out inspiration to fuel our own creativity? The Pudding is that source of inspiration. The Pudding aims high, crafting incredibly ambitious data-rich passion projects that stretch the boundaries of visual storytelling and digital presentation. Innovators may occasionally risk imperfections, but that’s a minor side effect of breaking new ground. For the Pudding, more is simply more. These pieces are not only explanatory, they are exploratory — providing multiple paths for the audience to traverse.
See their portfolio: They don’t make love songs like they used to… | The United States of abortion mazes | Who gets shipped and why? | Who killed the world? | Failures to act | This is a teenager | What makes an album the greatest of all time? | National Anthem | Colors of the court