The Society for News Design is proud to announce the Best in Show winners for its Best of News Design Creative Competitions. This year judges evaluated about 4,500 entries across both competitions and have awarded four stories Best in Show honors.

The Best of Digital News Design Competition had over 1,800 entries, and the panel of 20 judges selected these four stories.

The Best in Show winners are:

• Large organization: Life in Hong Kong’s shoebox housing, South China Morning Post
• Medium organization: The Night Raids, ProPublica
• Small organization: How Chinese citizens use puns to get past internet censors, Rest of World
• Micro organization: Ailing Brussels, Jetpack.ai

The Best of Print News Design competition ended with the judges awarding 17 gold medals, 74 silver medals and 926 awards of excellence out of 2,600 entries. No Best in Show was awarded. You can find the complete database of winners from this year’s competition here. 

Best of Digital News Design

For the digital competition, a group of 20 judges from around the world awarded four stories from micro, small, medium and large newsrooms for Best in Show honors in the Society for News Design’s 44th edition creative competition, the Best of Digital News Design. 

Best in Show: Large newsrooms

Life in Hong Kong’s shoebox housing | South China Morning Post

Judges highlighted how effectively the story makes you empathize with the people in these situations: “The styling across the story helps convey the feeling of being cramped in a small space. The illustrations have amazing detail, and all of the graphics are simple, yet effective. The animation in the bar chart is really evocative of the idea of waiting for housing.” Another wrote, “This project makes you empathize with tenants, you feel this sense of being caged as if you’re right there with them, and understand the extent of the problem with the project’s storytelling craft and power.”

Judges noted how effective the illustrations were as well, “Top level graphics, illustrations, and overall page design to show how small housing is. I cannot think of a better way to visualize this. There is also a sense of emotion that the illustrations bring to the piece.” Another mentioned, “The presentation helped the reader get a real sense of the claustrophobia of these spaces, and without the visuals, the story would not have had the same impact.”

Judges also highlighted the intro to the piece, “The 3D intro is brilliantly storyboarded. When the last walls are taken off, I literally gasped.” 

“Life in Hong Kong’s shoebox housing” also won two silver medals, one in the Infographics: Regional/Local category and another in the Design: Features category.

Best in Show: Medium newsrooms

The Night Raids | ProPublica

Many judges loved the illustration style in this piece, saying, “Beautifully rendered and complex animations that carry the weight of human emotion with the subtlety of the motion” and “The animated illustrations evoke this feeling of frustration, agony and impotence in the reader. It’s not a story that is easy to forget; the harrowing legacy of the operations are felt throughout the piece and well after.” Another wrote, “memorable animation and illustrations that capture the mood and emotions of places and people that can’t be photographed or depicted otherwise.”

Other judges praised how engaging the long-form story was: “‘The Night Raids’ is a meticulous and powerful work of journalism elevated by a beautiful, haunting design. The animations and photography are restrained and evocative. Thoughtful timelines and navigation elements guide the reader through a lengthy narrative.Truly a masterclass in longform storytelling.” Another said, “I loved the use of real objects to point out locations on a physical map. I also like the style of using masking tape and having a pair of human hands take you through historical documents. It made a somewhat dry topic a lot more engaging and interesting.”

Judges loved how all the pieces came together for the story: “The animations tapped for this package were incredibly well-chosen. From the style to the color palette, to the motions and choices of where to go with animation shorts, this was an impeccably art-directed convergence of text, motion graphics, archive photo and animated shorts. This was a world-class example of journalism and visuals.”

“The Night Raids” also won a Silver Medal in the Elements: Animation Design category.

Best in Show: Small newsrooms

How Chinese citizens use puns to get past internet censors | Rest of World

Judges praised how the story could be understood by people who don’t speak Mandarin: “Smart way of explaining how Mandarin is used to avoid censorship, with great detail in each of the characters to demonstrate detail that would otherwise be too complex to understand for non-Mandarin speakers.”

Multiple judges enjoyed the cleverness of the piece and how delightful it was: “‘How Chinese citizens use puns’ made a cultural story accessible to all. The clever concepts are broken down in a really easy-to-read way, offering delight to a story about a tricky way of life for people living in China who want to say how they feel about major issues. It was beautifully and masterfully executed.” Another noted, “I love when I learn something utterly unexpected from a piece and the graphics are both clean and delightful.”

And judges also highlighted how clean the design is, “This is an easy, smooth scroll with clean and clear design. It highlights a topic that I hadn’t seen covered elsewhere, in a relatable and easy to understand way. The gentle, simple animations and minimal color palette create a cohesive look.” Another wrote, “Just loved how utterly simple but elevated the graphics are, they clearly communicate without distracting or being flashy.”

“How Chinese citizens use puns to get past internet censors” also won a Bronze Medal in the Design: Social Issues category.

Best in Show: Micro newsrooms

Ailing Brussels | Jetpack.ai

Judges praised the variety of different techniques in the story, saying “‘Ailing Brussels’ is an ambitious package of lush illustrations, dense graphics, crisp maps and restrained interactive elements. For a project of such broad scope, the piece is inviting and well-paced. It never feels overwhelming or intimidating.”

Judges also enjoyed how the story is so focused on the reader, “This is an impressive, information-dense piece that centers the reader – and then helps the reader understand how their life experience compares with people around them. The most impressive part is how it walks through what is essentially robust social science in a highly accessible way. I can imagine this being part of a school curriculum for the next decade.”

They also highlighted particular parts of the story that they enjoyed, “I particularly liked the ability to change languages at the top of the page, choose your context (whether you live in Brussels or elsewhere) at the top and the illustrations throughout the piece.” 

“Ailing Brussels” also won an Award of Excellence in the Design: Health category.