The Society for News Design is proud to announce the finalists for World’s Best Designed in its Digital and Print Best of News Design Creative Competitions. This year, judges evaluated nearly 4,400 entries across both competitions and have narrowed the field down to ten finalists. There are also three finalists for the World’s Best Designer honor in the digital competition.
World’s Best Designed winners for both competitions will be announced the week of May 13, along with the Best in Show honorees.
Jump to a section: World’s Best Digital News Design | World’s Best Designed Newspaper | World’s Best Designer
Related: See all winners from SND45
World’s Best Digital News Design
A panel of 17 judges from the Society for News Design’s 45th edition creative competition, the Best of Digital News Design, has selected The Pudding, The New York Times, La Nacion, Star Tribune, The Straits Times, and Reuters as finalists for its World’s Best Designed honor.
The Pudding
The project excels in its attention to detail, particularly evident in the smart use of animation to illustrate sound, providing an engaging and educational experience about music through design. The color palette fits well with the context of the piece. Every one of these pieces is a landmark piece that will be referred to as an enjoyable experience.
They won’t play Lady A on country radio | The Songwriters for Every Top 5 Hit, by Year | 24 hours in an invisible epidemic | What does a happily ever after look like? | WONKY: An exploration of rhythm and grooves that break the rules
The New York Times
The spatial audio story represents a significant investment of New York Times resources, setting a new standard both technically and aesthetically. This excellent portfolio brings various visuals together and adds twists to conventional storytelling methods to break industry standards.
A Cathedral of Sound | An inside look at covid’s lasting damage to the lungs | How to cool down a city | Inside the deadly Maui inferno, hour by hour | Elon Musk’s Unmatched Power in the Stars
La Nacion
The portfolio presents so much information but it’s clean and easy to take in, in addition to being fun; the judges agreed that this was a great service to the audience. Strong typography, hierarchy, and color usage help tie everything together really nicely, the mobile design looked better than desktop, and the inclusion of AI-generated video elevated this package above the rest.
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Star Tribune
It’s hard not to feel something. I think all three pieces were just visually stunning, really beautiful photography and the layout was clean and simple and really allowed the photos and the subjects to shine through. I felt like I came really close to the people it’s about, it was very intimate. I think it was very respectful, they chose not to add a lot of bells and whistles because they’re choosing to let the photos speak. I think it really humanized the subjects and victims and gave them back some power in being able to tell their stories this way.
How Minnesota’s child protection system exposes kids to more abuse, neglect | ‘Friendly’ approach to child protection fails Minnesota families, leads to more abuse | Minnesota’s system for helping parents with addiction is full of holes. Kids pay the price. | Hennepin County reduced repeat abuse of kids. Are there lessons for the rest of Minnesota?
The Straits Times
The portfolio impresses with its technical editions, seamlessly integrating various techniques such as animation, video, illustration, and 3D to create cohesive pieces. Each work showcases a mastery of different technical approaches, with the blending of visualization aspects being particularly noteworthy, demonstrating the artists’ ability to overcome difficult challenges and utilize diverse techniques effectively to produce exceptional results. Overall, the portfolio’s skillful use of multiple mediums and techniques enhances its impact on the viewer.
Singapore in Colour | Is Singapore actually getting hotter? | How Singapore’s finest sprinter found her speed | On land, they waddle. Under water, they soar. | Why the haze has reached Singapore’s shores again
Reuters
The portfolio impresses with its diverse range of topics and styles, showcasing originality and consistency across each piece, particularly highlighting the clever storytelling in the fifth piece and the effective use of texture and design elements throughout. The overall impact and completeness of the portfolio warrant recognition and shows wide strengths.
Inside the tunnels of Gaza | Turkey’s toxic dust | The grass courts are now in session | The unstoppable pop of Taylor Swift | Walt Disney Studio’s drawing on the past
World’s Best Designed Newspaper
After three days of discussion, the World’s Best judging panel in the Society for News Design’s Best of Print News Design Creative Competition has selected four finalists in the World’s Best Designed category.
The finalists are:
DIE ZEIT
This is print storytelling at its very best. Every move made by the team at Die Zeit is rooted in intentional decision-making, restraint and surprise. Die Zeit continues to captivate by balancing long-form journalism with exceptionally smart illustrations, impeccable photo editing and beautifully placed typographic touches. Each page reveals subtle, layered details, as Die Zeit’s talented team surfaces delightfully subtle design nuances that engage a busy reader. The real superstar of the newspaper is what isn’t immediately apparent — the strategic use of white space to amplify the content.
La Nacion
La Nacion is a terrific example of how to build a 50- to 80-page daily newspaper, one that offers a cohesive reading experience with gravitas and dynamism, even on some of the biggest breaking news days. Its elegant information graphics, powerful blend of illustrations and robust news photography, coupled with consistently smart selection of typefaces poured into organic shapes, is sophisticated yet highly accessible, and makes for a very satisfying, complete offering.
POLITIKEN
Politiken’s dynamic design conveys a sense of urgency, while maintaining its overall elegance. Distinctive visual content is the foundation for storytelling that runs the spectrum from sober to edgy to delightful. Despite this range of tones, a cohesive report emerges, propelled by carefully selected — and deployed — typefaces and navigational devices. The result is a curated publication that is iconically Politiken — at once powerful, important and beautiful.
Weekendavisen
Weekendavisen is a joy to read, with visual impact in all of the right places. The offspring of one of the oldest newspapers in the world, Berlinske Tidende, Weekendavisen offers its readers a contemporary feel, while adhering to its traditional roots. From front to back, Weekendavisen is a cohesive experience that is serious, evocative, innovative and playful. Its designers are not afraid to take risks. Restraint is the key to its success — nothing seems forced, always executed with purpose. Its many strengths include elegant typography, a carefully curated and restrained color palette, on-point illustrations and a sense of whimsy. The icing on the cake: Solve the puzzles on a smartly packaged spread.
World’s Best Digital Designer
A panel of 17 judges from the Society for News Design’s 45th edition creative competition, the Best of Digital News Design, has selected Adolfo Arranz, Katty Huertas and Anna Boone as finalists for its World’s Best Designer honor.
Adolfo Arranz
The judges praised the exceptional illustrations, which they noted as a key factor in the excellence of Reuters graphics. They appreciated the variety of styles he employed, each tailored to suit different stories, showcasing his versatility and skill in capturing different perspectives with intricate details and lighting effects.
Journey into sleep | Inside the tunnels of Gaza | Rehabilitating Lahaina | Searching for life in the rubble | The next pandemic may come from bats. Reuters investigates where
Katty Huertas
The judges commended the artist for her strong sense of identity and the creative concepts she brings to her work. They praised the variety in her illustration styles, from portraits to landscapes to animals, and noted the technical proficiency and attention to detail evident in her work, along with a strong, consistent color palette and effective branding as an illustrator.
It’s Rat Girl Summer. Grab a snack. | The saga of securing Beyoncé tickets | America’s national parks | AI can’t write my books yet, but it still took my author photos | Fat Bear Week has arrived. Meet Katmai’s top contenders.
Anna Boone
Strong typography and elegant, thoughtful designs characterized this portfolio. The judges noted that the designer executes a high level of work for the size of her newsroom, adding just the right amount of custom elements to each story. They thought her work alone pushes this newsroom’s digital design presence forward.
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