The Society for News Design is proud to announce the finalists for World’s Best Designed Digital and World’s Best Designed Newspaper from the 46th annual Creative Competition.
The winners of World’s Best Designed will be announced Wednesday, April 30.
Jump to section: World’s Best Digital Design | World’s Best Print Design
Related: See all winners from SND46
World’s Best Digital Design
A panel of six judges from the Society for News Design’s 46th Creative Competition have selected The Pudding, The New York Times, ProPublica and The Washington Post as finalists for its World’s Best Designed Digital honor – the highest award that SND can bestow on a publication.
New York Times
The New York Times continues to be a benchmark for the industry and that was reflected here. They demonstrated an unmatched understanding of news as a consumer-product, which was reflected across a wide range of content – from the ability to save books you want to read to a live-updating election dashboard with reporter context. Their mobile-first, social-media-inspired approach to storytelling was also evident in several of the pages and serves as an important reminder about how readers are most often coming to our work.
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.
ProPublica
ProPublica’s ability to deploy a wide variety of storytelling devices should be a model for digital design teams in engaging readers and inviting participation in tough subject matter. They have created a cohesive body of work defined by visual restraint, a deep understanding of digital as a medium, and a sureness in engineering in their news coverage and products. Their designs are clearly conceived as digital-first experiences, and range from traditional narratives paired with strong photography to a scrollytelling dissection of how the language of a trade agreement is altered by industrial lobbying. The nonprofit also makes tools with such rigor that their utility journalism may be used by a general audience to make decisions in their daily lives and by journalists seeking data sources for their own reporting.
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.
World’s Best Print Design
A panel of six judges from the Society for News Design’s 46th Creative Competition has selected the Minnesota Star Tribune, El País, de Volkskrant, Politico Europe and Die Zeit as finalists for World’s Best Designed Newspaper, the highest honor that can be awarded to a print publication from SND.
The Minnesota Star Tribune
The Minnesota Star Tribune sets the standard for local/regional print journalism in the U.S. There is a level of care, consistency and attention to detail put into this product that is unmatched among its peers. The Strib successfully leverages multiple visual storytelling devices – including graphics, illustrations and photography – and utilizes the physical space available in the print product to let them all shine. It’s clear that this is a staff with a high level of ambition, and they often hit their mark. The effect is a warm, inviting local paper that fits the identity of the community it serves.
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.
El País
El País embodies the strength of classic, restrained design in support of serious journalism. Clean layouts, precise typography, and subtle visual discipline create a sense of trust and authority. Headlines are elegant and deliberate. Their attention to small, purposeful details stands out. While front pages vary, the overall product is consistently refined. El Pais’ conservative approach offers few surprises, but when it commits to deep coverage in special sections, the results are spectacular, with photo editing and art direction kicking into a gear that few publications can match. The result is a clean, confident newspaper that knows when to let design speak—and when to let the journalism lead.
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.
Die Zeit
Die Zeit looks like Die Zeit, with outstanding visual quality on every page, year after year. The update of typography and minor redesigns seems to be kept as a secret, but their characteristic use of white space and lightness remains fully in place. In each issue there are so many small details that are executed with both intelligence and a sense of humor, but the whimsy never disturbs the readability of their compact and crisp copy blocks. Plus, the full-page infographics stand out for their sharp execution and wide-ranging subject matter. Are the staff having a lot of fun doing Die Zeit? We think so!
