“What distinguishes a World’s Best-Designed™ Newspaper? A culture of careful editing of all content that puts the reader first — through stringent attention to detail.”

“Too many designers are not driven by the content in front of them; they’re just moving elements around pages. In the best-designed publications, that connection jumps off the page.”

These were the words which SND, Society for News Design, today used to announce the winners in this year’s World’s Best Designed™ Newspapers competition. Scandinavia is – once again – among the winners: Politiken (DK) and Dagens Nyheter (S) wins the prestigious title alongside two German papers, Die Zeit and Welt am Sonntag, and The Grid from Canada.

It’s a first time for Dagens Nyheter, but Politiken also won in 2006 and 2011. Congratulations to all winners!

Read the full story on snd.org:
SND34 judges pick World’s Best-Designed™ Newspapers

Even though there were some great work shown also by runner-ups, the judges lament the absence of American papers among the winners, and see “another disturbing trend: the lack of illustration and especially information graphics in so many newspapers. These are the tools that newspapers can use to distinguish their content from the pack and add context and understanding to their report.”

In other words: Basic routine work may get the job done and the paper on to the streets, but it won’t win you any awards.

Here is what great news design looks like:
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