The Society for News Design announced four World’s Best-Designed™ Newspapers — Dagens Nyheter (Sweden), De Morgen (Belgium), The Guardian (Britain) and Politiken (Denmark) in the Best of News Design competition— and one World’s Best-Designed™ winner from Best of Digital Design competition, Facebook, at the conclusion of its 37th annual workshop.

The Society for News Design recognized Tom Bodkin of The New York Times with the Lifetime Achievement Award on the final evening of SND’s 37th Annual Workshop in Washington, D.C. The award, the Society’s highest individual honor, is presented for a significant body of work that has had lasting influence on the field of visual journalism; … Read More

The Society for News Design recognized  Steve Dorsey of the Austin American-Statesman with its Lifetime Achievement Award on the final evening of its 37th Annual Workshop in Washington, D.C. The award, the Society’s highest individual honor, is presented for a significant body of work that has had lasting influence on the field of visual journalism; extraordinary … Read More

“I realized that the more internal you go and the more you express about your life, the more people can relate.” Andrea Levy shared this anecdote Saturday afternoon about what she has learned after more than a year designing the “Andrea Levy Opinion Art” full-page opinion column and blog for the Plain Dealer. Levy is … Read More

With more expectations and digital platforms, long-time designers like Ian Adelman, director of digital design at The New York Times, are still struggling to find the perfect system presentation. To illustrate the shift in the web and how important it is that we continuously push our redesigns, Adelman transports us back to the 90s and … Read More

Rob King’s keynote speech proved to be an inspiring send-off for attendees at the 2015 SNDDC workshop in Washington, D.C. King, the senior vice president of ESPN SportsCenter and news, talked about the network’s recent platform-spanning makeover. “All of this is built around stuff, machinery, utility,” he said. “And we’re spending a lot of time … Read More

Por primera vez en la historia del congreso de la SND, 12 personas de diferentes profesiones y trabajos, de todo Estados Unidos y un par de países más trataron 11 temas en una sesión de apenas una hora. Los temas variaron desde el rediseño de 40 diarios en solo un año hasta lo que se … Read More

How does journalism extend beyond the newsroom? From the beginning, journalists have learned to cover natural disasters, analyze census data, and communicate with target audiences. Neil Chase takes these skills to the marketing world. The main question: How do we take what we know about journalism and apply it to marketing…without turning readers off? Chase’s answer: … Read More

By MaryBeth Sargent, Ball State University Corey Greeneltch (Director of Design at Gannett Digital) and Kevin Poortinga (General Manager of Gannett’s Local Digital Solutions Network) gave a talk on designing templates that can be used on nearly any platform. Here are 9 quick notes and questions to think about during a redesign to take away from Gannett’s digital gurus: … Read More

If you want to get your content into your audience’s hands, you’ve first got to get into their heads. Conde Nast’s Laura Cochran and Electronic Ink’s Reggie Murphy, Ph.D., shared cutting-edge insights from their recent research into workplace collaboration in a Saturday SNDDC talk at the Newseum in Washington. Check out our infographic below to get … Read More

Sara Quinn’s study on eyetracking photojournalism finds that at a time when user generated photography has taken off with the convenience of iPhones, readers can still point out a professional photograph when they see one. She asks the question, “In this age of Facebook and Instagram and so many publishers–what makes a photograph worth publishing?” … Read More

When most designers talk about their path, it’s often not a straight line from A to B, but a zig zag up-and-down route across the country, at different types of publications and in a variety of roles. Tim Frank and Tracy Collins pose questions about this disruptive time in news design surrounding newsrooms and the … Read More

From the start of his presentation, Cap Watkins, the VP of design at BuzzFeed, brought a light-hearted feeling to the room, displaying a gif of a cat riding a fully cooked piece of bacon through space. “If a cat can ride bacon through space, we can do anything,” Watkins said. He emphasized heavily throughout his presentation … Read More

When we think of editorial cartoons, we think of the comical illustrations in newspapers depicting politicians making an ass of themselves in one way or another. Gus D’Angelo takes these editorial cartoons to a whole other level. During his time in the John S. Knight Fellowship, D’Angelo developed an idea to take those satirical newspaper … Read More

If Game of Thrones has taught us anything, one day you’re the Lord of the North and the next day you’re the head on the spike, Jonathon Berlin, Graphics Editor at the Chicago Tribune, told listeners during his discussion “100 Mistakes We Made Last Year.”

Darcy Greene, a journalism professor at Michigan State University, came across a copy of Pierre Verger’s 1954 publication, “Dieux D’Afrique” (Gods of Africa) while serving in Benin, West Africa as a Peace Corps volunteer from 1969 to 1971. Greene was interested in seeing how Verger’s photographs compared to photographs today. In 2012 she traveled back to … Read More

The way Tory Hargro, Design Manager of USA Today, sees it, if designers are simply problem solvers then UX designers solve other people’s problems. That’s where empathy —a reoccurring theme this weekend — comes into play. Tory defined empathy as “Your pain in my heart.” Not only are we designing to help people with their … Read More

Emma Carew Grovum, who works at the Foreign Policy magazine, talks about how to “Design new products in a small organization” with emphasis on working with a small company and keeping the employees working well together. Grovum focuses on the “ten best practices she has learned while bouncing between tech and editorial in the past … Read More

Every design starts with limitations and goals. Although people complain that mobile is so limiting, “the frame is whatever you’re designing in,” according to Breaking News app designer Martin McClellan. The limitation is in how you focus because the screen is small, but it also doubles as the opportunity. “Book design has been around for 600 years … Read More

While it’s easy to be swept away by all of the mainstream design software, one artist said she believes stepping away from the computer and first focusing on the concept is key. Deborah Withey of Cheese + Pickles Studio in Pembrokeshire, U.K. talked about how to start a brilliant design in her session “Power Up: Speed Conceptual Thinking.” … Read More

Dan Archer is a graphics journalist, using comics and immersive technology to tell stories of depth and tragedy. He spoke Saturday, April 11, at the 2015 Society of News Design conference in Washington, D.C. In this podcast, he discusses his philosophy about comics and journalism. He talks about the pursuit of truth and how important … Read More

Josh Crutchmer, the design and graphics editor of the Cleveland Plain Dealer, revealed the winners of the 2014 Best of Sports Design competition Saturday afternoon. Crutchmer broke down the 88 winners in the 40 minute session, the first time these results have been revealed in a conference session. There were 770 entries, 34 judges, and … Read More

The first keynote session between Vox’s Ezra Klein and Yuri Victor focused on the one-year anniversary of Vox.com as well as the importance of reporting the news well for the readers. “In its first year, Vox is, in its reach, market share, etc, doing really well,” said Klein. It’s doing well, but it’s far from … Read More

Take a step back from visuals for a minute and transport yourself to the rest of the newsroom. Jessica Yu, Global Head of Visuals and Deputy Managing Editor at The Wall Street Journal, talked about the importance of understanding and working with the entire newsroom staff. “Teamwork, that’s the key,” said Yu. That’s how they’ve … Read More

How long does it take to build a brand? After two years of research and taking changes, The Guardian presented readers with a new look to unite its digital content: one that updated based on the news traffic and time of day. By the time Alex Breuer came onboard, no official process existed for the … Read More

Alley Interactive’s Brad Campeau-Laurion hosted “Designing with Development in Mind” to emphasize the relationship between designers and developers, as well as the steps to create cohesive design and code.

  Mike Swartz of Upstatement mediated a panel of Minneapolis Star Tribune editors about their recent digital redesign during “Digital Redesign: Simple Lessons, Complicated Process.” “We weren’t looking to reinvent the wheel,” Derek Simmons, Assistant Managing Editor for Visuals said. “We were looking for a better foundation to put our content on.” Simmons was joined by … Read More

After a day of design tips from the best the news industry had to offer, SND conference attendees heard keynoter Nigel Holmes talk about everything from teeth to truffles to Mozart and piano-playing cats — and, finally, the genuine “human” aspect of humor in design. “Can you all hold this up? I want to show my wife and tell her you enjoyed … Read More

“Design is a plan for arranging elements in such a way as best to accomplish a particular purpose.” — Charles Eames Designing with a purpose. Isn’t that the key to making things? Michael Martin, managing partner at Code and Theory, questioned why we make the things we make. FIRST, THE BACKGROUND 2000-2008: Publishers started to … Read More

According to Boris van Hoytema, we are all inherently revolutionaries — at least when it comes to tomorrow. “Even if we don’t try to, we will create the future,” he explained in a Friday talk at SNDDC, challenging an implication by Abraham Lincoln that there has even been a choice. Van Hoytema’s talk dissected the … Read More

Design was not an afterthought when Quartz, the digital-native business startup, came into being in 2012. Design is in the company’s DNA. “The core principle of Quartz from the beginning has been, one, that design would be at the core of what we are and of our brand,” said Zach Seward, the vice president of … Read More

“This is a most interesting and ambitious time for a designer to be working in the newspaper market.” That’s how Il Art Director Francesco Franchi  began his discussion with a full-house Friday afternoon. Franchi, author of Designing News: Changing the World of Editorial Design and Information Graphics, is notable for his art direction as well … Read More

The Globe and Mail is one of the best-known newspapers. It exists in print and online. But there is one problem: The stories of both are the same while the reading experience is different. How is it possible to create the perfect reading experience for each reader, who has different behavior and needs? The Globe … Read More

In Lindsay Grace’s presentation, “What Journalist Can Learn From Game Design,” he made use of his strategy “planned collision,” and taught audience members the rules of game design, with the frame of how they could effect news design. Across the board, news designers can benefit from many core gaming principles, such as: “fail quickly and … Read More

Claire O’Neill’s and Wesley Lindamood’s Friday afternoon session, “The Art of Crossing Boundaries at NPR,” felt less like watching a two-person presentation, and more like witnessing a successful collaboration come to life. An NPR colleague introduced O’Neill and Lindamood to the standing-room-only crowd by saying, “They share an undying curiosity that makes them such a great … Read More

Design goes beyond what things look like. It’s about problem solving. During the When Design is Not Visual session Heather Chaplin, Tyson Evans and Mark Hansen spoke about the changing media of news and how design goes far beyond what you see on a page. Meet the Panel:   Mark Hansen: Mark Hansen is a … Read More

Dana Chisnell of the Center for Civic Design saw a problem with the availability of information for voters before they get to the ballot on Election Day. What some might call “voter apathy” Chisnell sees as a gap in voter information. To fix this problem, she wanted to answer two questions: What information do voters … Read More

Information architect, author, innovator and map evangelizer Richard Saul Wurman sat down for a conversation with Kris Viesselman in front of a packed room at SNDDC Friday. As Wurman likes to say, his greatest strength is his awareness of his own lack of understanding. “Knowing about your lack of understanding makes you powerful,” he said, … Read More

The Netherlands imports soy from all over the world, while beer is one of the most famous products the country exports. The Dutch produce energy from British rubbish and… and, at this point, you are already bored, aren’t you? This is the traditional way of explaining a country, its history, economy and major issues: pages … Read More

It was full house for “Doing It On Deadline,” with Kat Downs, graphics director at The Washington Post, telling the crowd, “Have fun with news. . . the options are limitless.” She said in an interview after her talk that she takes inspiration from  her husband, who “comes up with interesting,  random ideas, which never come up in a newsroom.” … Read More

Frédérik Ruys, a data journalist at Nedaeland van Boven, Director of Vizualism, and co-founder of the Dutch Infographic Conferences, spoke about visual-storytelling through animation. Attendees were given an insight into Ruys’ Netherlands home through a documentary from Nederland van Boven, which used a combination of helicopter videos and Google maps with animated graphics to visualize various groups of … Read More

The Gee unit talks about design 24-7. This dynamic duo says that it defines part of who they are. “Everything we do represents our personality and creativity,” said Carrie Gee. Carrie likes doughnuts, cats and type, and Martin Gee likes Star Wars, robots and Legos. The couple met at an SND conference in 2005, and … Read More

Richard Saul Wurman: Ted Founder, Architect, Designer With the publication of his first book in 1962, Richard Saul Wurman identified the singular passion of his life: making information understandable. In 1976 he coined the term ‘Information Architect’. Since then he has gone on to author, design and publish more than 80 books, each about a … Read More

Futurist and Webbmedia Group founder Amy Webb shared her take on the future of news design during her SNDDC keynote talk at the Newseum on Friday. Here’s the Design-o-Scope (our aesthetic-minded twist on a horoscope) for things that news organizations and designers should keep an eye out for going forward, as distilled down from Webb’s talk: Art and … Read More

Amy Webb is a digital media futurist and Founder of Webbmedia Group, a leading digital strategy consulting firm for emerging technology advising in media, entertainment, advertising and technology companies, and for higher education, nonprofits and government. Webbmedia Group researches near-future trends in digital media and technology, and develops business strategies to help clients engage bigger … Read More

We’re delighted to be spending the evening of April 9 at National Geographic, starting at 7 p.m. Enter on the M Street side of the complex.

Roger Black kicked off the News Type session with a discussion of “The End of Pages: Typography as the Relationship Between Elements, Instead of Layouts.” Here’s the video:

A scientist at Microsoft, Kevin Larson was a part of the News Type session on “Is there any value for the reader in perfecting the layout and selecting just the right font?” The video:

The News Type and Student Sessions kicked off the first full day of the workshop on Thursday. The Washington Post hosted more than 250 students and professionals for presentations and portfolio reviews.

The Society for News Design will recognize Tom Bodkin of The New York Times and Steve Dorsey of the Austin American-Statesman with Lifetime Achievement Awards on the final evening of SND’s 37th Annual Workshop in Washington, D.C.

We met Wednesday night at NPR headquarters for appetizers, drinks and networking before SNDDC kicks off in earnest. What a great night. NPR’s creative director, Liz Danzico, and her team talked about design and empathy and strategies. So good.

With a sold-out workshop, we’re trying to make it easier by opening general registration early. Attendees can begin picking up badges for all events on Thursday morning at The Washington Post. If you also signed up for News Type or the Student Sessions, we’ll go ahead and get you taken care of for the full … Read More

Ready for fun? Come out at 8:30 p.m. on Friday to Solly’s U Street Tavern for karaoke night, sponsored by our friends at Angie’s List. Proceeds help to fund SND Foundation grants for student travel to design events.

Here are the key locations in Washington, D.C. for the 2015 SND Workshop. To view the map as an image, click here.