Two Canadian publications, the National Post and free Toronto weekly The Grid, have been named among the world’s best-designed newspapers in an international design competition.
They are among five winners selected from 230 entries in the Orlando, Fla.-based Society for News Design’s 33rd annual “The Best of Newspaper Design” competition. The Grid won in the non-daily circulation 25,000 to 74,999 category, while the National Post was honoured in the daily circulation 75,000 to 174,999 category.
Formerly known as Eye Weekly, the Torstar-owned Grid was re-launched in May 2011. The five-person jury, including Bill Gaspard of the China Daily in Beijing and Scott Goldman of The Indianapolis Star and IndyStar.com, lauded The Grid’s overall look as “perfectly consistent and clean” and praised the abundant use of infographics throughout its pages.
“It must be extremely time-consuming doing these pages, but it works so well for the reader,” said the judges, adding: “This publication really catches you and it will not let you go.”
“We’re incredibly proud,” said The Grid editor Lianne George, pointing out that the publication’s editorial staff is committed to producing design elements that “delight” readers.
“We’ve tried to do something really special and unique with The Grid, not only with the design but the overall editorial product. For us it’s a testament to the creativity of the team we have and all the hard work we put into it,” she said.
This marks the third time that the Postmedia-owned National Post has been honoured by the Society of News Design. The publication also won in both 1998 and 2000.
The judges said that the Post lures readers with a “sultry beauty” and praised the national daily for its “excellence in, and devotion to, true visual storytelling.” The publication, they added “uses every visual tool in its arsenal to perfection.”
“We are in the business of telling stories, and there are many ways to do that,” said National Post editor-in-chief Stephen Meurice in a release. “One of them is visually – through the use of design graphics and illustrations.
“That visual component has always been of the utmost importance at the Post on all of our platforms – print, digital and mobile – and we’ve assembled the best team in the world to deliver it.”
The other winning publications included the Mexico City daily Excelsior, the German publication Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitun and the Copenhagen-based daily Politiken.
