1st Place (tie)
The Virginian-Pilot
Norfolk, Va.

Excellent use of a dominant photo that gives the page a pleasing center of visual impact that leads into the reader into the seven promos/teasers across the bottom of the page.

Good use of the orange inauguration special sign/label at the top right-hand side of the page to set the tempo for the page.

This page is a definite keeper for the reader and history.

Clean, simple and excellent contrasting typography help move the eye through the verbal portion of the page.

1st Place (tie)
The Virginian-Pilot
Norfolk, Va.

The Virginian-Pilot shows class in news design, using creativity and simplicity in ways that every newspaper should follow. 

Taking advantage of an interesting topic, The V-P uses typography creatively to create a great focus point on the page, without the need for any major photo with the package. 

The use of white space on the page gives it a clean look, without abusing too many or too much color, assisted by the use of half columns to tease readers with additional information inside and online. 

The page does a great job at incorporating several other stories without taking away from the main look, providing quite a bit of information – as well as the “evil” front-page ad – while still making this a great page. 

A very classy and clean overall page that reinforces The V-P’s tradition in great design.

1st Place (tie)
The Virginian-Pilot
Norfolk, Va.

Nice use of a two- line headline. By using the word "How" in the headline, readers know that this story will offer meaning. And, it shows readers that the newspaper has the inside story. 

By adding the informative graphic, readers know they will get their money’s worth. 

Elsewhere on the page are compelling photographs:  a nature scene and a human face

1st Place (tie)
The Virginian-Pilot
Norfolk, Va.

This page shows that The Virginian-Pilot is creative and full of surprises for its readers.

Its pages have clever headlines, are simple, clean, dramatic, take chances and are reader friendly. 

The paper is not afraid to reduce the nameplate, move the baseline on a display headline, create a non-modular page with dog legs/arm pits and use of strong photographs that are cropped and played well.

The pages have strong vertical and horizontal movement, are easy to follow. This is a refrigerator or bulletin board saving- page with good attention paid to details from the top to the bottom of the page. 

The paper knows how to work with ads on the page and not let them take away from the design.

1st Place (tie)
The Virginian-Pilot
Norfolk, Va.

Local...local...local.

Local paper, big local story, big local photo. Add an informative map, three explanatory headlines, plus a clever and accurate one-word headline. Make your nameplate extremely small. Crop your main photo in a very unusual, extremely vertical shape. Add a series of black and red decks and a one-word red headline on top of a black box.  This was the approach of The V-P to its “Carmageddon” layout.

Taking a story that could be designed in a very boring and common way, The V-P took it up a notch and came up with a very interesting layout, without reinventing the wheel. 

The boxing of the other stories and the front-page ad help keep this an easy-to-follow and read page, of which the designers should be proud.

2nd Place
The Birmingham News
Birmingham, Ala.

Great attention was paid to detail on this page – from the strong visual impact of the Oscar promo ... to the basketball promo below the nameplate that pops into the scared goat of most newspapers ... to the strong center of visual impact with the downturn graphic.  The page is clean and easy to follow.

The "Best Guesses for Oscar" images turned out to be correct, even if the newspaper didn't identify the faces with a cutline.

Not only does a newspaper buyer save $89 by using every coupon in this paper, he or she has saved $920 for the year! 

The basketball photo literally leaps off the page and into the nameplate, even if the reader doesn't know whether "Ramsay" is the player or a school.

The plus of the page is that the enterprise package is displayed compellingly in file-and-chart form.

This page makes very good use of graphics, silhouettes and rounded shapes. It's a very interesting page.

3rd Place
The Tennessean
Nashville, Tenn.

Strong use of a stunning lead photograph grabs the readers’ attention on this page.

Good, clean, simple, nearly formal design.  Its an easy-to-follow and read page – from the promos at the top of the page to the bottom of the page refers.

This ia a good example of allowing the big news of the day to have big display, allowing the whole page to focus on the topic that readers are talking about.

Theinformative, dramatic photograph is displayed well.

Honorable Mention
The Oklahoman
Oklahoma City, Okla.

This page has strong visual impact. We like the skyscraper popping into the nameplate, the insetting of the story and factoids of information in the lead art. 

Good vertical and horizontal movement on the page.

Honorable Mention
Tulsa World
Tulsa, Okla.

The dramatic lead image pulls you into the page with a magazine treatment of the headline.

Good use of an informational graphic and refers to inside coverage. 

Good use of vertical vs. horizontal movement on the page.