Today's front pages exhibited some inventive solutions to visual challenges. The Arizona Daily Star came up with an out-of-this-world solution to make a point about commuting. The News Tribune delivered a clever play on the Wal-Mart logo, and used white space to organize the page in a sophisticated way. The Indianapolis Star and RedEye had some fun with football, while The Star Press served up a more elegant solution to the same story.

The Columbus Dispatch had the best headline: "Degree of Difficulty," about the challenges of higher education. Far too often, attempts at clever headlines miss the mark, but this one worked. The Forum tried the same approach with "No.1 pick," adorning their front page with larger-than-life fruit.

The Gazette in Colorado Springs had the best front design with its folo on the apartment fire.

This page did the most important things right: Leading with a local story, using a big, bold headline that works both literally and figuratively, giving a story-telling picture all the space it needed to be legible, and using short-form, bulleted headlines to provide the most pertinent information in the most efficient way. The Gazette also made sure that the lead headline, lead photo and bulleted subheads fit neatly above the fold for the most effective single-copy presentation.



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