For sheer impact, nothing topped today's
Newsday with its typographic solution and powerful use of a limited number of colors. In contrast,
The Modesto Bee used a few too many colors in its fast-food package.
For sheer goofiness, nothing topped the lede photo on the front page of today's
Washington Post. The photo of a man appearing to hold two toilet-paper tubes to his eyes is actually a photo of a man holding two toilet-paper tubes to his eyes.
For sheer elegance, nothing topped the weather photo on the front of
The Oregonian. The El Paso Times also had an effective weather package with a big, bold headline, and secondary photos and heads that addressed the impact elsewhere, on travel and on traffic.
For sheer spookiness, nothing topped the Poughkeepsie Journal, making it today's best front design.
The Journal led with a big headline and big photo that made for effective single-copy presentation. Adding to the newsiness of the package was the series of secondary headlines presented in a rat-a-tat-tat style. "Online extras," set in yellow to match the photo, were displayed prominently and directed readers to content exclusive to the online experience.
Room for improvement: The above-the-fold presentation showed real sophistication. But the page was no better than average from the fold down making it appear as if one person designed the top-half of the page and another person designed the bottom. Compare this to
The Indianapolis Star, which had a great above-the-fold presentation on the Colts that carried through all the way to the bottom of the page. The Star managed to placed its largest photo below the fold without sacrifying its effective, above-the-fold single-copy presentation.
The bottom of the Journal's page could have been improved with judicious use of white space to separate elements, fewer refers written tighter and a better photo for the church story. A heavier rule beneath the lede package would have helped to separate it more effectively from the unrelated elements below.
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