Innovation.

Based on preliminary comments from the judges at SND's 28th annual creative competition, you'd think it was dead. Is it merely a coincidence that the Register anounced the end of print today?

Here's what Nuri Ducassi said: "It was difficult to find innovation, or at the very least a fresh take on the known design formulas."

According to Bonnie Jo Mount, "After reviewing the newspapers this morning, they started to look alike."

Ally Palmer said, "So far there have not been many surprises and the general standard has been average."

Based on the "been there, done that" designs of a few of the first five hundred award-winning pages – like this one and this one and this one – you'd have to agree. Each year for a quarter century, SND has given hundreds of awards for six-column photos and single-story fronts. Enough already. We get it – even as fewer and fewer readers are bothering to look.

By Sunday night, SND announced: "WE'VE HIT 1,200 WINNERS!" – as if that was something to be proud of. At this rate, the number of SND winners may someday exceed the number of newspaper readers.

A quarter century ago, SND was a driving force – arguably the driving force – for innovation in newspapers. If ever there was a time to reignite that force, that time is now. The contribution that SND, and its members, have made to newspapers is incalculable. Now would be an excellent time to apply that creativity to reinvigorate newspapers.

But fear not. Today's best front designs display the kind of innovative solutions you'd think SND would recognize in order to advance the state of newspaper design. The newspaper industry is in crisis. Industry groups should be promoting innovation, not honoring the status quo. Innovative solutions like these:

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch had the best above-the-nameplate promo and a strong single-copy presentation. The Bakersfield Californian also had a strong single-copy presence, with an eye-catching refer to the Daytona 500 that bested Daytona's hometown paper.

The Daily News had the best headline: "Britney shears". The Salt Lake Tribune and the Deseret Morning News demonstrated how cropping and facial expressions can make for subtle but significant differences between lead photos. The Star-Telegram had an elegant type treatment. The Ventura County Star also had an effective type treatment. Both of these could have helped single-copy sales if they were placed higher on the page. The Birmingham News had an arresting centerpiece. The Roanoke Times started out strong with a bodybuilding promo, but then they created a world of hurt with their NASCAR photo-illustration, proving why Photoshop isn't the always the answer.

Today's BFD is The Orange County Register with a prediction that should motivate all of us to stop whining and start innovating. (Read the Register's story here.)

Is it the truly the end…for newspapers? Two quotations come to mind:

1. "We have met the enemy and he is us."

2. "You're either part of the solution or part of the problem."

Let's start solving the problem by creating pages that dare readers not read them. Like this one from Orange County.

Room for improvement: The "Doubling up" promo did just that – doubled up the images. It would have looked better to place this promo above the nameplate, using the nameplate as a visual buffer.


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