Place Name: First Place Contestant Name: The Daily Cardinal Entry Title: A peek into Madison DIY music Entry Credit: Annika Bereny Judge Comment: I'm a big fan of multi-story layouts in all newspapers and think that student newspapers in particular do not make enough attempts at them. The use of color in this is particularly impressive as it presents a cohesive look for the overall feature even as there are different acts featured in the coverage. The only nit I'll pick is that you don't necessarily need multi-person photos for each act....that's a lot of people you're cramming into small photos for the reader. But very smooth overall.
Place Name: Second Place Contestant Name: The Advance-Titan Entry Title: Augmento comic centerspread Entry Credit: Katie Pulvermacher Judge Comment: Notwithstanding a bland headline, the actual layout of elements is fun and gets the reader interested to learn more about the participants. And I'm very pleased to see the team resisted the temptation to do an "all-illustration" design and actually utilized the headshots at their disposal to actually put faces to the project. Well done.
Place Name: Third Place Contestant Name: The Daily Cardinal Entry Title: B-Side Records: A small business with an impactful history Entry Credit: Lauren Aguila, Meghan Spirito, Cora Spychalla, Cameron Schneider, Mary Bosch Judge Comment: There isn't anything particularly inventive about the layout itself but if I were judging this category strictly as a photo essay, this would absolutely be the winner. I have a good feeling like I've already walked through this record store just by perusing this feature.
Place Name: Honorable Mention Contestant Name: The Advance-Titan Entry Title: UWO volleyball serves up a record Entry Credit: Josh Lehner, Jacob Link Judge Comment: I have to provide a HM to this for its ambition although it ended up possibly being a little clunkier than the designer intended. Communicating the sheer volume of the winning streak via the "u" layout is a good idea....may have worked even better as a strict graphic layout with the story on another page. Also re: the 30-0, I think you were going for the effect of the player "pointing" at the record but instead it was more "30-0" swallowing her hand. Still, a very solid attempt at telling an impressive story.
Competition Comment: So many different designs to choose from. I will challenge everyone who entered to continue exploring the layout possibilities that the shadows in their photos provide. In the winning entry, the dropshading was great. A lot of that starts with knowing what you're working with in terms of raw material and working outward from there.
