Best Front-Page Design (Enrollment Division 5)Back
Place Name: First Place Contestant Name: Stevenson High School Entry Title: Alice's Evidence Entry Credit: Fiona Jin Judge Comment: Pretty psychedelic feel to this page 1, and I’m sure that was the intent. The graphic itself is a formidable size, appropriate for the topic. The reference to the story -- “Desensitized to the drill” and the copy that follows – could be a larger type size to capture the eye as it moves down the page. Thoughtful approach to a difficult subject.
Place Name: Second Place Contestant Name: Glenbrook South High School Entry Title: The Oracle page 1 - VOLUME LXVII, Issue 5, March 22, 2024 Entry Credit: Mia Carr, Gaby Yap Judge Comment: Interesting use of color and outlines of students to highlight the prevalence of students sitting alone at lunchtime. The index to stories inside (with photos) might have been better placed horizontally along the bottom, to avoid distracting from the key editorial/art package.
Place Name: Third Place Contestant Name: New Trier High School Entry Title: New Trier News December Issue Front Page Entry Credit: Neil Sanderson Judge Comment: Traditional but highly attractive page 1, with a good dominant photo and appropriately sized non-dominant photo anchoring the bottom part of the page. I like the index with photos along the bottom. Nice type choices.
Place Name: Honorable Mention Contestant Name: Glenbrook South High School Entry Title: The Oracle Page 1 - Volume LXV Issue 4, February 14, 2025 Entry Credit: Sofia Cole, Kaitlyn Jiang, Sarah Park Judge Comment: Good, dominant artwork here as part of the “1st” . Good issue to tackle, although the story fails to mention Illinois’ New Voices Act, which specifically addresses prior restraint.
Place Name: Honorable Mention Contestant Name: Downers Grove South High School Entry Title: Issue 5: Page 1 Entry Credit: Yoldi Villa Judge Comment: Nice, newsy front page, with the blue in the index at right playing off the prevalence of blue in uniforms. Good dominant photo with lead story; nice size on secondary story.
Competition Comment: The remaining entries were outstanding and would have received recognition if we weren’t limited to two honorable mentions. “Decision 2024”: Excellent illustration, but information about the specific content inside would be welcome (teasers or brief listing of contents with page numbers). “School security adapts to national violence”: Fine job with a traditional newspaper front page, but let’s create more hierarchy by making the lead photo and lead headline clearly dominant. “Woven Into History”: Amazing image, very powerful design! Hard to improve on this; the rest of the competition is just really strong this year.
