Design Delirium

Syracuse – Go Madrid! And Montreal! And San Francisco!
I just spent 22 hours volunteering at the Society for News Design’s annual competition held here in Syracuse. MY GOD, there’s phenomenal talent in this world.
I assisted the team that judged feature stories and sections. Generally speaking, Europe produced the most off-beat and provocative designs; there were even fornicating chocolate bunnies on one cover page.

I fell hard for the “Metropoli” covers (see colorful spread above ) by the 41-year-old Rodrigo Sanchez, who I’ve since learned is an absolute legend in the industry (“Metropoli” is a weekly magazine inserted into El Mundo, a Madrid newspaper).
Also on the brilliant list:

* Montreal’s La Presse; feature pages that are young, fresh and smart.

* LA Times’ “West” magazine; gorgeous layouts.

* The San Jose Mercury New’s “Eye”; arts & entertainment tab with clever, vibrant covers (see basketball).

* The San Francisco Chronicle’s “Datebook”; a&e tab with diverse, imaginative covers (see black and red typography).

* And, of course, The New York Times, particularly its Sunday magazine and “Style” magazine (see pie); design throughout is consistently striking, thought-provoking, original and flawless. -- JM