First place: Whitney Willard, Daily Commercial

The redesign is a dramatic improvement and the base design has a clean, simple hierarchy and better highlights what’s most important on 1A and the rest of the paper. The flag is greatly improved. Great sports cover and the infographic has great attention to detail as well. In a strong category of entries, ultimately the ability to make the entire newspaper better with the strong redesign wins out.

Second place: Nick Dumont, The Gaston Gazette

“Certain stories deserve more than the standard pagination our website provides. I design and code online stories to make them interactive, showcase eye-catching visuals, or to add a special element specific to the online medium.”

View Nick’s projects online: The Gazette’s playoff predictions, Death Row inmates from Gaston County, Sweet Crave

Follow Nick on Twitter @ndumontGG

Nice work on packaging all of the information on all three, especially the parallax scrolling of Sweet Crave. Great packaging of information with other two pieces.

Third place: Emely Delsanto, Taunton Daily Gazette

Strong centerpieces focusing on compelling lead images and designer shows various methods to illustrate story whether through photography, illustrations, information or graphics.