2006 WINNERS

ONLINE

    • FIRST PLACE
      F Newsmagazine | http://fnewsmagazine.com
      COMMENTS: The School of the Art Insitute of Chicago's F NEWS site was a clear winner this year. The content is all about art and the design does a great job of showcasing the content. The design is simple and elegant, with cool grays and blues that complement the art. There is a good balance of images and words throughout the site -- each story page includes a bold horizontal art element as an integral part of the design. The font choices are bold and easy to read. Many of the headlines, reviews and essays are well written, with edgy subject matter and bright headlines written to attract their target audience. A few nice features on the site are well-produced video, RSS feeds, a search capability, and "F Zine," a place for high schools to contribute. The judges noted that a calendar of local events would be a valuable addition to the site, and that the blog pages could be designed to better match the rest of the site.
    • SECOND PLACE
      Scroll | http://www.byui.edu/scroll
      COMMENTS: The Scroll at BYU Idaho is a good, serious site, capable of connecting, entertaining and educating readers. It was impressive both in content and design. Its attractive presentation and smart navigation made it a pleasure to explore. Strong writing and assured editing are evident. Photos accompany nearly every story that can be enhanced visually, and the format shows an enviable flexibility in photo display. In some places with photos, less was definitely more. Useful links on the site offer access to campus calendars, e-mail services, financial aid and directories. Assets include a "Timeline" section, which details the publication's storied history, and an archive showing the site's been well managed since 2001. The front page PDF was a cool feature to have on a campus site. The judges observed that site editors might want to consider a Lifestyles page, as certain entries on the Religion page didn’t seem to fit. But just about everything else worked well.
    • THIRD PLACE
      The Oklahoma Daily | http://www.oudaily.com
      COMMENTS: Oklahoma's oudaily.com site delivers many features that professional daily newspaper sites do not, and it does so with clean and functional design and bold colors. The presence of a site search, campus calendar, weather, RSS feeds and a PDA version of the site were positive features. Ads are well integrated, and it's nice to see such a strong showing of advertising on a campus site. In addition, the judges thought the efforts to involve the readers -- article commenting, submit a story, sign up for newsletters -- all were part of a reader-focused design. Photo use is stronger than on several sites we saw, but could be stronger with broader use of photos, especially on features and sports pages. One thought: Article commenting, while ahead of many sites, seems not to be used by the readers. It's possible that a simple "Comment on this story" would drive more usage of the feature.
    • HONORABLE MENTIONS
      72hoursonline | http://72hoursonline.com
      COMMENTS: Ball State's 72hrsonline was the most radically different entry this year. The use of Flash 'slideshow' presentations throughout the site and the heavy use of photos and typography feel very magazine-like, but the download times for each section are noticeably long. The content is very light but with an edge. Perhaps because this is a Flash site, there is no search capability, and there is a striking visual disconnect between the site design and the blog pages, but overall 72hrsonline looks and feels different.

      The Daily Titan | http://www.dailytitan.com
      COMMENTS: Cal State-Fullerton's newsy site has good content and features, but unfortunately the home page, every section front, and every article are nearly defined by a large central ad, in an incongruous color. Perhaps that ad should be labeled as such, because it appears to lead to a section. Homepage photos are surprisingly large, then often dwarfed by headlines and captions on section front pages, before expanding again at the article level. The judges noted an occasional display problem, with a photo pushing text into a slender column. Searchable events calendar is a major plus. The Buzz, a section of cultural happenings, benefits from a different look, but it would be nice to see it complement, rather than conflict, both in design and navigation. The site has helpful links to other campus sites, webcams and interactive maps. “Most popular” articles box and poll are both nice to offer readers.

site created by nick leonard