At the end of the second day of the World’s Best-Designed portion of the Best of Newspaper Design Competition we wondered what it was the judges were looking for specifically. So we asked them each: “What makes a World’s Best-Designed Newspaper?”

In its 29th annual “The Best of Newspaper Design™ Creative Competition,” the Society for News Design has named four “World’s Best-Designed Newspapers™” and issued 1,162 other design awards for journalism published in 2007. The winners — which came from 14,818 entries submitted by 373 daily and nondaily newspapers around the world — are listed in a searchable database.

It’s all over in Syracuse. The World’s Best-Designed Newspaper judges have cast their final ballots, pitched their last arguments and swayed their last colleague. The judges have written their rationales and recorded their parting thoughts. The winning pages are being photographed late into the night before being securely stored. And the world waits — just over 12 more hours — to know who won. Tune in at 2 p.m. EST to find out.

Work continues as the judges inch closer to their descriptions of the World’s Best. The field has been narrowed to four finalists. Judges will meet today to hammer out their final statements and make preparations for the formal announcement of the winners. We expect the web-cam to be back on-line later today, and of course, we’ll be back Tuesday for The Big Announcement at 2 p.m. EST — tune in to see who the judges will select as the WB winners!

Following a brief lunch break, discussion of the World’s Best-Designed Newspaper finalists resumes this bleary Sunday afternoon. (The judges don’t mind being trapped in the Sheraton’s Waverly room right now since it’s raining, gray and nearly 40 degrees (F) outside… yes, balmy by Syracuse standards.) Since we’re in a sensitive stage of the final round and there will be lots of looking at newspapers, etc., the streaming web-cam will go off-line for the rest of Sunday while the judges finalize their opinions and selections.

We expect to be back on-line Monday as final statements are prepared, and of course, we’ll be back Tuesday for The Big Announcement — tune in to see who the judges will select as the WB winners!

What made them different? VIctors? VIsion? VItality? VIbrancy?

Six. Seis. VI.

That’s all that remains in the World’s Best-Designed Newspaper (TM) Competition. The finalists are now on the table for review, judges are pushing ahead and discussing where they are headed now. Rest assured they will then tell us what set these six apart.

The judges returned at 9 a.m. today to kick off Day Three of the World’s Best judging. They seem upbeat, focused and ready to head into the home stretch. They narrowed the field of 343 overall entries down to 14 by the end of Saturday — and have already taken the survivor pool down to 11 as of 10:15 a.m. EST. Their work is not done once they select their finalist(s), however. Once chosen and agreed on, they will have to select pages for the annual book and then craft their summary statements for each winner.

We expect to be able to relay their final announcements on Tuesday. Watch The Blog for exact details and continued updates.

SND competition director C. Marshall Matlock breaks down where things stand on Day 2 of the World’s Best judging, which started Friday in Syracuse.

Round Two of the World’s Best-Designed Newspaper competition is in the books, as they say. The judges came, saw, and voted down more than 2 out of every 3 entries that survived Friday’s first cut, resulting in only 14 headed into Round Three. The heaviest scrutiny will begin Sunday morning in Syracuse, when the process to determine finalists begins.

Perhaps inspired by SU’s victory, there was a push for the final quarter of the second round. Judges have found their “groove,” as one said just before lunch Saturday. They’re continuing to make good progress. They took a quick break for a sandwich (no Varsity pizza for this crew) and to catch part of the SU-Georgetown game.

The WB judges are taking a break for lunch but expect to be back at it at 2pm EST this afternoon. At this point they’ve reviewed more than half of the 48 remaining entries.

Look out for “video confessional”postings later today once The Blog gets a chance to hear from the judges themselves.

And we’re ba-a-ack! While the judges rested their road-weary bones, Syracuse was blanketed with still more fresh snow. No matter though, because we’re not going anywhere. We’re trapped in the hotel and ready to dig into Day Two of the WB judging. 48 entries remain and the critical review in now under way.

The judges made quick work of their first pass through Category One. After meeting and greeting at a late lunch, the international group got down to business in a hurry, taking the 343 total entries (in all sizes and divisions) down to less than 50 survivors. Those remaining entries will be carefully scrutinized when the group resumes early Saturday.

As always, the competition was exciting, stimulating and tiring as the hard-working judges pored over more than 14,000 entries in three long days of debate and discussion. It was apparent this was a competition where illustration shined. More than ever, illustration was part of the story telling, even on page one and very effectively on editorial pages. On the last day, nearly a 1000 illustrations were judged. Illustration is becoming a key part of the ever-changing role of newspapers as they appear to becoming more analytical.

Category One is now officially under way. The judges evaluating Category One — World’s Best-Designed Newspaper (TM) — for the 29th edition of SND’s Best of Newspaper Design Creative Competition are: Michael Adams, art director at Basler Zeitung (Switzerland); John Belknap is creative director of The Jewish Chronicle newspaper (London); Tim Goheen, art director for MCT (McClatchy-Tribune) Graphics; and Christopher P. Winner is editor and publisher of The American magazine, an English-language monthly (Rome).

Categories 2-19 are in the books, but SND’s 29th creative competition isn’t over yet. The World’s Best Designed judges are just now gathering in Syracuse and getting to know each other, walking through the judging process and getting familiar with the rules. The streaming video rig (minus audio) has been moved from Drumlins Country Club — the site of last weekend’s competition fun — to the Waverly Room at the Sheraton Syracuse University. Just click in the rail at right and watch as a savvy team of international judges begin to read 343 newspapers.

It’s all over in Syracuse! The judges are all heading home today, as well as all the hard-working facilitators and data entry folks. The World’s Best judges arrive later this week, and we’ll be bringing you live coverage of that judging as well. But enough chit-chat … you want to know the big winners, right? Well … either click to the jump or check out the video below!

Vice President Matt Mansfield and facilitator Melissa Angle recap the major results from the 29th Best of Newspaper Design Competition.

We’ll close with a page from St. Pete
plus hangover, backache, sore feet

As we get ready to head for our homes
we thank god there will be no more poems

2 p.m. update » We’re really almost done. Winner No. 1,050 was just entered into the database, and it goes to Diario de Pernambuco in Brazil, for feature page design. There’s two sub-categories left, and then it’s on to the Best of Show discussions.

With just three categories left to judge, we’ve crossed the 1,000 mark for awards. The winner with that distinctive number was The Bulletin in Bend, Oregon who won an award of excellence in feature design for a Go! Magazine cover. There are still a number of winners out on the floor that have yet to make it to the input desk. They’re being held back for discussions about a potential medal.

Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung
Or FAZ for short if you’d like some

While the rest of the world cuts its web width
They’re still wide enough to cover your bed with

The SF Chron is pretty pink,
Makes you wonder what Matt Petty drinks

He’s crazy, batty, tussled just so,
wind him up and the ideas just flow

10:45 a.m. update » Two judging groups have now completed their work for the competition, and the other three groups are closing in on the finish line here in sunny (no kidding!) Syracuse. The news judges just finished the redesign category and are done with their categories; features is heading toward illustration portfolios; the long form judges are working on features section redesigns; graphics is done; and the small papers group is wrapping up right now.

9:30 a.m. update » We’re rallying here at the SNDIWD. The four remaining judging groups - graphics is all wrapped up - have begun work on the final morning. The news judges are working on news and sports section and page redesigns; the features group is judging color illustrations, the largest remaining category (nearly 1000 entries); the long form group is working on overall magazine design; and the small newspaper group is judging feature pages.

Metropoli’s just so damn clever,
have they ever done a bad page ever?

Lead by Rodrigo and his talented bunch,
good god I think I have a man crush

After an easy first day, Los Angeles Times deputy design director Kelli Sullivan recaps a slightly more difficult second day at the 29th Best of Newspaper Design Competition.

Matt Mansfield recaps day two of judging, including the top 10 winners.

We may not exactly be bright-eyed just yet (see Flickr feed in a few hours) but the SND International Web Desk is back on the air, ready to bring you all the news, as it happens, on the final day of the 29th Edition. If you’ve missed our coverage thus far, check out the many updates and videos from the first two days of competition, and check back often throughout the day!

29th Edition Coordinator Greg Swanson weighs in with his thoughts on the competition so far.

Ramachandra Babu, senior illustrator and feature page designer at the Gulf News in Dubai, is spending his first visit to the U.S. judging at the SND Competition in Syracuse. He talks to Bill Gaspard about his background and shares his thoughts on participating in his first SND Competition.

Is there anything cooler than Star Wars?
Pick-up trucks? Comic books? Two-by-fours?

It’s obvious the Gulf News was struck
They made this awesome sextuple truck

Updated 8 p.m. update — The judges are back at the tables after dinner. With just a couple thousand entries left, we have 832 winners in the database. The latest winner was an award of excellence for a combination portfolio for Cindy Wehling of the High Country News in Paonia, Colorado. Other portfolios are still on the tables — as are the first of the redesign categories.

5:30 p.m. update » The eighth Gold medal of the 29th Edition has been awarded — to The Guardian, in the Features Section Design category, for their G2 section.

Excelsior’s got a lot of fizz,
most exciting paper in the biz

They’re bold, they’re smart, you can tell they think -
hopefully they won’t run out of color ink

3:00 p.m. update — We’re through 10,000 entries now and we’ve just passed the 650 mark on awards entered into the database. The latest winner is Zeta Weekly in Baja, California for a tabloid news cover. The judges are having their photos taken and taking a quick break for a neck and shoulder massage. The graphics judges are winding up their work in all the graphics categories. The biggest category still to go out — more than 1,000 entries — is illustration.

Matt Mansfield and Melissa Angle keep the updates coming as the snow begins to fall in Syracuse at SND’s 29th competition.

They tried to close an airport in Berlin
which caused some readers’ heads to spin

So Der Tagesspiegel ran a page of headline clips
Cool idea — gotta remember that trick

12:30 p.m. update » It’s lunch time on Day 2, and holy crap is it SNOWING outside. You’d think this was, like, Syracuse or something. The winds are howling, too. Good times.

Any-hoo … we know you want winners … so here’s the latest one crossing the SND International Web Desk … an Award of Excellence goes to The Columbus Dispatch for non-breaking graphic — this one, on an Insight page, on how judges pick the best livestock at the State Fair!

10:30 a.m. update » The Gold Rush is on at SND29! We now have a total of five Golds awarded this morning between the features and photo judging groups.

The National Post is way creative,
as the Avenue section is illustrative

A poem, a chart, a giant photo,
Makes you wonder what’s in their water

We’re halfway through the competition - 7,000 entries have been judged thus far — and we’ve just seen two more Gold medals of the weekend awarded. The San Francisco Chronicle wins a Gold medal for entertainment page design for their Datebook feature on “The Cost of a Ticket,” and The New York Times also wins Gold for entertainment page for “The New Season.”

As Day 2 begins, here’s what the judging groups are doing. News is working on A section compact page design; the long form team is working on special sections; features is working on entertainment tabs; graphics is moving into portfolio work; and the photo team just wrapped up its photo categories by judging staff portfolios. They’ll move into medal discussions next, and then begin their work on the small newspaper categories.

Breaking news - it snowed in Syracuse last night! But nothing could stop the intrepid gang of 27 judges from their duty … getting to Drumlins for Day 2 of the 29th edition. The judges are getting organized in their groups and having a bit of breakfast. We’ll get some details together from Day 1 and report in just a bit. Stay tuned all day for news as it happens!

We’re closing down coverage for the evening from Syracuse. It’s been a very productive opening day of SND29, with a little more than 6,000 entries judged - that’s a good start! We’ll provide updates starting bright and early Sunday morning, so check back early and often on Day 2. Good night from Syracuse!

As Day 1 moves into its final hours here in Syracuse, we’re about 6,000 entries into the competition. To recap, the judges have awarded two golds and 10 silver medals thus far. It was pizza night tonight at SND29, before sending the judges back to work for a couple more hours.

Matt Mansfield and Melissa Angle recap the initial moments of SND’s 29th competition.

The LAT runs photos big
The photogs must be dancing jigs

5 col? 6 col? Why not ten?
They also love stories, but where the hell do they put them?!?

5:30 p.m. update » As Day 1 turns into Night 1, we have our first Gold Medals of the competition - one awarded to the Los Angeles Times for a portrait of woman in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and the other for a photo illustration by the Cleveland Plain Dealer’s Andrea Levy about taxes. These came with a handfull of Silver Medals in photo, news and features.

Check out judging assistant Chris Courtney’s blog, where DesignMonkey tours the judging environs, hangs with some locals and generally makes the most of this special time in Syracuse.

In Cleveland they like to art direct,
as they did on this one, we suspect

They grabbed the camera and some dirt,
but the team that won wore the other shirt

Los Angeles Times deputy design director Kelli Sullivan reflects on the first morning of judging. This is first in a series of diaries by Best of Newspaper Design judges.

A tradition unlike any other … the arrival of the first cheese-and-cracker tray at SND29. Past judges, facilitators and students all will recognize the importance of this annual rite of passage. The Drumlins folks really know how to serve up their cheese. Yummy.

The NYT is good with charts,
including this on Oscar parts

It shows who each winner thanked,
and connects the lines, so you can relate

3:30 p.m. update » We’re about halfway through Day 1 of the 29th edition, and three judging groups are into their first medal discussions. The first three silver medals of SND29 have been awarded, and just for a little perspective, the five groups have made their way through about 20 percent of the entries thus far.

Here’s a cool illo from Die Zeit — a zebra with some funny stripes

Man those Germans can be smart, combining info with their art

1:30 p.m. update » The judging groups are just getting back from lunch (deli sandwiches, caesar salad + soup) and beginning their afternoon work here in Syracuse. The winners are starting to tumble into the SNDIWD area, and we can announce winner No. 50. The Los Angeles Times captures an Award of Excellence in Photo Illustration, for their basketball preview section cover.

11:30 a.m. update » The five judging groups are all starting to find their grooves after more than two hours of judging. We’ve made our way through several sub-categories already. On the tables currently are sports photography, business page design, special news topics-national, home + real estate page design and breaking news graphics.

After 18 years serving as Dean of the S.I. Newhouse School at Syracuse, David Rubin is stepping down. He’s been a steadfast supporter of SND’s annual creative competition and, on the eve of the 29th competition, vice president Matt Mansfield talked with Rubin about his tenure at Syracuse and the university’s relationship with SND.

The first Award of Excellence for SND29 goes to the San Diego Union-Tribune, in Special News Topics, for coverage of the California wildfires. What else is on the tables, you ask? The judges are currently looking at opinion pages, special news topics, local news pages, spot news photography, and breaking news graphics.

The 27 judges for this weekend can now be revealed. They work in groups of five, with three “yes” votes needed for an entry to win an award. There are two “generalist” judges as well, who vote on the many entries with which judges have conflicts.

The 29th edition of the Best of Newspaper Design is up and running in beautiful Syracuse, N.Y. - and the SND International Web Desk is on the air, ready to bring you play-by-play of all the action.

At 9 a.m., the 27 judges - 5 groups of 5, plus two “conflict” judges - were receiving final instructions from judging team captains and 29th edition coordinator Greg Swanson. The first five categories are on the tables - the first of the nearly 15,000 entries to be judged. We’ll be taking you behind the scenes of the judging for the next three days, including coverage of winners as they happen. Stay tuned to update.snd.org for complete coverage all weekend long!

Over the next four days, we’ll be on hand to report from the 29th Annual Best of Newspaper Design competition. The global gathering of graphics and design pros kicks off today at Syracuse University, home of the Society for News Design’s annual judging for nearly two decades. The SND International Web Desk has you covered, rest assured.

They say you can’t judge a book by its cover, but the first ever competition to design the Society’s book cover has been judged, and the winners are… Jay Fletcher, a staff artist at The Post and Courier in Charleston, SC, and James Watts, creative director of the Atlanta Business Chronicle.

Just can’t get enough from Syracuse? Sort of a newspaper design geek? We understand, trust us. Relive the action from last year’s judging, with the dramatic twists and turns that made it a memorable year for the 28th Best of Newspaper Design. Check out the online coverage, which one reviewer called “spine-tinglingly energetic in its devotion to a niche subject,” and remember the magic all over again.