Exhibition to showcase creative newspaper designs
Steve Dorsey, president of the US-based Society for News Design, is expected to speak on the evolution of newspaper design in UAE and open the official Best of News Design exhibition in the American University of Sharjah(AUS).
The exhibit, which will be held in the College of Architecture, Art and Design (CAAD) gallery at AUS from Nov. 20 - Dec.1, will feature award winning work from the MENA region by publications such as The Gulf News, The National, Al Bayan and Times of Oman.
The displays are selected from The Best of News Design Creative Competition and the award winners are featured in the 37th annual book, The Best of News Design. The Society for News Design, founded in the United States in 1979, and the Newhouse School of Communication at Syracuse University sponsor the annual Best of News Design competition, as well as related exhibitions and publications.
At the AUS event, Gulf News will present some of the best designed pages published last year.
Dr Mario Garcia, from Garcia Media and responsible for the first Gulf News redesign, says: “Right now, with so much emphasis placed on digital media, I can see how an exhibit that makes newspapers the protagonist is a very good idea. Many people know newspapers as household items, like they do a chair, a table or a fork. Not much attention is paid to them.”
“For the newspapers in the region that are still not up to speed in terms of design, the exhibit will be an eye opener to all the possibilities,” he adds.
Lucie Lacava, responsible for the redesign of The National and Al Ittihad in Abu Dhabi, says: “Newspapers in the Middle East have reasons to celebrate the extraordinary work from the region.”
“This exhibition brings to light the importance of visual journalism in the storytelling process. From page design, to photography, illustration and info-graphics, in just a couple of years these papers managed to reach the highest standards of visual excellence, an accomplishment which often takes decades to reach elsewhere,” she says.
According to Lacava, “The challenge now is not only to maintain this lead and level of creativity, but to also apply it to other platforms, since newspapers can no longer rely on the print version alone. But in doing so they must remember to maintain and enforce their loyalty to the brand, as they evolve into other mediums.”
The exhibit opens on Nov. 20 at 5pm in the CAAD gallery and runs till Dec. 1. The opening will feature a round-table discussion in the CAAD auditorium on the state of news design in the region.
“What is most impressive is the degree to which newspapers in the region have plainly made intelligent, innovative design core to their missions,” says Stephen Komives, SND’s executive director. “It is not seen as a luxury but a central value. And it is not confined to a single paper or country, but continuing to spread throughout the region.”
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What: Best of News Design from the Mideast
Where: The American University of Sharjah
When: The exhibit opens Sunday, 20 November at 5:00 in the CAAD gallery. Sunday’s opening will feature a round table discussion in the CAAD auditorium on the state of news design in the MENA region.
Participants will include:
Steve Dorsey, President, Society of News Design
Douglas Okasaki, SND Regional Director, region 20- ME and Africa
Miguel Gomez, ArtDirector, Gulf News
Laura Koot, Managing Editor, The National
Adonis Durado, Design Director, Times of Oman
Luis Chumpitas, Art Director, Al Bayan
More information snd20@snd20.org
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