For those who doesn't know: The Grid is a Toronto-focused weekly arts, news and culture newspaper. It was formally Eye Weekly. It comes out every Thursday - and it's FREE!
The Grid was recently named the world's best designed newspaper for their circulation size by the Society of News Design. They recognizes excellence in visual journalism. I think it's pretty cool and a big deal for a publication that's not even a year old to be recognize for this award.
Here's what the panel of judges had to say about The Grid:
The more time you spend with this guerrilla guide, the more “good shit” shows up. The engaged writing, smart editing and heavy research is done in a young, sophisticated voice and executed while obviously having great fun. The design is minimalistic and the cool, restrained and exclusive fonts are Tiempo for body copy, and the logo face and display fonts are Fakt.
What really makes this publication a different visual experience for the reader are the many tiny informative graphic details throughout the pages. It must be extremely time-consuming doing these pages, but it works so well for the reader. Specific keywords are highlighted with yellow; small locator maps show where to find the spot mentioned in the presentation; on one page appears a visual guide on how to dress “Dad-rock” style, supplemented with the ruthless caption “Facial hair is not necessary, but always appreciated.” Another fine detail is the hand-drawn portraits on the bylines. All these details could make the paper a mess — but it’s not. The overall look is perfectly consistent and clean.
The Grid also surprises with sparse but great inside photography on full spreads. Our favorite was the fantastic photo of a line at a hotdog stand — and the photo goes on through four straight pages. This is a wonderful surprise for the reader.
This publication really catches you and it will not let you go. Any big city with respect for itself should get a “good shit” guerrilla guide like this. Right now.
I couldn't agree more with them - every point!!
I am a big fan! I pick it up every Thursday morning on my way to work. I always look forward to seeing what the cover's going to look like. I love the content/stories - always very informative/interesting. I love the clean layout and all those tiny informative graphics (I learn so much from it). I love that there are so many colour photographs - it sometime feels like I'm flipping through a magazine. As a designer myself, I really appreciate all the details throughout the pages! Lovely job - keep it up!
One of my favourite sections: Street Level - Asking people on the street a question. I always wish I would be approach by a staff from The Grid when I am in the city. I would love to be in an issue and be a part of an award winning newspaper : )
Congrat's once again, The Grid - definitely well deserved!
To all my readers, if you love Toronto and want to read a well-designed publication - go and check out The Grid! You'll enjoy it!
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| The Grid - Covers |
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| One of my favourite section - Street Level (Bottom right hand corner) |
