There’s a lot of amazing work out there today. So amazing, in fact, that I was a little swamped trying to process it all.
My solution was to try something unusual. I posted the first half of my material so folks could begin digesting it. And then I added as the afternoon faded into evening. Not the way I’d prefer to work. But there was just too much to talk about today.
Even so, I didn’t get everything posted that I would have liked to. But I’m out of gas. By the time you’ve read all of this, you probably will be too.
Unless noted, these images are from the Newseum.
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TODAY’S MOST ASTOUNDING 9/11 IMAGES
Just because I’m picking ten papers to make up my “most astounding” list, don’t let that seem like an insult to the papers that didn’t make the list. As you’ll see, many, many more than just ten papers did fabulous work today.
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PLAIN DEALER
Cleveland, Ohio
Circulation: 254,372
The most stunning 9/11 image I’ve seen so far today in Sunday’s newspapers is this one by master illustrator Andrea Levy:
Click on that — or any other image here today — for a larger view.
Isn’t that just amazing? That’s the cover for a 9/11 special section inserted into today’s Plain Dealer.
Andrea tells us this evening:
The editors at the paper told me a while ago that I would be doing this cover. So I had been carrying it around in my head. I knew it was going to be practically impossible for one image to say enough.
Finally, I decided to just make an image that expressed how I felt and hope others could relate. I tried hard to make something that didn’t exclude others in the world, even though it is an American tragedy.
The editors had me write some words to accompany the art. The whole experience was just a terrific opportunity.
Here are those words, that also ran in the section:
I made many drawings for this, but in the end, I was left with no flags, no planes, no buildings. Just the human toll.
This image is at once a plea, a scream, an admonition. It is loss of innocence. But it is also conviction. Conviction that we will reach past this and any other tragedy.
Thanks to AME David Kordalski for sending me the illo. David adds:
Not too many papers would run one full-page illustration in one Sunday edition these days, let alone three. We’re understandably proud of the support from our leadership, editor Debra Adams Simmons and managing editor Thom Fladung.
Huh? Three illustrations in today’s edition?
Yes. Andrea also illustrated the fall theater preview today (left). Plus, the NFL preview section today kicked off with a full-page illo by Chris Morris (right).
 
What a pile of riches in today’s paper.
And as if that wasn’t enough, today’s front page is one of the nicer ones of the day, thanks to the awesome camera angle and the deft design by Emmet Smith:
The photo of the new Ground Zero memorial — with the new World Trade Center One rising in the background — is by Don Emmert of Getty Images.
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SALT LAKE TRIBUNE
Salt Lake City, Utah
Circulation: 113,032
One of the more remarkable uses of a file photo today was found afront the Tribune of Salt Lake City.
Remarkable. Words fail me. Which is pretty much the mark of an outstanding, emotionally-evocative front page.
Design editor Colin Smith tells us:
I designed the cover about a week-and-a-half ago. And after some minor alterations (the headline started as “A nation, divided” but was changed to “Still rising from the fall” to match the essay which came in later, and a desaturated version of the twin towers was substituted for a full-color version) the page ran pretty much as prototyped.
In fact, there was surprisingly little discussion or controversy, even over the half-missing nameplate or lack of other imagery
Of course, there was a bit of consternation late last week when we found out there was [an advertising] Spadea, but in the end, we decided the design was strong enough to survive even the ugliest of spadeas and kept the layout unchanged.
Yes, well. More about ads like that in a few minutes…
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DETROIT FREE PRESS
Detroit, Mich.
Circulation: 246,169
I think we were all stunned today by this lushly-illustrated cover on the front of today’s Detroit Free Press.
Editor for news and presentation Robert Huschka tells us:
Our efforts were spearheaded by multimedia art and projects director Eric Millikin and news designer Tim Good, who both worked tirelessly on our 9/11 anniversary pages.
Eric created our Sunday front page illustration. Tim Good designed most of 9/11 pages (while also building the “regular Page 1″ that nestled behind our 9/11 poster front.)
Here are examples of some of the inside 9/11 covers, including the rails down the sides that pull out all the elements used in that giant cover illo and from whence they came.
 
I’m pretty sure I uploaded those pages large enough to be readable. Click on either of them for a larger look.
Robert tells us:
Rick Nease contributed a truly stunning illustration for our News+Views cover.
Here are a couple more inside pages.
 
And here is the enormous doubletruck to that special section.
Now, make sure you zoom in on that one. And be prepared to read for a while.
The memorial graphics in the doubletruck are from MCT. Designing this behemoth was David Pierce, Brian Todd and Eric Millikin.
Thanks to Robert for sending all these pages last night.
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ALBUQUERQUE JOURNAL
Albuquerque, N.M.
Circulation: 90,471
Here’s another outstanding illustrative poster-type front. It’s very subtle.
Assistant managing editor Joe Kirby tells us…
…the page was designed by me and the illustrations were done by our very talented artist Cathryn Cunningham.
Wonderful. Just wonderful.
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LOS ANGELES TIMES
Los Angeles, Calif.
Circulation: 605,243
The L.A. Times today chose to go with a scratchboard illustration of the Twin Towers afire.
The illustration — so gorgeous but of such a horrific scene — is by Ken Barton. The page was designed by Kelli Sullivan.
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SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS
San Jose, Calif.
Circulation: about 225,175
The double-page spread below wrapped around the Merc — and, in fact, all Media News’ Bay area newspapers — today.
My first reaction: What th’…
And then I click on it, start reading. And I go: Oooohh…
Design director Tiffany Pease tells us:
The story is really amazing. Our reporter, Julia Prodis Sulek, was given access to voicemails left for Flight 93 passenger Mark Bingham as the events of 9/11 were unfolding. The cover is the transcript of those voicemails, which were provided by Bingham’s mom (the hands at the top).
The page was designed by Tiffany, deputy design director Alex Fong — whose birthday happens to be today — and picture editor Jami Smith.
Read the entire story here. Tiffany also says that the video is pretty awesome, as well. So check it out while you’re there.
Thanks to Tiff for sending us the wrap.
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ASBURY PARK PRESS
Neptune, N.J.
Circulation: 107,443
The folks at Gannett’s Asbury Park design studio came up with this very clever, very graphic way of depicting the new Ground Zero memorial.
Very clever. And very simple, which adds to the impact it has. Simple objects work best, sometimes.
I asked Tim Frank, director of the Asbury Park studio who drew the art. He replies:
It was me. The studio has been very busy, launching our fifth paper, so I had to jump on it.
Ha! Let’s hear it for the boss man who rolls up his sleeves and gets dirty!
The design studio used that same art for three other regional front pages as well.
 
 
From left to right:
- Somerville Courier Post (Circulation: 17,531)
- East Brunswick News Tribune of (Circulation 33,889)
- Parsippany Daily Record of (Circulation 22,847)
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VICTORIA ADVOCATE
Victoria, Texas
Circulation: 28,032
As you’ll see in a few moments, lots of papers did interesting things with text today. Robert Zavala of the Victoria Advocate pulled off one of the more ambitious with this double-truck, wrap-around cover showing the pre-9/11 New York skyline.
But when you look closer, you see that embedded into the illustration are the names of all the 9/11 victims.
Make sure you click on that one for a closer look.
Thanks to Robert for sending us that higher-resolution version.
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STAR-LEDGER
Newark, N.J.
Circulation: 229,255
It’s always interesting when a paper zigs while everyone else zags. The Star-Ledger of Newark — which has been running fabulous anniversary stories and pictures all week — wiped all the visuals off the front today and went with a striking all-text page.
The essay there is by Mary Jo Patterson, who also wrote the very first 9/11 story for the Star-Ledger ten years ago today.
Mark Miller — assistant managing editor for news production at the Star-Ledger tells us:
Sunday’s page one was 94 percent Shawn Weston. He’s our newly appointed presentation editor ( a fancy title for lead designer and guru).
It was his idea to run a single essay, and it was his design that sold the idea. A page so design-driven that after we saw his original concept, we had to find a writer for a piece we hadn’t envisioned, an essay the defined the day. The look evolved through the past two weeks, distilling down to the simplest possible. A classic case of “the more you take way, the more you have.” At the end, after we’d pared it down to essential words (no headline!.. again) and no color at all, the editor looked at it and said it looked like the Declaration of Independence.
It was a remarkable end to a run of incredible work by Shawn, who designed the eight days of coverage we gave the 9/11 anniversary. Very clean design through the week, and across several sections. Incredible writing and fabulous stories to tell from a great set of reporters, and some mind-bending photo and video work.
And did I mention we did this while covering an earthquake, a hurricane and historic flooding? Shawn literally did not go home for days on end.
Mark’s quite right — I’ve admired the Star-Ledger‘s work this week. I believe I’ve cited it a number of times in my 9/11 anniversary roundups.
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VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Norfolk, Va.
Circulation: 152,198
And speaking of zigging! The Virginian-Pilot is famous for the ol’ zig-zag, of course. But today, the Pilot may have set a new standard for off-the-wall thinking with this look at how the world is different today than it was ten years ago.
The reader has to do a little work to follow the amber-colored lines across the page. But if she takes the time, she’s rewarded with a little surprise and delight. That’s one thing editor Denis Finley preaches a lot: Surprise and delight readers.
This pair is just amusing.
This one, we’ve seen reported lately. But the numbers are still shocking to see.
This one is just sad.
This one is a real sign of the times.
And this one? It’s pure humor.
But in the context of the page, it works. Especially in a military town like Norfolk.
The designer, Denis tells me, is one of the best in the business: Sam Hundley.
And to answer your next question: Why, yes. Yes, he is the guy who designed the SND gold-medal-winning page for the fifth anniversary of 9/11.
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Stay tuned until 2016, folks. Who knows what Sam will come up with then?
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A BEFORE-AND-AFTER THEME
That Virginian-Pilot page is the perfect segue to our next chapter: Pages that based their main page-one visuals on what we are today vs. what we were ten years ago.
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ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION
Atlanta, Ga.
Circulation: 183,415
You’ve seen me rant about the AJC. I often refer to them as “the home of the two-column lead art.”
Well, the paper didn’t have that problem today. Today’s front page is beautifully designed and beautifully themed.
In fact, the fact that the paper usually runs its lead art too damned small perhaps makes today’s front even more eye-popping.
I’m told AJC product design chief Will Alford designed that one himself.
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HUNTSVILLE TIMES
Huntsville, Ala.
Circulation: 47,366
The Huntsville Times took a similar approach. With equally nice results.
Design director Paul Wallen tells us the page was a collaborative effort between outgoing intern Andy Rossback, features designer Bethany Bickley and boss-man Kevin Wendt.
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TIMES-NEWS
Twin Falls, Idaho
Circulation: 18,603
We’ve seen plenty of pre-9/11 pictures of the World Trade Center towers. And we’ve all seen gorgeous shots of the Ground Zero light show memorial.
Leave it to Josh Awtry and his folks in Idaho to find a way to mash up the two.
I suspect Josh might have designed this page himself. If you hear differently, please let me know.
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FUN WITH TYPE
Oh, there was so much going on today with typography. Much of it was wonderfully inventive. Some of it was rather derivative. And yes, some of it might not even be *ahem* good.
But, admittedly, it was all interesting.
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IDAHO STATESMAN
Boise, Idaho
Circulation: 49,616
Lots of folks today insisted on rebuilding the twin towers of the World Trade Center in text of some sort. In Boise, the Idaho Statesman did this using snippet of quotes from local folks.
That page was designed by Lindsie Bergevin, I’m told.
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CITIZEN TIMES
Asheville, N.C.
Circulation: 32,962
The small paper in Asheville, N.C., added twin towers consisting of twin stories, reversed out of a photo.
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THE SIGNAL
Santa Clarita, Calif.
Circulation: 12,500
The Signal of Santa Clarita made its version work by clipping out the background. Which seems a bit of a shame. Clearly, this idea can work on blue sky.
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GARDEN ISLAND
Lihu’e Hawaii
Circulation: 9,122
But then these folks in Hawaii tried to reverse their twin towers of type out of a night scene.
Hmm. I hope the print registration at the Garden Island is very, very tight. Or else they might have ended up with a real mess on their hands today.
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TAHOE DAILY TRIBUNE
South Lake Tahoe, Calif.
Circulation: 4,046
Michael Higdon at Swift Communations’ hub in Carson City, Nev., tells me:
Did something a little different for the cover of the Tahoe Daily Tribune, usually very featurey with full of color, photos and fonts on the cover. We didn’t really feel like we had appropriate art for the story and we wanted something quieter than usual.
Thanks to Michael for sending me that page.
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UNION-TRIBUNE
San Diego, Calif.
Circulation: 224,761
The Union-Tribune of San Diego pulled off their version by laying the headline sidesaddle. Which worked well.
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ARIZONA REPUBLIC
Phoenix, Ariz.
Circulation: 337,170
The folks in Phoenix, on the other hand, elected to build their twin towers with negative space. Which made for a front similar to the ones I’ve just shown you. But with a different twist.
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DEMOCRAT AND CHRONICLE
Rochester, N.Y.
Circulation: 120,037
In Rochester, words supplied by local folks stretched all the way across the page. The twin towers were called out only by manipulating color.
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SIOUX CITY JOURNAL
Sioux City, Iowa
Circulation: 35,335
In Sioux City, the Journal elected to use a word cloud for its own twin towers.
Every time I think I’ve seen the last possible way to use a word cloud, another one comes along to prove me wrong. This is an example of an idea I’d probably be in favor of shooting down in a meeting. Yet, I have to admit it works on the page.
Particularly nice is the way the Journal ran its nameplate white-on-white, with only a dropshadow to define it today.
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LA CROSSE TRIBUNE
La Crosse, Wis.
Circulation: 26,857
La Crosse used just the word cloud. With no twin towers.
Given the theme of that front, you could easily argue you don’t need the twin towers.
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EL NUEVO HERALDO
Brownsville, Texas
Circulation: 7,409
Down in Miami, the Spanish-language Nuevo Heraldo ran a list of victims, but with a nice twist: The shadow of the towers and a single rose.
Quite nice, in fact.
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WILLIAMSPORT SUN-GAZETTE
Williamsport, Pa.
Circulation: 23,575
Williamsport went with a stark black page, listing all the victims in grey.
The page was designed by Tim Wertz.
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GRAND RAPIDS PRESS
Grand Rapids, Minn.
Circulation: 94,746
Grand Rapids damned near did what Newark did today: It downplayed the visual and played up words — in this case, a rare page-one editorial.
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PIONEER PRESS
St. Paul, Minn.
Circulation: 193,549
The St. Paul paper played downpage a nice portrait of a young woman whose tenth birthday was Sept. 11, 2001.
Up top was a series of decks that set the mood for the entire day’s coverage.
The lead element is a headline. You gotta love it.
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AMERICAN NEWS
Aberdeen, S.D.
Circulation: 15,206
And in Aberdeen, the editors made a very unusual move. There was so much good 9/11 stuff in today’s newspaper that the designer spent nearly the entire front refering to those stories.
Yet another idea that sounds bad. But looks great. It most definitely worked.
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EXTRAORDINARY GRAPHIC TREATMENTS
So, what’s the opposite of designing with text? Designing with lush illustrations.
Or, in some cases, not so lush, perhaps. But still eye-catching.
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DES MOINES REGISTER
Des Moines, Iowa
Circulation: 108,247
This was one of the more moving front pages of the day, I thought.
The illustration is by my good friend and former colleague Mark Marturello, perhaps one of the best-kept secrets in newspaper visuals over the past 20 years.
Just like other papers used Tim Frank’s ground-zero fountain illustration, the Advertiser of Lafayette, La. — which, I think, will soon be designed there in Gannett’s Des Moines design studio hub — also used Mark’s illustration today.
 
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FAYETTEVILLE OBSERVER
Fayetteville, N.C.
Circulation: 52,698
While that one was quiet and moving, this full-page, page-one illustration is much less subtle.
The artist on that piece is Bill Campling.
I can’t quite tell, but it looks like there may have been a nice sideways front page for an inside 9/11 section as well.
I might point out that Fayetteville is the home of Fort Bragg, one of the nation’s largest military facilities. In case you’re wondering about all the army imagery.
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NEWSDAY
Melville, N.Y.
Circulation: 298,759
This page a) wrapped around today’s Newsday, and b) didn’t show up in the Newseum today.
Obviously, those are victims of 9/11 in the background.
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CINCINNATI ENQUIRER
Cincinnati, Ohio
Circulation: 161,858
Cincinnati took a similar approach, but adding a poem written by a local sixth-grader following the attacks in 2001.
The paper ran a story about that kid — now a college senior — back on Wednesday.
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STATE JOURNAL REGISTER
Springfield, Ill.
Circulation: 44,189
The paper in Springfield, Ill., also ran photos of victims along the bottom of a photo of ground zero. The entire page wrapped around today’s edition.
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DESERT SUN
Palm Springs, Calif.
Circulation: 43,422
While some of those pages are quite complex, the folks in Palm Springs, Calif., went in an opposite direction. Talk about minimalist design!
You just don’t get any more minimalist than that.
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JOURNAL NEWS
White Plains, N.Y.
Circulation: 77,102
The folks in the suburbs of New York had a similar idea.
Hmm. I see what they were trying to do, with the mirror-image, reflection kind of thing. But I’m not so sure that one worked.
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WONDERFUL PHOTO POSTER FRONTS
You’ve probably noticed by now that most of the pages I’ve shown you are single-topic front pages. Yes, that’s because I’m trying to show you the most extraordinary and the most unusual visual treatments of the day.
Typically when a newspaper runs a poster front on page one, however, it’s a huge photo. Here are a few papers that did that today.
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NEWS & RECORD
Greensboro, N.C.
Circulation: 60,993
We’ve all seen the candles metaphor used to represent the twin towers, so that’s not new. However, the Greensboro paper did it particularly well today.
The page was designed by design director Ben Villarreal. Thanks to Ben for sending it along last night.
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SEATTLE TIMES
Seattle, Wash.
Circulation: 253,742
Now, this was an arresting image on the front of today’s Seattle Times. I liked it quite a bit, even before I knew what it was.
The note along the bottom of the page says:
To mark the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, the Seattle Times sought out two Northwest artists who have created works shaped by those events. The essay is by Jess Walter, a Spokane author whose novel about 9/11, “The Zero,” was a finalist for the National Book Award. The photo is of sculptures of the World Trade Center towers created in 2002 by Mercer Island artist Ingrid Lahti. The 13-foot-high structures are covered by nearly 3,000 medallions that bear the names of the victims.
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DAILY NEWS
Los Angeles, Calif.
Circulation: 94,192
I saw this vintage picture used by several papers this week. No one used it better than the Los Angeles Daily News today.
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WEST HAWAII TODAY
Kailua Kona, Hawaii
Circulation: 13,000
Here’s another iconic image from 9/11. This small paper in Hawaii turned their front page sideways today to take in the scope of the day’s tragedy.
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SANDUSKY REGISTER
Sandusky, Ohio
Circulation: 21,003
Again, here’s a great use of a terrific image shot on 9/11.
The one thing I’d quibble with: The script text for “What’s inside,” at the bottom of the page. That font just doesn’t carry the weight it needs to on a great page like this.
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NAPLES DAILY NEWS
Naples, Fla.
Circulation: 72,080
A number of papers led today with big pictures of the new Ground Zero memorial and the new World Trade Center One tower.
This one was particularly nice.
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PORTSMOUTH HERALD
Portsmouth, N.H.
Circulation: 9,461
The Portsmouth paper turned its front page on the side to display this picture of firefighters holding what’s calle the National 9/11 Flag, which was found in the wreckage of the World Trade Center after the attacks.
Folks have been working on repairing the flag. It spent time in Portsmouth last month, when a columnist participated in the repair work and when this picture was taken.
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HOW NOT TO SELL A PAPER TODAY
Unfortunately, a number of papers did fabulous work today on page one, only to see that work obscured — or partially obscured — by non-editorial matter.
That’s why the Virginian-Pilot today took a look at “Te years after 9/11.”
Or why readers of the Times of Munster, Ind., wondered why that giant yellow box on the top of the World Trade Center was on fire.
And the unfortunate inclusion of a Spadea today rendered this gorgeous presentation nearly indecipherable.
Heavy, heavy sigh…
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AND ONE 9/11 PAGE FROM THE MIDDLE EAST
Adonis Durado — design director of the Times of Oman and whose project I blogged about last week — sent us his paper’s 9/11 front pages.
The Times, you see, publishes in both English and Arabic. The headline on the English edition is: ‘US stronger after 9/11.’
 
Adonis writes:
Although our English and Arabic newspapers carried similar art, it’s interesting to take note how the two editors framed their headlines. The Arabic headline reads: “Ten Years On: Is the War on Terror Over?“
That’s a pretty inventive way of representing the twin towers, though. Quite nice.
Even nicer is the Times‘ center spread today. Make sure you click on this to see all the graphic material there on the right.
The terrorism deaths timeline/bar chart across the top is brilliantly done.
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Previous 9/11 anniversary posts here in the blog…
Sunday: Please send me your 9/11 presentations.
Tuesday: First three days of the Boston Globe‘s remarkable anniversary series.
Tuesday: The best of the rest of the 9/11 anniversary pages, so far.
Tuesday: How we got all those incredible photos on 9/11.
Wednesday: The day’s notable anniversary pages.
Friday: How college newspapers covered the anniversary.
