Society for News Design

The Society for News Design (SND) is an international organization for professionals working in the news sector of the media industry, specifically those involved with graphic design, illustration, web design and infographics.

Founded in 1979, it is a United States-registered non-profit organization with around 2,600 members worldwide. Among other activities, it runs an annual Best of Newspaper Design competition open to newspapers from around the world at Syracuse University every February, and a yearly conference (rotating through various cities) that brings in visual journalists from all over the world. The 2007 conference was held in Boston from October 11-13, 2007. The 2008 conference will be held in Las Vegas from September 7-9.

SND also has a number of offshoot organizations, including student chapters (the largest including those at Ohio University, Michigan State University, the University of Missouri and Syracuse University) and international chapters.

Leadership

Leadership positions in SND last one year. While the positions are decided on by election, most positions are often won by prior position holders in a hierarchical style.

Current leadership includes:

* President: Gayle Grin, Assistant Managing Editor of Design and Graphics, The National Post
* Vice president: Matt Mansfield, Deputy Managing Editor, San Jose Mercury News
* Secretary/treasurer: Bonita Burton, Assistant Managing Editor of Visuals, Orlando Sentinel
* Past President: Scott Goldman, Assistant Managing Editor of Visuals, The Indianapolis Star

Publications

The organization publishes a number of publications throughout the year:

* A yearly full-color book featuring images of the winners of the Best of Newspaper Design competition
* Design Magazine, a quarterly full-color magazine notable for changing its typography with every issue and focusing on the latest newspaper design trends
* SND Update, a monthly magazine/newsletter printed in black and white that tends to focus more on organization-related events
* Área-11, the digital newsletter in Spanish for México, Central & South America (R-11 & 12).

Events

SND holds a number of regional and international events, with the purpose of educating and allowing opportunities for members to network.

ND Workshop

The Society for News Design's annual fall workshop rotates through various cities around the world. Although generally in the United States, the workshop has visited locations in Canada, Puerto Rico, Denmark and Spain and is slated for Argentina in 2009.

The weekend-long event features a number of guest speakers on a variety of topics along with critiques, an auction and a formal dinner.

Upcoming workshops include:

* 2008: Las Vegas, Red Rock Hotel and Casino. Site chair: Bill Gaspard, Las Vegas Sun
* 2009: Buenos Aires, Argentina
* 2010: Denver
* 2011: St. Louis

ND Orlando 2006 "The Intern" competition

SND Orlando 2006 hosted the "The Intern" competition. Ten students were chosen from a pool of applicants to compete for internships at The San Jose Mercury News, The Orlando Sentinel, and The Arizona Republic. The students competed for a week and attended the conference, where the winners were announced.

Quick courses

Throughout the year, SND members put on a number of one-to-two-day educational quick courses held throughout the world and designed to focus on a specific visual journalism topic. Upcoming events include:

* May 16, Muncie, Ind.: Design Quick Course. Site chairs: Jennifer George-Palilonis and Ryan Sparrow, Ball State University
* May 31, Waterbury, Ct.: Design Quick Course. Site chair: Scott Griffin, Republican-American
* June 7, Highland Heights, Ky.: Design Quick Course. Site chair: Mary Carmen Cupito, Northern Kentucky University
* June 20, Columbia, Mo.: Quick Course. Site chair: Joy Mayer, University of Missouri

ee also

* News design

External links

Official sites

* [http://www.snd.org snd.org] - Official Web site
* [http://www.snd.org/update SND Update] - SND's news site
* [http://www.snd20.org] - www.snd20.org SND regional Web site for Middle East and Africa
* [http://www.sndboston.com/ SND Boston] - Official Web site of the 2007 SND conference
* [http://www.sndvegas.com/ SND Vegas] - Official Web site of the 2008 SND conference

Related sites

* [http://www.newsdesigner.com/blog NewsDesigner] - A visual blog highlighting industry-related breaking news.
* [http://www.visualeditors.com Visual Editors] - A visual journalism forum popular with SND members.
* [http://www.newseum.org/todaysfrontpages/ Today's Front Pages] - An updated-daily repository of newspaper front pages by [http://www.newseum.org/ Newseum] , a newspaper museum in Washington, D.C.
* [http://spd.org/ Society of Publication Designers] - A similar professional organization, focusing on magazines and other publications