The reporting of the Japanese tsunami has reached new levels. A mix of live footage, social media, Skype, interactive graphics and, of course, old-fashioned print has told the story of the unfolding disaster like never before. Some of the most stunning treatments include this graphic in The New York Times which uses Flash and amazing photographs to put it all into a geographical context. ABC News in Australia has adopted the JQuery plug-in to show before and after aerial pictures. This simple but hugely effective software was used by news.com.au to tell the before and after story of the Christchurch earthquake. The Guardian has kept on top of the story well with graphics, blogs and a collection of astonishing videos. And this amateur video shows what it was like to be in the thick of it. In print, I was impressed by the Mail on Sunday's picture essay today. And here are 18 of the strongest front pages with comments by American graphics designer @charlesapple. Meanwhile Fonts Aid V is being organised by Typophile to raise money for the victims of the disaster. They are looking for type-based ideas. Fonts Aid IV raised money with an ampersand project for Haiti. If anything else catches your eye, please let me know.
The world's best designed newspapers were named this week. Two of the top three are German, all are big read newspapers with traditional titlepieces, serif display and have swathes of space to play with. There isn't a tabloid or compact to be seen. Equally scarce are any advertisements. The winners, chosen, from 240 entries, are der Freitag (Berlin), Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung, and The New York Times. It's a real accolade for der Freitag which is a weekly with a circulation of 12,400. Take a look at the pages in detail on Flickr on Society for News Design and let us know what you think.
