Judges for the Best of Newspaper Design™ Creative Competition are selected by the SND Competition Committee from a list of nominations sent by SND members around the world.  The Competition Committee seeks a diverse slate of judges from all parts of the world, representing various publication types and sizes.  Thirty judges are selected each year to serve on one of the six five-member judging teams. The committee also names two "generalist" judges for categories two through 21. A "generalist" steps in when a judge discovers a conflict that prevents him or her from casting a vote on an entry. Judging takes place at Syracuse (N.Y.) University over two long weekends in February. Each judge is assigned to one weekend. SND pays for judges' travel, lodging and meals.

LENA GRAPE LILLIEHORN is design and features editor at Östgöta Correspondenten, one of Sweden’s largest regional daily papers. She has been working with all aspects of editorial design since 1979. She was a board member for the Society for News Design/Scandinavia for five years and a member of the Scandinavian design jury for four years. She leads yearly seminars in typography, design and creativity at the Institute for Further Education of Journalists (Fojo) in Sweden.

PAUL WALLEN is a sports designer at The San Diego Union-Tribune. Wallen was previously the managing editor for visuals at the Sun Journal, Lewiston, Maine, and a design editor at The Baltimore Sun. He began his career as a journalist in the U.S. Navy and has worked as a writer, editor, graphic artist and designer at a variety of small and mid-size newspapers.

TIM BROEKEMA is an assistant professor of photojournalism/new media at Western Kentucky University. He has worked as a picture editor for The Courier-Journal, Louisville, Ky.; the Providence Journal (R.I.); and the Chicago Tribune. Broekema was director of photography for the Kalamazoo Gazette (Mich.) before joining academia in 2001.

ARIEL FREANER is president of Freaner & Associates, in San Diego. As a designer, illustrator and photographer, he may be best known for his ZETA covers. He has won numerous awards from SND and was honored by Print magazine. His work has been published in the San Diego Union and Reforma. His clients include Motorola, Fujitsu, the U.S. Navy and Uniradio, among others.

JAMILA ROBINSON is the home editor for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. After 11 years as an award-winning features designer — with stints at the Detroit Free Press and The Washington Post — Jamila now uses her art direction and editing experience as a foundation for alternative and creative approaches to storytelling. [Jamila is a conflict judge for SND this year and works with all the teams]