L&R bonus points really count

For bulletin contests, unique to the Layout and Reproduction category are points the judge can award for anything he particularly likes. There are 15 points per issue, for a total of 45, a significant part of the score.

I think this is appropriate because L&R is more than just the mechanicals. Art is involved. One can't precisely define every aspect of art and specify numbers of points.

No guidance is given, either on the score sheet or to potential judges when attempting certification, as to how these points are to be awarded. Having just been certified as an L&R judge and judged my first district, here are my thoughts. Other judges may have different ideas.

I will give up to five points for the use of color, the better the use of color, the more the points.

I will give up to five points for a folded format, instead of just pages stapled together, the more pleasing the format, the more the points. How can one format be more pleasing than another? Was the editor careful in the placement of art on two open pages so the overall effect is pleasant? Is there variety and balance of line art, boxes, photo-graphs, etc., on the side-by-side pages?

I will give up to five points for newsworthy photographs, the more the photographs, within reason, and the more newsworthy, the more points.

Other things I will give bonus points for is choice of paper and reproduction method so graphics don't bleed through to the other side of the paper, clever nameplates split between top and bottom of the front page if done well, cleverly worded headlines, with variation depending upon the type and importance of the stories headlined, and so on.

The bottom line is you have to do something more than just get the mechanicals right to earn bonus points, and bonus points really do affect the total score.