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Staying informed about global events is now easier than ever, thanks to digital news. As someone in my 20s, I never really engaged with print newspapers. Instead, I’m accustomed to the quick and personalized access that digital devices provide. 86% of U.S. adults report that they often or sometimes get their news from digital devices like phones or computers.
I spoke with Kaitlin Milliken, a senior program manager at HubSpot, who has a background in digital news publishing. She shared valuable insights on what makes a news site successful. According to her, most new media organizations prioritize digital platforms, and even traditional publications now rely on digital subscriptions to engage with their audience.
To stand out, news sites need to display their content in a way that’s easy to read and navigate. This includes using clear typography for all devices, having detailed menus that show all categories and subcategories, and keeping the layout clean with plenty of white space.
So, what makes top sites like The New York Times and Fast Company different? I’ll explain below. I’ll highlight some of the best modern and minimalist news websites that use creative templates to reflect their brand and deliver important content to readers.
Best News Website Design
1. Beautiful News
2. The New Yorker
3. The Art Newspaper
4. Badische Neueste Nachrichten
5. The New York Times
6. Good Good Good
7. Fast Company
8. Los Angeles Times
9. Blavity News
10. TIME
1. Beautiful News
Beautiful News is a unique news platform that shares one video story every day, highlighting positive human actions, the beauty of our world, and the impact of people and organizations.
What sets Beautiful News apart is its modern design. The site features a black background, white text, and neon pink accents, creating a high-contrast look that enhances readability while giving it a sleek, contemporary feel.
Kaitlin Milliken, who has experience in news website design, shared that her team opted for a dark colour scheme with high contrast to improve accessibility. Beautiful News follows a similar approach, ensuring that text and visuals are easy to distinguish, benefiting users with visual impairments, colour blindness, or age-related vision issues.
For instance, light-coloured text (such as white) and bright neon accents against a dark background enhance readability and visual appeal. Additionally, dark mode design is increasingly popular, reducing blue light exposure and screen glare, especially in low-light settings.
What I like: Since Beautiful News is video-centric, its black background helps colourful visuals and bright text pop, making the content more engaging and accessible.
2. The New Yorker
The New Yorker stands out for blending news, cultural and political commentary, fiction, and fresh ideas. It’s a publication known for its in-depth journalism, literary excellence, and strong opinions.
What makes The New Yorker unique is its artwork and humour. The website embraces these elements with vibrant cartoons in various styles and a thoughtfully structured layout, making articles more engaging and easy to read.
I also appreciate how the homepage seamlessly mixes different types of content, giving it a fun and distinctive vibe. Despite this variety, The New Yorker maintains its signature style through carefully chosen fonts and consistent branding.
What I like: The New Yorker highlights its unique and creative essence through high-quality photos and artwork that instantly capture readers’ attention. At the same time, its minimalist yet elegant design ensures that the focus remains on what truly matters—compelling storytelling.
3. The Art Newspaper
The Art Newspaper delivers global insights into the visual arts with correspondents across 30+ countries, offering a rich and diverse perspective.
Its website features a sleek black-and-white design with maroon accents, creating a minimalist yet sophisticated layout. The use of ample white space mirrors a gallery wall, allowing each article to stand out like a carefully curated artwork.
On mobile, the “portrait” layout enhances the visual experience, making each piece feel uniquely spotlighted.
What I like: Staying true to its artistic roots, The Art Newspaper keeps its design elegant and immersive, using stunning visuals and spacious formatting to create a museum-like experience on your screen.
4. Badische Neueste Nachrichten
Germany’s BNN stays true to a classic newspaper style, using a minimalist design that appeals to its older, loyal readers familiar with the print edition.
What makes BNN unique is its smart use of icons. A yellow badge marks subscriber-only articles, ensuring exclusivity for paying readers while alerting non-subscribers. Another open book icon displays the estimated reading time, helping readers plan their time efficiently.
The mobile experience is seamless, with a layout that works perfectly for vertical scrolling.
What I like: BNN’s thoughtful use of icons enhances the user experience, making it easy to identify exclusive content and estimate reading time, all while maintaining a traditional, reader-friendly design.
5. The New York Times
The New York Times (NYT) is my go-to news source—and the only one I pay for! While I might be biased as a New York City resident, I find it to be one of the most thorough, reliable, and exceptional publications.
Beyond its award-winning journalism, NYT is one of America’s longest-running newspapers, originally founded in 1851 as the New York Daily Times. When it transitioned to digital, it focused on preserving the classic newspaper feel and maintaining its prestigious identity.
Milliken agrees, stating, “Legacy papers ensure fonts, colour schemes, and logos are consistent from print to digital.” This allows NYT to seamlessly bridge traditional and digital media.
Scrolling through the website feels like flipping through a print newspaper. While the font differs slightly, it maintains a classic look while ensuring better readability on screens.
The homepage features a main navigation menu under the header, but clicking the hamburger menu in the top left reveals a vertical menu for easier browsing. Hovering over categories like Food opens a drop-down menu, allowing visitors to navigate with ease.
What I like: The New York Times’ website balances tradition and modern convenience, keeping the elegance of print media while integrating clear fonts and intuitive navigation to enhance the digital experience.
6. Good Good Good
I first discovered Good Good Good during the pandemic, and it quickly became a source of hope during difficult times. Like Beautiful News, this publication shares positive stories and inspiring resources that encourage acts of kindness.
The moment you visit the website, you’re welcomed by a vibrant gradient of pinkish-red, orange, and yellow. Colours have a powerful impact on emotions—pink symbolizes softness, orange represents warmth and enthusiasm, and yellow evokes joy and optimism. This combination perfectly reflects the uplifting nature of their content.
What I love about Good Good Good is how it blends traditional newspaper elements with modern design. The layout is easy to navigate, and the contemporary fonts give it a fresh look.
The color scheme adds depth by using dark blue text for headlines, call-to-action buttons, and reader engagement prompts. This touch of seriousness balances the otherwise light and cheerful theme.
What I like: Good Good Good is a perfect example of aligning design with brand identity. Rather than following the traditional black-and-white news layout, it embraces fun, engaging colours and a creative design to stand out and deliver positive, feel-good news.
7. Fast Company
Fast Company is a magazine dedicated to innovation in business, technology, design, culture, and leadership. It recognizes trailblazers with awards like “Most Innovative Companies” and “Most Creative People in Business.” So, it’s no surprise that its website is just as creative and forward-thinking.
Unlike traditional news sites like The New York Times, Fast Company embraces a modern design. It features multiple fonts, bold colours, striking images, and graphic elements. The hero section stands out with an animated slider that rotates through four articles, with a semi-transparent dark navigation menu overlaying the top.
A unique design choice I admire is how premium content is highlighted with a light purple background. This subtle yet effective touch makes these articles pop while maintaining the sleek, modern aesthetic of the homepage.
What I like: Fast Company excels at reflecting its identity through design. With its bold, eye-catching layout and dynamic animated slider, the site instantly captures attention and embodies a futuristic, innovative spirit.
8. Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times (LAT) is a leading source for breaking news, entertainment, science, sports, and more. As the largest daily metropolitan newspaper in the U.S., it attracts over 40 million visitors each month.
With such a wide readership, the website is designed for clarity and accessibility. As I browse the homepage, I’m impressed by how it presents a vast amount of news while maintaining a clean, fresh, and organized layout.
The site effectively uses typography, white space, bold divider lines, and images to structure its content. For instance, the California section is neatly divided into categories like California Politics, Crime & Courts, Most Read, Breaking News, and L.A. Influential, making navigation effortless.
What I like: The Los Angeles Times excels at serving a large audience while maintaining a clear visual hierarchy. Its organized layout and well-defined sections ensure an efficient and engaging reading experience.
9. Blavity News
Blavity News delivers news, insights, and commentary that connect with Black millennials and Gen Z. It shines a light on topics often overlooked by mainstream media, offering a platform for diverse voices, cultural discussions, and authentic representation.
The hero section instantly grabs attention with full-width images of Black celebrities and athletes. The site uses bold headlines, vibrant colours, and engaging visuals alongside every story, making the content dynamic and appealing.
Blavity News strikes a perfect balance between a professional news layout and a modern, energetic design, catering seamlessly to its young and engaged audience.
What I like: Blavity News is more than just a news site—it’s a trusted platform that fosters inclusivity and empowerment. Its thoughtful design choices reflect its brand, creatively blending styles that enhance its diverse content, from breaking news to celebrity updates and educational resources.
10. TIME
TIME covers breaking news and provides in-depth analysis of politics, science, health, entertainment, and more. As the first weekly news magazine, it revolutionized journalism by simplifying major global events into concise, easy-to-read summaries for busy readers.
TIME’s black, white, and red colour scheme is instantly recognizable. Its iconic magazine covers, often featuring bold red borders, are reflected in the website’s design, where red accents maintain its signature style.
Staying true to its legacy of catering to busy readers, TIME ensures its website is clear, accessible, and easy to navigate. This seamless experience extends to its mobile version, offering a user-friendly and efficient news source for those on the go.
What I like: TIME understands its audience and delivers a clean, intuitive website that prioritizes readability. The mobile version is equally well-crafted, ensuring smooth navigation and easy access for readers anytime, anywhere.
A New News Era
News is constantly evolving, and your website’s design should be flexible enough to adapt and grow with it.
As Milliken wisely advises,
“Iteration is everything. When designing a news site from scratch, you’ll change from version to version. Even after launching, constant updates will be necessary. I always encourage an open mind—being too attached to a specific design choice can make it harder to adapt, even if changes could benefit your users and site.”
While creative websites like portfolios and brand pages often receive detailed design attention, news websites sometimes overlook this aspect. However, thoughtful design is crucial for building trust and keeping readers engaged. When choosing a news source, I consider not just the quality of journalism but also readability, user-friendliness, and overall experience.
A well-designed news site bridges the gap between print and digital, demonstrating your brand’s ability to adapt to modern trends. If you’re struggling with your website’s layout, explore homepage design inspirations to guide your creativity. After all, the homepage is your first impression—it can determine whether readers stay or leave.
Lastly, let your brand identity shine through colours, fonts, layouts, call-to-action buttons, and logos. With the right design choices, you can create a functional, engaging, and memorable news website.
Conclusion
The top 10 best news website designs prove that a strong online presence is about more than just delivering content—it’s about how it’s presented.
From bold typography and striking colour schemes to user-friendly layouts and innovative features, these websites showcase how great design enhances the reader’s experience.
Key Takeaways:
- Prioritize clarity to make content easily digestible.
- Create visual hierarchies to highlight important stories.
- Ensure seamless navigation for a smooth user experience.
- Stay true to your brand identity with consistent colours, fonts, and imagery to build trust and recognition.
Whether building a website from scratch or improving an existing one, these examples offer plenty of inspiration. Great design not only attracts readers but keeps them engaged, making your site a trusted source of information.
With thoughtful and adaptive design choices, you can create a new platform that stands out in today’s fast-paced digital world.
