This is the weekend edition of TheMarioBlog and will be updated as needed. The next blog post is Monday, Feb. 26.

We go into our Pages We Like mode today in TheMarioBlog.

The Gulf News in Dubai has done one of those all you want to know about stories: this time about coffee, with a fresh news peg about the cost of getting a cup of coffee in Dubai. Yes, it could be the most expensive cup of coffee in the world!

….but apparently it tastes great.

Thanks to Editor in Chief Abdul Hamid Ahmad and Art Director Miguel Angel Gomez for sending the material along.

Notice the linear presentation for the online story. Here is link: http://gulfnews.com/1.2050141

Here is how the coffee story appeared in print:

The Atlantic’s latest cover

There is something special about this cover from The Atlantic.

I like the use of color for the top, as well as the closely cropped photo of Dr. Martin Luther King. It is a type attack with an element of color that enhances the overall look of the cover. While some have already made it clear that they think the crop of Dr. King’s photo is too dramatic, I believe that it works with this now iconic photo.

What do you think?

Society of News Design New York: Celebrating 40 years

The Society for News Design’s 40th Anniversary Workshop, Creative Conference and Awards Gala will be in New York City, March 22–24.

Workshop chair Tyson Evans, of The New York Times, and an army of volunteers are organizing three packed days of talks, training, networking and inspiration about the future (and past) of storytelling, visual journalism and news products across print and digital.

Speakers announced so far include Scott Stowell, proprietor of Open and winner of the National Design Award for Communication Design; Jennifer Daniel, of Google; John Maeda, of Automattic and visual journalists from The New York Times, Washington Post, Axios, Vice, ProPublica and more.

I am honored to be one of the speakers.

If you would like to attend what promises to be one of the best SND gatherings ever, please go here for more information:

https://nyc.snd.org