Mario Garcia, the first to put color on The Wall Street Journal's front page three years ago, will lead the redesign of the newly integrated print and online format for the newspaper’s international editions, Dow Jones & Co. announced Thursday.
The editions will launch in October.
Dow Jones said Garcia will head a team that will more closely integrate its print and online editions, promoting greater synergy between the two and offering "a continual, global business knowledge package."
In choosing Garcia to lead the effort, the Journal is returning to the renowned designer who put the first-ever color on a Journal edition when he redesigned the Asian and European editions in 2000. In 2002, Garcia led the redesign of the flagship U.S. Journal, adding colors and more navigation tools and front-page refers.
Garcia is CEO and founder of Garcia Media.
"A modern newspaper should reflect the concept of the 24/7 news and information gathering operation -- one that fuses the print and online operations," Garcia said in a statement Thursday. "The Wall Street Journal is the world's most powerful business newspaper brand with the largest paid subscription news site on the Web. The combination of these forces -- plus the enhancements we'll be making to integrate them -- will result in a truly innovative and indispensable offering that's never been seen before."
Penelope Muse Abernathy, the Journal’s senior vice president for international and development, said Garcia will be overseeing more than a format change. "These initiatives are about giving our readers and advertisers business news and insight anytime, anywhere in a form that's still going to be relevant five to 10 years from now."
