The Wall Street Journal has tapped Mario Garcia to lead the October redesign of the Journal's international editions. The Asian and European editions will convert to compact format and will integrate more closely with WSJ.com. Garcia will be working with Dave Pybas, WSJ associate design editor, and James Reyman, New York City-based freelance designer. The launch is set for Oct. 17.

Press release after the jump.

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL APPOINTS RENOWNED NEWSPAPER DESIGNER MARIO GARCIA AS LEAD DESIGNER OF NEW INTERNATIONAL PRINT AND ONLINE OFFERING

NEW YORK/LONDON/HONG KONG (June 30, 2005) - The Wall Street Journal has appointed renowned newspaper design consultant, Dr. Mario Garcia, as the lead designer of the new, integrated print and online format for its international editions launching mid-October.

Early last month, The Wall Street Journal announced a set of global initiatives to better serve its international readers and advertisers, including the reformatting of the Asian and European editions on October 17 into an easier-to-read, convenient and accessible compact format; combining the Asian and European print editions with the award-winning The Wall Street Journal Online at WSJ.com to better serve the needs of highly mobile international business leaders; and pursuing a new, more targeted circulation strategy focused on C-suite executives.

Dr. Garcia, the CEO and founder of Florida-based Garcia Media, has overseen the redesign and conversion of many of the world's leading newspapers to new formats. He led The Wall Street Journal's design team in 2000 when the Asian and European editions introduced colour to the front page for the first time; and was also involved with the development of the U.S. Journal's new look launched in 2002 which saw greater consistency across all three editions of the paper.

Dr. Garcia will work closely with an in-house design team to integrate the Journal's international print and online editions more closely, with features to promote greater synergy across the two media and the offering of a continual, global business knowledge package.

"A modern newspaper should reflect the concept of the 24/7 news and information gathering operation; one that fuses the print and online operations", said Dr. Garcia. "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. I'm honoured to be part of this visionary project."

"We're delighted to have Mario on the Journal team again", said Penelope Muse Abernathy, senior vice president, international and development, The Wall Street Journal. "These initiatives are not simply about a format change, but rather 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. Mario's ability to 'think like the audience' is unique and we're very excited about what we will bring to market in October."

Advertisers who are interested in obtaining more information can contact Mr. John McMenamin, head of international advertising sales, The Wall Street Journal, at john.mcmenamin@dowjones.com

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About The Wall Street Journal

The Wall Street Journal, the flagship publication of Dow Jones & Company (NYSE: DJ; www.dowjones.com), is the world's leading business publication. Founded in 1889, The Wall Street Journal has a print and online circulation of nearly 2.1 million, reaching the nation's top business and political leaders, as well as investors across the country. Holding 31 Pulitzer Prizes for outstanding journalism, the Journal seeks to help its readers succeed by providing essential and relevant information, presented fairly and accurately, from a dependable and trusted source. The Wall Street Journal print franchise has more than 600 journalists world-wide, part of the Dow Jones network of nearly 1,700 business and financial news staff. Other publications that are part of The Wall Street Journal franchise, with total circulation of more than 2.6 million, include The Asian Wall Street Journal, The Wall Street Journal Europe and The Wall Street Journal Online at WSJ.com, the largest paid subscription news site on the Web. In 2005, the Journal was ranked No. 1 in BtoB's Media Power 50 for the sixth consecutive year.

About Garcia Media (www.garcia-media.com)

To date, more than 500 organizations worldwide have trusted the Garcia Media team with helping communicate their message more effectively.

The firm’s successes with The Wall Street Journal, The Miami Herald, Die Zeit and small community papers, have given it an unparalleled reputation in newspaper design, and the same successful philosophy of thinking like the audience has crossed over to magazines, Web sites and corporate communications.

Led by Dr. Mario Garcia, the Garcia Media team includes top consultants in the fields of newspaper design, magazine design, Web strategy and design, branding and corporate communications.

The firm has offices in Tampa, Chicago, New York City, Buenos Aires and Hamburg.