October 2004 – Reflejos, a bilingual publication in suburban Chicago was transformed from a weekly “journal” to a more lively, relevant and expanded weekly newspaper by Garcia Media catering to it’s Latino readers as well as attracting younger Latino readers.
The team was led by Dr. Mario Garcia with Creative Director Kelly Frankeny and Maria Choronzuk, Corporate Manager of Design and Presentation for Paddock Publications, Inc.
The previous Reflejos presented its content in 50% Spanish and 59% English. Marketing surveys conducted on bilingual Chicago suburban Latinos showed that readers prefer to receive the majority of their information in Spanish and supplement that information in English. In response to readers preference, Garcia Media created English summaries to compliment the main stories in Spanish, while creating a “bicultural” approach for sections catering to young readers who learn English early in life with their main stories in English with Spanish summaries.
The color palette was brightened and the design modernized with an updated logo, more-developed story structures, bolder typography, sectioning and layering of information.
New content was integrated including an “Ayuda” or “Help” section that gives new residents information on immigration, health and medical services, legal advice and other tools to help their transition into the United States. News from readers’ countries of origin from sports to hard news to entertainment was also added. Culture and Style sections were integrated bringing readers stories about home design, fashion, food, books, film arts and music.
Reflejos also now integrate more community news—more faces, letters to the editor, columnists and special event photographs. It also now has an expanded event listing in Spanish, a weather map that gives weekly forecasts for all of Latin America as well as integrated “silent” advertising into section flags.
The result is a newspaper that is more the voice of Chicago suburban Latinos—serious reports and lifestyle features which connect to the Latino community and soul.