L’Equipe Mag covers

Each Saturday, avid readers of the sports daily L’Equipe anxiously await the weekend insert, L’Equipe Mag. In addition to supplementing the newspaper’s all-inclusive sports coverage, the Mag (as it is called by fans) adds a variety of features, personality profiles, and eye-catching photography and extends coverage to lifestyle areas such as travel, fitness, fashion, and tech/gadgets.

On April 18, 2009, these die-hard sports fans turned to find a new design, developed by García Media. The goal behind the changes was to improve the navigation, maximize the cover with more direct entry points, and refresh the overall style, in ways that did not upset the very loyal readership. L’Equipe Mag editor Jean-Philippe Leclaire reports, ”From the start, readers have told us that they like the easier-to-navigate magazine, the more interesting covers, and the way inside stories are displayed. . . . They like what has been done to make reading so much easier and pleasurable.”

The majority of headlines are set in the sturdy, highly visible ITC Franklin, a time-tested workhorse, recently revised by David Berlow. Dr. Mario R. Garcia and his team never had a second thought about Franklin for the Mag. ”It has the strength one seeks in headlines that will deal with the drama of sports,” explains Garcia. ”It could very well be seen on the scoreboard at the top of a stadium.”

For a complementary serif, García Media chose Cyrus Highsmith’s Zócalo, which successfully combines oldstyle characteristics with a lively, contemporary flair. Its agile, athletic forms provide a supple contrast to the robust Franklin. ”For a sports magazine,” says Garcia, ”just perfect.”