A study examined whether student performance in some of the basic skills of editorial design would improve with practice. Subjects, 67 college juniors enrolled in an introductory course in graphic communication, were divided into four groups: male, female, students with ACT scores in mathematics of 14 or below, and students with ACT scores in mathematics of 15 or above. The subjects were assigned a series of four problems in "editorial mechanics" at various times during the semester. The degree of difficulty was increased from a typical first problem to the equivalent of entry-level work. The subjects were not given any special preparation for the problems. Results revealed no differences in the performance of male and female students. ACT scores in mathematics had no significant effect on performance. The findings suggest that introductory students will require additional instruction and practice time in order to solve problems that represent entry-level skills in editorial mechanics. (Extensive appendixes--two-thirds of the document--contain copies of the course syllabus and of the four problems used in the study.) (FL)