#MyFirstGroupSession

Yesterday in class, our teacher held our very first group critic session! We were all put into small groups to review each other's portfolio project, give critics, insights, and opinions, and overall help each other's projects become the best they can be! I went into class thinking my project was going to get torn apart and I'd basically have to start fresh, but that was the COMPLETE opposite of what actually happened!!! Everyone loved what I had done so far, especially my title font and the shadow-esque design I put on it! If you need a refresher here it is:

Even my teacher complimented it, saying how it looked very powerful with the red and black color combination, and the 3D visual added to it! One of my group members even asked if I could show her how I did it, but even I barely know how I came up with it! I also asked my group members if I should put my motto ("Bringing the backstage news towards the audience!") underneath it, but they advised against it. They said if the target audience is to theatre-lovers, then most likely they would know what "downstage" means.

Apart from the masthead, everything else seems to be in order! They loved my table of contents layout, the way my article was set up, and said that the entire magazine overall was very concise and fit into the genre stereotypes very well! They were a bit concerned about my double-page spread's picture and how I would make that work (the big one that covers most of one page and half of the other). I told them that based on the research I've conducted and my own experiences, I've noticed that in theatre magazines, it is all about visuals. That's why I chose for that specific picture to take up so much space. They all understood and complimented that I stuck with genre techniques, but all of them said I had to be careful about one thing. I need to put the picture subject in the left third because the curvature of the magazine would cut off anything in that area, they said. A very good point they had too! But that was the only critique they gave me, so that makes me so happy that I don't have to change much!

All in all, this group session went so well, mostly because all I got was praise for my work! I can't wait for the next one, because then I should have my table of contents finished, and I'm calling it now, that is going to be a train wreck and a half! Then again, I though what I had now was bad so maybe it won't out as bad as I think!🙉

P.S. After my group session I decided that the "rough draft" of my magazine's layout (shown above) worked really well, so I've decided to make it my final layout draft. How often does that happen? Your first try worked out so well, you don't need to change everything!!!