Editors

Choice

ell, here it is the All

NEW TRANSVESTIA! ! have completely redesigned the magazine from cover to cover. Naturally, this has taken me a lot of time but I believe that the readers of TRANSVESTIA will enjoy the magazine much. more. This issue is much more professional-looking, with typo- graphically-correct lettering for the headlines and sub-headlines. You will notice a very posi- tive improvement in the art work. All in all, I believe that our magazine will see a growth in readers due to the improve- ments that I have made.

I am taking a 15 week course in Magazine Production at an art institute in Los Ange- les. I leave Tulare about 4:30 in the afternoon and get to LA in time for an 8:00 class there. About 10:15, I turn around and reverse my tracks about 350 miles all together. I get home close to 2:00 and drag myself to bed. It's rather a grind but I am learning so much and because of that fact, I don't mind the trip each Mon- day evening. I believe that you will note the various improve. menst which I have made and will make in the future.

An interesting aside work on Transvestia during the week (when I'm not doing my regular work with The Society For The Second Self). Included. in this work, is the typography which I do on my IBM compos-

Carol

Beecroft

ing machine, the art work and paste-up work on boards. Then, each Monday evening, I take the finished material to class and the class critiques what I have done. Several times I have gone down to LA, feelin' very proud of my work, only to have the teacher and class tear it to pieces. But rather than take such suggestions negatively, I have looked at it as a way to help me improve the magazine. So, I take my work back to Tulare and tear it down and redo what needs done. Sometimes, it might be the selection of the type-face or how I arranged my lettering. At times. I have had to do a lot of the ty- pography over. But I have cer- tainly learned from all this and the magazine will show this accomplishment. Needless to say, I have spent many, many hours on this particular issue as a result of the doing and re- doing the various pages. But, don't YOU think it's an im- provement over what has come before. I hope so because if you don't, I'm gonna cry!

Anyway, I thoroughly en- joy what I have been doing

and also get a lot of motiva- tion from doing a professional job. I, personally, just can't put out any old magazine I've got to put out something which will reflect how I feel about what I am doing. This is the case not only with Trans- vestia. but also with the Femme Mirror, the magazine I put out for The Society For The Second Self. That magazine, too, will be changing to make it better, although the last issue did show some of the things that I have learned in my earlier classes. My teacher, who is an art direc- tor and free lance artist says that I need to "loosen up" in my work. I hope that future issues of Transvestia will show that. So, I hope that you enjoy this is- sue of TRANSVESTIA -- it is the first in a line of professional issues of our magazine for cross- dressers.