In the first half of 2009, Katherine Hall ran a series of workshops at the University of Technology, Sydney, for their Type for Print course. The four workshops, titled Build, Connect, Construct and Publish, took 112 fresh-faced second year students through the process of designing a magazine — from identifying an audience through to final production, and everything in between.

The usually passive nature of learning on campus was turned on its head as students were given a rare insight into the life of an editorial designer and were required to participate in a range of foundational exercises which were briefed and then completed in each workshop session.

At the culmination of the course, students had not only produced the skeleton for their own niche magazine, but took with them valuable insights into an array of editorial products in the market and a swag of essential tips, tricks and tools to apply to any future design brief.

Reactions to the de Luxe method of teaching were varied (but overwhelmingly positive). After the initial shock of being treated as independent thinkers, many of the students discovered skill sets they never knew they had, and almost everyone made a very unlikely, but permanent best friend — the grid.