The Yearbook Blog

Granted, we trust you are all responsible and thoughtful students, but sometimes yearbook programs do things that just make you say, “What were they thinking?” Things like allowing student to put grisly hunting pictures in their senior ad or use a quote from Hitler for their personal statement. Some schools have even landed in the news for seemingly insignificant things, like the female senior in Florida who wanted to wear a tux for her senior portrait and the superintendent said no. All this leads to one point: have policies for your book to avoid controversy. A few suggestions:

• Dress code for senior portraits?
• How would the yearbook handle a student’s death in the middle of the year?
• What kinds of pictures can be used in a baby ad?
• How does the yearbook select the person for a dedication?

The more you have in writing, the less likely you’ll need to scramble for an answer when the situation arises.

We all have one–although some of us have”American Idol” voices, and some of us have only-for-the-shower voices, but that’s not what we’re talking about here. Each yearbook, each theme, each body of copy has a voice/personality, too. And each year, the voice of your yearbook should be different from the year before. It should reflect the individual voices of students, teachers and administrators on campus as well as the voice of the yearbook staff. How do you do that? Follow these tips:

• Get more individual voices in the book by including more quotes
• Include profiles of people who have stories to tell, and let them tell their story in their own words
• Create secondary packages that are quote-based. For example, ask a question (What’s your best friend’s most annoying habit?) and print the 5 -7 best answers
• Run quotes along the bottom of your class pages to incorporate as many voices as possible

*This entry is part of “The Yearbook Ladies’ A to Zs of Yearbook”
project. If you’d like to download the “V” card, go to the “Adviser
Resources” section of www.theyearbookladies.com

We’d love to hear from you! Share your questions, comments, and ideas below…

You know how sometimes you just don’t get it, and someone says, “Do I have to draw you a picture?” Well, sometimes a visual is a much more powerful form of communication. How does that translate in yearbook language? Easy! Try graphics to enhance your story.

• Create graphs to show comparisons (Number of students who use iPhone, Blackberry, flip phone, slider phone, etc.)
• Use large graphic numbers to show participation (Fall Play/Musical spread–number of actors, stage hands, set designers/builders, choreographers, musicians, lighting technicians, sound technicians, etc.)
• Make tables or grids for scoreboards instead of just lists

*This entry is part of “The Yearbook Ladies’ A to Zs of Yearbook”
project. If you’d like to download the “V” card, go to the “Adviser
Resources” section of www.theyearbookladies.com

We’d love to hear from you! Share your questions, comments, and ideas below…

Isn’t it funny how you can talk to your friends, text, IM, pass notes, and generally blab for days non-stop but then when you sit in front of a computer screen to write, you get brain freeze? Relax! Writing is just talking, um, written down. So have fun with your words and let the creativity flow during a class brainstorming session. Or have small group competitions for story ideas, headlines, and extended coverage that relate to your book’s theme. So, if the book is “Here’s Looking at You” try:

• Seeing is believing
• See what we mean?
• Worth a second glance
• A view from the top
• Looking good
• Now see this
• A sight to remember
• Visions of victory
• Stare down

*This entry is part of “The Yearbook Ladies’ A to Zs of Yearbook”
project. If you’d like to download the “V” card, go to the “Adviser
Resources” section of www.theyearbookladies.com

We’d love to hear from you! Share your questions, comments, and ideas below…

So your pages are nearing completion and all that’s left is that pesky index and the calla– . . . colon– . . . cloho– . . .

colophon

Yeah, *that* thing.

So what is a colophon?

It’s a recorded history of your book; what was behind the memories; how you created this publication. It includes as many details as you want or as few as you need, but try to be accurate. If your rival school picks up your 2010 book and is overcome with envy when they see your cover, tell them all that went into making it: the fonts, the colors, the cover material, foils, and embossing. This way they can do it for their 2011 book and YOU can take all the credit!

Many schools combine the colophon with thank yous and farewelsl to key people. Remember the particularly helpful teachers who didn’t yell at your 63rd interruption, the secretaries who helped you identify over 300 students, the custodians who cleaned up your deadline pizza parties, parents who brought all the junk food needed to get through the year, and your ADVISER!  These people are more important to the creation of your book than the 100 lb. paper.

Check out a few examples here and bask in the glory of a job well done!

It’s the single page following the front endsheet, and it needs to convey some important information, both visually and verbally. Your theme graphics from the cover and front endsheets need to appear in some form on this page, and all of the following:

• Theme title

• Year of publication

• Yearbook name

• Volume number

• School name

• Complete address (street, city, state, zip)

• School telephone number

• School fax number

• E-mail and/or website address

• Enrollment

*This entry is part of “The Yearbook Ladies’ A to Zs of Yearbook”
project. If you’d like to download the “T” card, go to the “Adviser
Resources” section of www.theyearbookladies.com

We’d love to hear from you! Share your questions, comments, and ideas below…

We’re not talking about sandwich condiments, but yearbook spreads and how important it is to design in spreads. Even if you’ve only allotted one page per topic, you can improve the design of your book by combining both topics into one double-page spread. You can do this by

• one headline and copy package that covers both topics

• graphic elements that cross over both pages

• consistent color scheme

• picture packages that contain photos from both topics

*This entry is part of “The Yearbook Ladies’ A to Zs of Yearbook”
project. If you’d like to download the “S” card, go to the “Adviser
Resources” section of www.theyearbookladies.com

We’d love to hear from you! Share your questions, comments, and ideas below…

Woohoo! It’s April and your book is done! Time to sit back, relax, and enjoy the rest of the year. But wait? What about all the stuff that happens after April? If only there was a way to include that in your book, too. Well, you can… with a Spring Supplement! You can include…

• Spring Sports scoreboards or even Spring Sports!
• Senior Trips
• Spring field trips
• PROM! (That’s right, I said, “PROM!”)

And since it only takes 2 weeks to get your supplement back from Herff Jones, you can pretty much include everything!

*This entry is part of “The Yearbook Ladies’ A to Zs of Yearbook”
project. If you’d like to download the “S” card, go to the “Adviser
Resources” section of www.theyearbookladies.com

We’d love to hear from you! Share your questions, comments, and ideas below…

We know you’ve got ‘em: “When’s the next deadline?”, “What happened to my pictures?”, “Does anyone know this person?”, etc. But here are a few questions that good designers and copy writers should continually ask themselves and each other as they work. Keep these in mind as you look over your spread/copy before you call it “done”:

• Is it fresh? Current? Original?

• Does it relate to the theme? the year? the school?

• Is it specific to the theme? the year? the school?

• Is it my best work?

If you can answer “yes” with confidence, then your work is complete. When the book arrives, you’ll be glad you took the time to ask these critical questions, because “good enough” never is.

*This entry is part of “The Yearbook Ladies’ A to Zs of Yearbook”
project. If you’d like to download the “Q” card, go to the “Adviser
Resources” section of www.theyearbookladies.com

We’d love to hear from you! Share your questions, comments, and ideas below…

The opening of your yearbook is like a good pick-up line. It should grab their attention and make them want more. Below is a quick list of what your opening should or could have:

• Opening Copy - This should explain the theme and why you chose it for this year. It should be compelling and set the tone or voice of your copy for the WHOLE book.
• Design Elements - Design elements from the cover that you plan to use throughout the book need to appear on your opening pages.
• Photography - The pictures should reflect your theme through their content.
• Table of Contents - If you can’t do this on your endsheets, then the opening is the place to do it. (Try to avoid putting it on your title page!)

For ideas on how to design your Opening Spread, go to Yearbooks.biz and click on “Showcase.”

*This entry is part of “The Yearbook Ladies’ A to Zs of Yearbook”
project. If you’d like to download the “O” card, go to the “Adviser
Resources” section of www.theyearbookladies.com

We’d love to hear from you! Share your questions, comments, and ideas below…

Yearbook is all about numbers: How many people have been photographed?, How many pages are in my next deadline?, How many yearbooks have been ordered?, How many ads have been sold?…Well, you get the idea. Here some strategies to help you keep track:

• 3 - The number of students who should be quoted on each spread.
• 2 - Make sure you are designing in 2-page spreads, even if you have separate subjects on either page.
• 1 - Get students in the book at least 1 more time then their portrait picture.

*This entry is part of “The Yearbook Ladies’ A to Zs of Yearbook”
project. If you’d like to download the “N” card, go to the “Adviser
Resources” section of www.theyearbookladies.com

We’d love to hear from you! Share your questions, comments, and ideas below…

Hopefully by now you all have seen a copy of “Ideas That Fly,” the compendium of covers, themes, inside pages, and more from schools around the country. This beautiful book comes out once a year and then an additional soft cover addendum follows behind. Schools love using them as a resource in the classroom and encourage the students to look through the books for new ideas.

The yearbook adviser at Kennedy Middle School in Cupertino, however, turned it into a full lesson for her yearbook staff. Here were the steps:

1. Everyone received a copy of  ”Ideas that Fly.” She explained what was in there.

2. The students picked out a spread they liked, read about the school, their theme, and any other pertinent information that was listed. Then the student listed things they liked about that spread. Why did they pick it? What ideas or inspiration can we get from the spread? What artistic elements were used? How did the graphics contribute to the theme?

3.  There was enough time for 8-9 different students to share their choices and answers in front of the whole class.

This lesson hit at just the right time. They finished their first deadline and are about to start designing their next set of spreads. Hopefully they will go into deadline #2 with more ideas and ready to challenge themselves.

“JUMP!” is a great late-night deadline song by Van Halen, but also a commonly used technique in magazines and newspapers. Jump coverage makes your readers turn the page (or multiple pages)

• From Organizations, a story on Key Club jumps to the Senior section, highlighting graduates at the Key Club banquet
• A student life story about the school’s first dance could send readers to the 6^th Grade spread with poll results on how many attended the dance
• Cover individual sports that students play outside of school hours and then link those captions to the same students on their mug page

Jump coverage, while commonly used in magazines and newspapers, is showing up more often in yearbooks. This is when a story continues on a second page, forcing the reader to jump to another location—either the very next page or sometimes an entirely different section of the book. Jump coverage works best when the book’s theme sets up the situation, like “There’s More to the Story” and “From Here to There.”

We see this used a lot with an extended opening, but don’t just stop with the obvious. Using jump coverage, a story on Key Club can jump to the Senior section, highlighting graduates at the Key Club banquet. A student life story about the school’s first dance, could send readers to the 6^th Grade spread with poll results on how many attended the dance.

Of course jump coverage requires good planning because it’s only successful when you give the page number for the follow-up story. Also, don’t pass up opportunities to link your main story to a sidebar on a different location—anything that keeps your students turning those pages!

*This entry is part of “The Yearbook Ladies’ A to Zs of Yearbook”
project. If you’d like to download the “J” card, go to the “Adviser
Resources” section of www.theyearbookladies.com

We’d love to hear from you! Share your questions, comments, and ideas below…

Ladder (rhymes with ladder) is your organizational road map. Make sure yours is complete, accurate, and where everyone can see it.

• Don’t just use the same ladder year to year. Recreate it every fall with a new staff and fresh ideas
• Ask yourself if your particular theme needs a different approach to organization (e.g. chronological approach? Three sections instead of five?)
• Include all pertinent information on the ladder: topic, due date, student(s) assigned, etc.
• Cool tip: laminate a fresh wall ladder and use overhead projector pens to write on it. It is much easier to make changes/corrections that way

*This entry is part of “The Yearbook Ladies’ A to Zs of Yearbook”
project. If you’d like to download the “L” card, go to the “Adviser
Resources” section of www.theyearbookladies.com

We’d love to hear from you! Share your questions, comments, and ideas below…

[jur-nl-iz-uh m]: “the occupation of reporting, writing, editing, photographing, or broadcasting news or of conducting any news organization as a business” (and used in all good yearbooks). Most of your copy is made up of feature writing, but it’s still journalistically sound if you . . .

It may be the most boring and tedious section in your book, but it’s definitely the most popular! It’s the first place students look to see how many times they’re in the book!

• Generate your index throughout the year to make sure you’re including everyone in your book at least twice. Highlight your target list in one color (students that are only in it once) and your blacklist in another color (students in it too many times)
• If you are including everyone, why not advertise it? Post your index in a window with the headline, “Buy a Yearbook. Look how many times you’re in it!”
• Make your index more interesting by interspersing club photos and other group photos to break up the monotony of names
• Be creative with the letters: have students spell out the letters on the floor, include world news that begins with that letter, take photos of areas around the school that “create” the letter,…

*This entry is part of “The Yearbook Ladies’ A to Zs of Yearbook”
project. If you’d like to download the “I” card, go to the “Adviser
Resources” section of www.theyearbookladies.com

We’d love to hear from you! Share your questions, comments, and ideas below…

“Hip” isn’t just another 1960s word for cool—it also reminds you of good coverage. Ask if your stories are . . .

• Happening? Your coverage and design are happening, meaning you are dealing with content from 2009/10, not 1993
• Interactive? Watch TV, pick up a magazine, observe the world around you. The information superhighway is making this an interactive world. Your coverage should reflect this
• Progressive? Absorb the world around you and translate that into your yearbook coverage. Strive for original, progressive ideas. So, rather than ask students about their DMV tests, go with them, getting quotes from the DMV instructors and photos of a nervous student standing in line

*This entry is part of “The Yearbook Ladies’ A to Zs of Yearbook”
project. If you’d like to download the “H” card, go to the “Adviser
Resources” section of www.theyearbookladies.com

We’d love to hear from you! Share your questions, comments, and ideas below…

Creating cohesion throughout your book requires both a verbal and a visual theme. Here are some tips on using graphics to help with keep your book visually unified:

• After choosing your verbal theme, choose a visual theme that illustrates or matches your concept. For example, if your verbal theme is “Traffic”, your visual theme could be a blurred effect in photoshop which illustrates constant movement, or it could be dotted lines mimicking street dividers. There are many ways to visually illustrate a theme concept. The key is pick only one, or your book will look too messy.
• Have students keep a graphics notebook of ideas they find in magazines, ads, newspaper, menus, websites, etc… which use your graphic element. For example, if your element is “paint splatters,” there are so many ways this could be executed, it would help to narrow it down with an example from a professional publication.
• Once you decide on your graphic element, find a variety of ways to use it throughout the book. Change it for every section, but keep it consistent within the section. For example, if your visual theme is interlocking circles, you could have them go across the entire spread horizontally within Student Life, but for academics, they go vertically and only through 3/4 of the page behind the headline…
• If you haven’t used Photoshop Brushes yet, experiment with these to create your ideal graphic. There are plenty of free brushes available for download online.
• Check out theyearbookblog.com for the 8 most popular graphic elements in design today.

*This entry is part of “The Yearbook Ladies’ A to Zs of Yearbook”
project. If you’d like to download the “G” card, go to the “Adviser
Resources” section of www.theyearbookladies.com

We’d love to hear from you! Share your questions, comments, and ideas below…

Every once in a while the calendar helps out the yearbook. 2010 is one of those years that gives you the perfect excuse for Top 10 lists in your book.

• Top 10 stores where students shop
• 10 things in your backpack you can’t live without
• Top 10 hardest projects at school
• Top 10 movies of the year (survey the students for this list–don’t just listen to the critics or magazines)
• Top 10 songs on your iPod (again, survey the students)
• 10 biggest sports moments on campus

You get the idea. The . . . um . . . LIST is endless.

Newsweek has even joined the fun with the release of their new website:
http://2010.newsweek.com/home.html

If possible, make room in your book for dividers: double-page spreads that separate or introduce a new section in the yearbook.

• They set the tone for the next section
• They reinforce the theme of the book, both visually and verbally
• Include great action photos that make the reader excited to turn the page
• Sometimes have a mini table of contents for that section

*This entry is part of “The Yearbook Ladies’ A to Zs of Yearbook”
project. If you’d like to download the “D” card, go to the “Adviser
Resources” section of www.theyearbookladies.com

We’d love to hear from you! Share your questions, comments, and ideas below…