Every school year, the yearbook staff and advisor are tasked with the unique job of telling the story of the year. While there is a book every year, each school year is different, and the yearbook staff has to create a product and tell a story that will never be seen again. From elementary schools to high schools and colleges, the yearbook is an important piece of history that documents the life and experiences of students across the educational spectrum. With such an important task, every yearbook staff must work hard to create an awesome product that captures the year perfectly.
Anyone who has ever been a part of the school yearbook staff knows how hard it can be to plan, design, and produce a quality yearbook on time each year. Often, the process can be a bit of trial and error as you find the right processes and methods for completing an entire book in a few months. From college yearbooks and high school yearbooks to elementary school books, there are several things that you can do to ensure a quality product. Let’s look at some tips for creating an awesome school yearbook.
Contents
1. Select a cool theme.
A theme will help create a cohesive look throughout the book and provide a framework for design. The main purpose of the yearbook theme is to capture the uniqueness of the school year while setting the tone for the story that the book is going to tell. A good theme is a verbal statement that is paired with a visual look that ties the book together. The theme will be woven throughout the book and show up in the writing, photography, design, fonts, graphics, colors, and other elements of the book.
The best themes are fun and easily identifiable from the cover and the book’s first few pages. The theme must serve as a vehicle for telling the story and history of the school year without taking over. The theme will be present on most of your yearbook pages, so it is important that it is sustainable. Look around to see if there are unique situations that lend themselves to a good theme, such as the 50th anniversary of the school.
2. Take as many pictures as possible.
From the seniors to the freshmen, the yearbook will tell the story of a unique and memorable time. You’ll want to gather as many photos as possible of events, activities, and daily life. You’ll also want to take good pictures of as many things as possible. Everyone will be in the yearbook once with their school picture. Your job is to get them in the yearbook as many more times as possible. People go to their old yearbooks to find classmates and famous people they went to school with and to remember that funny moment during the homecoming dance of their high school sophomore year. Take as many pictures as possible to tell the complete story of the year.
3. Edit and proofread carefully.
A good yearbook will have the right balance of photos and copy. From senior acknowledgments to personal interest stories, there will be a good bit of written information in the book. The sign of a quality yearbook is pristine writing free from grammatical and spelling errors. While this is not the most fun part of creating the book, it is an essential task that will create the best product possible. More than just editors and the advisor, editing and proofreading needs the job of every person on the yearbook staff. Before any pages are submitted for print, they need to be read by as many people as possible.
The school yearbook is a unique piece of history that captures the culture and story of the year. Designing and creating the yearbook is an important task, but you can create the best book possible with some time and consideration.
