Today's Yearbooks
By: Ray Slye
For decades, yearbooks have been described as “picture books,” and that hasn't really changed much for students who anticipate the delivery of their 2006 school year publications. The fact that many of those pictures will be taken with digital cameras and sent to printers on disk or via the Internet doesn't really change what the typical response is when students are asked what they first look for when they open their yearbooks: "Pictures of me. And, pictures of my friends."
Picture This
The trend in modern-day yearbooks is how those two expectations are met by the yearbook staff. To address the "pictures of me" issue, many staffs set a policy that every student in the school needs to be included in photos throughout the book at least a pre-established number of times. This number varies based on the actual school enrollment, but at least twice is a common goal for each student, in addition to being included in the school portrait section of the book.
While this certainly seems like a simple task, it is not one that happens without a great deal of planning and record-keeping by editors and advisers. Some students really do seem to be involved in a tremendous number of school activities and could easily appear in several pictures before a less active student gets included in even one photo.
This serves as the first task for the yearbook staff to consider. By keeping an updated index as each deadline is completed throughout the production process, the staff has a running total of the times each student has been included. Even this task requires some thoughtful advanced planning to truly be effective.
One suggestion is for the staff to brainstorm a list of students who they all know will probably be included several times in the yearbook, simply because those students have typically been in several activities in the past. For example, the student who is the student body president, head cheerleader, editor of the student newspaper, president of a couple of active clubs, and a top academic performer truly should be included in pictures and coverage for all those different activities.
Here's where the record keeping and brainstorming comes into play. If the staff has identified that particular student early in the year, then they are less likely to include that same student in general candid shots of students, say at lunchtime or school rallies. Those are the places where it works to include as many different students as possible, without covering those students with known, specific involvement.
Coverage Is Key
All of this planning as to how to include every student in the yearbook is directly tied into another big part of the modern-day yearbook: coverage. Again, with a great deal of planning, this is a task that can be accomplished in order to cover the events of the entire school year.
The current guideline being used by many yearbook staffs who receive national recognition for their publications centers around the basic tenet of telling the story of their students, 24 hours a day, 12 months a year. This means getting pictures and telling the stories of students both in and out of the classroom, both inside and outside of the school campus, and even outside of the school schedule. Suddenly, the possibilities for including so many more students isn't all that difficult because there are so many more activities in which to cover them.
A major part of getting all of these topics included means that there needs to be a specific plan worked out in advance. For the yearbook staff, this is called ladder planning. The ladder is a page-by-page blueprint of what will be covered on each page or spread of the yearbook. The more detailed the ladder can be in terms of the who, what, when and where of each topic, the more likely that complete coverage can be included because the yearbook staffer has a better idea of the aspects of the event before the first picture is taken or the first quote is written down from the participants.
Another important part in planning coverage is for the yearbook editors and staff members to consider different ways to cover the same topics year after year. For example, if school clubs have always been included in the yearbook in a club-by-club manner, perhaps a different approach can add some new excitement to that section of the book.
A current trend is to have club feature stories on topics that encompass several different clubs. Topics like fundraising, the value of membership, field trips, and service to the community are all ones that allow for varied and interesting coverage. The group pictures with IDs still need to be included for complete coverage, but this history aspect of the story is a part of the bigger picture of how students were involved and what impact their involvement had on them and the school.
Does It Look Like 2006?
Each yearbook should have its own “look” that reflects that particular year.
Rather than looking at previous yearbooks from your own school or even from other schools to get design and coverage ideas, a staff trying to publish a book that represents their time and their peers should look at the world of printing and publishing all around them.
Any magazine stand offers an array of contemporary appeal to today's students. The way the story is displayed on the pages, and the way the story is told in magazines, can be the starting point for exciting and engaging yearbook coverage.
A standard of modern publication design is the use of grids in planning the look of the various sections of the book. Simply, the grid is the use of narrow columns to align all the elements--photos, copy/captions, white space--on the page. And the use of all those individual elements comes into play.
Each photo needs to be a story-telling addition to the coverage, rather than just a posed snapshot of people. And even though the old cliche of "A picture is worth a thousand words" can be used as an excuse to not write a complete caption for every photo in the book, it does not pass the test of time. Ten years later, or 25 years later, when students look back on their school experience, they are not going to remember all of the names, all of the emotions and all of the drama of that one moment captured in a picture unless it has a complete caption.
Another design trend that has a huge impact is the use of white space, currently being referred to as negative space. It is that space that frames the entire spread. It showcases the content, rather than giving a feeling of too much content being jammed into too little space. White space is used to join or separate elements on the spread and show how the coverage components work together.
The use of type has a huge impact on the look and tone or voice of a publication. A contemporary yearbook is not going to use a dated script font that immediately brings to mind a much earlier time period because of its style. Every use of type in the book will have an impact. The type size, alignment and leading all need to be given due attention in headlines, body copy, captions and sidebar coverage. Again, getting examples and ideas from the professional press can be a great resource.
One final consideration for the “look” of modern yearbooks is the use of more and more color. In fact, the trend is moving toward the all-color yearbook.
First and foremost, the financial impact on the cost of all-color yearbooks must be considered by a school and its yearbook staff. While the cost of printing all color is certainly coming into the realm of possibility for larger schools with a high percentage of book sales, it may still be a ways into the future for smaller schools. But even if the yearbook staff cannot yet produce an all-color book, it can certainly make sure that the color pages that are included have high impact. And, yes, once again, looking at ideas from the professional press will certainly give students a myriad of design ideas for the color pages.
Did You See My Picture?
When all is said and done, students may initially judge their yearbook by its cover. But then they are going to judge it by the answer to the questions, "Where's my picture?" and "Where are my friends' pictures?"
And finally, they are going to judge their yearbook on how the staff told the complete story of the school year by including everyone in the school and covering the entire year.
Ray Slye has been the Herff Jones Yearbooks representative in the Sacramento, California, area for the past 18 years. He was joined by his son Adam in the yearbook business three years ago. Ray's background in scholastic journalism and yearbook advising is combined with Adam's background in digital photography and desktop publishing for what they refer to as Team Slye/Yearbook Solutions to assist their customer schools in all aspects of yearbook production.
Product Roundup
Expressly-Yours
Expressly-Yours Yearbooks, a division of Express Press, has been in the printing business since 1978. The school yearbook division specializes in printing books specifically for the small school market—mainly those ordering 500 or fewer books—including many Christian schools. Expressly-Yours handles both full-color and black-and-white books, with soft or hard covers. With a fully-digital work flow, the company can accept files over the Internet. Online software allows multiple users to work on the design of the book, all at the same time.
www.expressly-yours.net
YBDirect by Friesen Yearbooks
YBDirect by Friesen Yearbooks allows schools to connect to the Friesen’s plant via the Internet, saving time and money. YBDirect places no restraints on the software schools can use or the amount of assistance yearbook designers receive. YBDirect combines direct service and savings with Friesen’s 98 years of printing experience.
www.ybdirect.com
Taylor Publishing Company
Taylor Publishing Company is one of the nation's largest elementary to university yearbook publishers. Each year, the company helps thousands of private and public schools produce high-impact yearbooks. Taylor provides state-of-the art technology, educational resources and flexible programs. The company’s goal is to make the yearbook experience fun, easy and educational and to provide students with yearbooks they will be proud of for years to come.
www.tayloryearbooks.com
Walsworth
Walsworth, an American, family-owned yearbook company, has more than 65 years of printing experience. chools choosing Walsworth first receive the Process kit, which includes resources for planning, creating, submitting, and proofing desktop-designed yearbooks, including manuals, movies, and software enhancements. The PDF Performance Program is an advanced page submission method that saves time and money.
The company’s desktop publishing support allows users to have a live, screen-sharing session with a specialist who can offer solutions to questions right on the screen. With online design, schools can produce a top-quality yearbook without the expense of software and the hassles of networking.
www.walsworthyearbooks.com
EZBook by Walter’s Publishing
EZBook by Walter’s Publishing offers a fast and easy way to assemble yearbook pages. Free EZBook software for Mac or PC computers is provided to schools publishing with Walter’s. The program works well for elementary through senior-high yearbooks. The program accepts candid photos and montage layouts, and it automatically flows portraits and student names on to pages. Multiple users can work on yearbook pages at the same time, making it perfect for students, instructors, and volunteers.
www.custom-yearbooks.com
Herff Jones
Herff Jones, a leader in the yearbook industry for 85 years, prides itself on providing exceptional quality, service, tools, educational materials, and training that make the creation of a yearbook easier and more effective. Herff Jones offers many technical support tools, like Adobe InDesign CS support and Internet-based Online Page Creation and also has curriculum-based yearbook instructional materials, like the Guide to Yearbook Journalism.
www.yearbooks.biz
School Annual
School Annual publishes quality yearbooks, memory books and school year calendars. A yearbook publisher for more than 50 years, School Annual understands the importance of capturing life memories. School Annual Yearbooks are the perfect way to capture the times of your students’ lives. And School Annual has a yearbook for every budget. So whether you choose a large-format color yearbook, or a smaller black and white yearbook, you can be sure that you're capturing cherished memories for a lifetime.
www.schoolannual.com
Lifetouch
Lifetouch Publishing offers a variety of yearbook programs to meet the different needs of each school. Schools may choose to create their yearbooks using a traditional paste-up process, an efficient pre-designed layout method, or an innovative online application. Which program is right for your school will depend on the scope of your yearbook, your access to computers and the Internet, and the size and skills of your yearbook team. In addition, many of Lifetouch’s programs were developed with a specific student group in mind. For example, WebEase is a powerful online design tool created especially for elementary and middle school students.
www.lifetouch.com
StoryRock
Memories are the stuff of life. They enrich the human experience by bringing us joy, teaching us lessons, and shaping our future. Memories are unique treasures that add value when we share them. StoryRock is a multimedia electronic publisher that specializes in personal memories: saving, organizing and compiling memorabilia into interactive multimedia presentations. Their products include software and curriculum for building interactive DVD and CD yearbooks for high schools, middle schools, and elementary schools. Because your students’ memories are important, StoryRock is committed to preserving them in the most compelling, striking, and enduring way possible.
www.storyrock.com
