So, you know how the old cliché goes about books and covers.
Right… Well unfortunately, that doesn’t always pertain to yearbooks. The covers are visible, and they do get judged. Which is why many yearbook staffs spend so much time brainstorming and obsessing over creating that ideal cover for their yearbook. It’s usually one of the first tasks the staff tackles once school is back in session, if not earlier at a summer workshop.
Now, the Idea File blog can help. We’ve launched our new Cover Gallery under Showcase. Plus, for Walsworth customers, the Artistic Alley full of covers can now be found within Members Only. You can scroll through a sampling of Walsworth covers and see what might apply to your cover. Along the way, maybe you’ll find some inspiration.
The process of creating the yearbook cover isn’t an easy one. A few different creative decisions will factor in.
Jamie Chambers, now the supervisor of Walsworth’s Design and Creative Concepting Department, worked as an artist in the company’s Creative Services Department for almost nine years. Through all the staffs he met with in the classroom, at summer workshops and via virtual online sessions, he estimates that he has probably designed close to 1,000 yearbook covers.
According to Chambers, a yearbook staff can find sources to help with their cover all around them.
“A lot of staffs will start by just looking through a magazine for a look they want to achieve – a particular style or a trend,” said Chambers. “Surfing and skateboarding magazines are always really popular. Some use movie posters and CD covers.”
Along with a style or look, many staffs will also begin their cover with a specific theme in mind – an idea unique to their year, at their school, which can be illustrated on the cover.
And of course, there are tons of options in the way of materials and effects, such as foils, silk screens and embossing.
“The important thing to teach them is to use elements that can be taken and used on the inside of the book,” said Chambers. “A color, font, logo, or a graphic – anything that can be carried inside for consistency.”
