Keep color consistency in your yearbook sections, even when you have several designers, and even if not all of the colors are chosen but work needs to start as deadlines loom. Use the Swatches palette (Window > Swatches) to assign hue-independent page elements. By naming swatches based upon what they do for the design instead of color name, they are more easily managed.
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Design
THE THEME HAS BEEN SELECTED, THE BUDGET IS SET, AND NOW THE STAFF MUST COME UP WITH A COVER IDEA FOR THE YEARBOOK THAT TRULY CONVEYS THEIR MESSAGE ABOUT THE SCHOOL YEAR. WALSWORTH HAS EXTREMELY TALENTED PROFESSIONAL DESIGNERS TO HELP YOU WITH THIS TASK. Walsworth also has a variety of pre-designed covers to choose from in its Portfolio booklet that comes in the Kit. But like a painter getting ready to paint, if you do not know what paints and canvases are available, how do you know what you can achieve?
Our yearbook concept is not new. We are following the workshop adage: yearbooks should echo the year, the school, the students. And yet, something is changing.
Mall crawling is an inexpensive means to collect ideas for yearbooks
Teens are familiar with their local mall — the location of their favorite stores, favorite eating spots and the best places to hang with their friends.
When Megan Fontanoza joined yearbook her senior year, she had no idea the adviser had already pegged her to be an editor. She soon learned she would have to design a section of the yearbook. But since she had no experience in graphic design, she would need a quick education and a lot of inspiration. To pull it off, Megan consulted with other editors and watched them develop ideas for their own designs. She saw them spending hours flipping through books and magazines, flagging pages and sketching out ideas.
We started thumbing through the 2002 crop of yearbooks looking for the best new ideas, the ‘must-haves.’
You may be new to yearbook design or have students who are. Or, designing may be your favorite part of production and you have been doing it for years. Either way, a good grounding in basics is essential. Like those mazes with the start and finish points, fundamentals get you where you need to go — in this case, the creation of an appealing page that makes the reader want to linger over it.
The agenda at a summer yearbook workshop usually allows time for fun and games. Playing “beat the clock” with the cover designer, however, should not be one of them.
You are the lucky recipient of a preliminary layout sheet (from this point on we’ll call them what they really are – dummies – the layout sheet, not that kid that sits behind you in math class). You may be asking yourself at this point – “What do I do with this ‘dummy’?” You are in luck. Not only does the exciting and fast-paced opportunity of designing await, but in your hands you now hold a key to solid beginning design – a guide (not that I can be here every step of the way, but at least some rules to remember as you embark on your journey).
Yearbook staffs are always looking for ways to move beyond the rules of basic design in order to achieve a more fresh and dynamic yearbook. One of the first steps in that direction can be as simple as picking up one of today’s trendy magazines for inspiration and ideas. The hot designs found in magazines like Vogue and GQ can easily be adapted for yearbook. Staffs just need to know the best way to get from point A to point B. All it takes is the right approach and careful planning.
