“Do you think anyone will get bored with the repeating pictures?” Liz asked me as she was finishing the last division page. “Maybe we should have used different ones.”
Read more from Theme
From the category archives:
Theme
The Wings yearbook staff at Arrowhead Christian Academy, Redlands, Calif., does not like to select a theme that capsulizes the school year because they believe that kind of a theme can only be done so many times before it becomes difficult to develop it meaningfully. Instead, they work to pick a theme that could reflect the school year, but one where its focus will allow the staff to give the book a personality.
A private space, comfortable couches, lots of food, idea lists, and open minds are required. It is not a time for the timid. By the end of the session, the individuals involved will have become a team. Love it or hate it, all will have committed to the common purpose of creating a book centered around the chosen theme.
Embark. Embark. Now there is a theme word for you. Every yearbook in eras past has featured threshold-crossing, challenge-facing, embarking students in some form or another.
It had been hours since the group came together. Wadded pieces of paper cluttered the room, along with empty pizza boxes and tossed candy wrappers. Bodies draped over chairs and tables. Blank expressions intermingled with looks of agony. It had been a long day filled with trite phrases and the troops were beginning to lose hope. Regardless of how hard they tried, an idea just would not come. A suitable concept for their yearbook eluded them.
Armed with a list of unique happenings at their school next year and fortified with lots of Chinese food, the Indian’s editorial staff, along with a few writers and photographers, gathered in a dorm room at a summer yearbook workshop to brainstorm a theme.
For decades, yearbook advisers have been pulling their hair out trying to lead staffs in the appropriate direction when it comes to deciding on and developing a theme. The introductory brainstorming questions are ones experienced advisers have permanently etched in their brain.
erhaps when you were a child, filling in your first coloring book, your mother told you to stay inside the lines. That may be a standard for coloring books, but in yearbooks, following the standard, doing things the way they have always been done or, if you will, staying inside the lines, can stifle creativity and give your yearbook a dated, stale look. Experiment, open your mind to new ideas, new approaches, new looks.
