Legend
William R. Boone High School, Orlando, Fla.
Theme: Moving Still
Adviser: Reneé Burke
Editor: Madison Smith
Walsworth representative: Missy Green, Jason Talley and Nicole Appel
"We knew the year was going to be affected dominantly by the time flop and extra period," the 2009 Legend editor writes in the colophon, "but the traditions would make our campus and lives steady." From this contrast, the staff decided on the theme "moving still." The staff allowed the theme to drive the book's organization; the book has two sections. The "moving" section contains stories about activities and events that involved a lot of moment or change. The "still" section holds the constants: teachers, students, traditions and community. Design choices in each section also reflect the parts of the theme. Designs in the "moving" section take more risks and have more graphic elements than those in the "still" section. A four-color, embossed photo on the cover of a student dressed as the school mascot - a brave - sets the tone for this school-spirited book.
The 2009 Legend is divided into two sections. The "moving" section spans the first 193 pages of the book and covers stories and events that involve movement and change. Sports stories, some clubs stories and some academics stories appear in this section. The "still" section includes community pages, people pages and clubs and academics stories that focused on traditions rather than changes. The table of contents on the front endsheet calls attention to four of the stories in each section. Each section also has its own font, which appears on the endsheet.
The theme logo stretches across the back of the front endsheet and the title page. The fonts used on the cover and endsheet appear again here, keeping the visual identity consistent.
In keeping with the duality of the theme "moving still," the 2009 Legend begins with a two-spread opening. The first spread explains the “moving” part of the theme: "Transformations around campus brought a sense of uncertainty...." It goes on to explain the changes in scheduling that affected the school for the 2008-2009 school year. Student quotes are used to show the impact the scheduling had on real people.
Visually, the photo treatment on the cover is continued on theme spreads inside. Photoshop has been used to "rip" the edges of photos and apply artistic touches to photos on theme pages. The font on this spread is used throughout the "moving" section of the book and on the "moving" section's folios.
The second spread of this two-spread opening focuses on the “still” half of the theme phrase: "Yet with all the chaos and confusion, the weekly signs of support from local businesses proudly displaying "Go Braves" on their marquees inspired the spirit of our community." Details about school spirit, traditions and activities that remained the same for the school year finish out the opening section. The font on this spread is used throughout the "still" section of the book and on the "still" section's folios.
A dominant photo with strong action draws readers’ attention on the division spread for the "moving" section. The eroded edges on these photos carry the visual theme identity onto these pages. Details about the presidential election, the school's football season and a new recycling program started by the Environmental Club develop the moving part of the theme "moving still."
Sports spreads, of course, fall into the "moving" section of the 2009 Legend. The graphics on this spread are typical of sports stories; these arrows appear throughout the "moving" section of the book. Notice the tension created by tilting one column of the text. Details like this shake up the relatively traditional design of the Legend.
Take a look at the scoreboards. They reveal a secondary theme running through the book: numbers. Other secondary coverage in the book includes fact boxes labeled "4U2KNOW" and step-by-step instructions labeled with large numerals.
The 2009 Legend plays on two meanings of the word still: not moving and constant. Both meanings are apparent in the division copy for the “still” section. "The core of the school remained in the classroom, where the learning of ancient art, historical literature, the foundation of our world and the proofs that made mathematics true surrounded us and challenged our knowledge,” this copy begins. It continues with details about traditions and people at Boone High School. The copy sends readers into the section with these words: “The truth is we are still the same high school with vast traditions and a supportive community."
The design of this spread is similar to the "moving" divider spread, except for the headline font. This simple sans serif font appears throughout the section instead of the decorative font that represented the “moving” part of the theme.
Font and graphic details remain consistent to the last spread of the Legend. After a book that addressed the two halves of the theme separately, a three-page closing pulls the theme into one cohesive package. “At the beginning of the year we knew the changes were to help with what we thought was a temporary financial crisis, but we would be affected. However, the confusion of scheduling and time changes in the early moths settled and the day to day routines brought us back to reality as we adapted to the new situations,” the copy says. The copy goes on to touch on unexpected things during the year that made students realize that in their ever-changing lives, some things stay the same.
In a twist on the theme graphic, the 2009 Legend ends with the phrase, "We are still moving," sending readers into the world with the possibility for more growth and change.
