Nine 2018 yearbooks from Walsworth Yearbooks schools were among the high school and middle school books announced as 2018 Pacemaker Finalists by the National Scholastic Press Association.
With many schools just past that first big yearbook deadline, now is the perfect time to refocus on storytelling. In this week’s episode of Ask Mike, host Mike Taylor, CJE, speaks to two advisers who lead their students to tell great stories. Tiffany Kopcak Tiffany Kopcak teaches her students to eavesdrop. Really. That’s how the…
For this issue of Idea File, I have collaborated with my good friend Becky Tate from Shawnee Mission North High School in Overland Park, Kansas. We decided there are two areas of design that everyone should pay attention to – deciding on and using fonts correctly, and creating pages/spreads that will visually help tell the…
Before your 2018 yearbook is delivered, distributed and the final bell rings, let’s get everyone on the same page about this yearbook theme thing. Let’s get them all thinking in a direction that the staff can work toward. The 2019 yearbook staff needs a theme for their yearbook. Gather the returning staff, sans graduating seniors,…
“Suzy, you are going to be the academics editor of the 2018 yearbook.” These words strike pride, excitement and dread into academics editors across the country. Why? Let’s explore that for a few minutes. Yes, you have a great responsibility. You are in charge of a portion of the book. Yes, a portion that could…
HEY, why are you using font sizes that can be read from the space station? You and your students have a vision for the final project. Hopefully, in that vision, you dream of a classy, sophisticated book that your student body and community will love. You know your colors, you’ve planned great coverage, you’re getting…
One of my favorite memories of advising yearbook has very little to do with the actual production of the yearbook. Instead it has to do with developing caring young adults. I was determined to teach my students that giving a portion of themselves to the world around them is more important than constantly taking from…
Basic design knowledge is necessary to creating a strong yearbook. Teaching students how and why design is important is a worthwhile exercise. It may seem to take forever, but once students grasp the basics, they will soon be able to use those skills to create a sophisticated spread. You can start here with my Top…
Two seconds is how long the average reader will look at a spread before turning the page. So it’s the designer’s job to try to capture those wandering eyes by using attractive yet planned design. Filling the page with more pictures will not help a reader stay on the spread. What will help is the…
Open up some random photo folders on your computers and look carefully at the pictures saved for your yearbook. Do you notice that many photos are of one person? This is particularly noticeable in certain sports such as golf, tennis and swimming. Having one person in a photograph is great. More than likely, this person…
If you were to divide the students in your school into three groups they would fall into: Those involved in school activities Those involved in sports Others Students involved in activities and sports have more in common than just school work. The others are simply there to be educated. When you look at the index…
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