When I joined my middle school’s yearbook staff, we were still using grease pencils and big, plastic croppers to size our photos. Layouts were done in carbon copy triplicate and most deadlines were spent in the darkroom. Innovations like Online Design, Walsworth’s online program, have changed yearbook creation.
Spring 2014
The vintage, or retro, look is in, partly because there are many apps and filters available to help you modify your everyday photos. However, you can get that look in your yearbook, and do it more professionally, since Photoshop can help you make precise adjustments.
Three years ago, a “spread” was Mom’s Thanksgiving dinner on the dining room table. A “gutter” was what I helped Dad clean leaves out of in the fall. A yearbook was what I automatically received every year in college, but to which I paid little attention.
Online Design gives you a couple of ways to edit your index information as you are compiling it. Let’s look at how to edit in the Student Body area.
White, or negative, space is a beautiful, beautiful thing – unless it’s unplanned and takes away from the quality of your pictures. A photo with content that fills the frame has power. It compels the viewer to stop and take notice. You have two chances to compose the perfect photo: once when you take it and once when you place it.
Photoshop has lots of cool blending effects that you can use on your photos, but rather than going back and forth from Photoshop and InDesign, consider what the Blending Modes in InDesign can offer in the way of effects. And, they are super easy to use.
The yearbook signing party has always been one of the most valuable parts of the yearbook experience. Now that experience just got even better.
Vegetable soup means different things to different people. You can enjoy it with the familiar carrots, green beans, peas and corn. Some cooks add squashes and kale. Others want macaroni or rice, or to make it heartier, lentils and beef. The same is true with your staff manual. The basics are good. But the more items you add, the more it will sustain you.
As with most aspects of a middle school student’s world, communication must be immediate and visual. Their world moves fast, and the printed word slows them down. After 22 years in yearbooking, I decided it was time to let go of copy just a bit to open up more room for pictures.
To make money, it’s been said yearbook staffs should sell their products – yearbooks, ads and options – and not candy bars and car washes. If your yearbook staff has a great annual fundraiser that your school enjoys, stick with it. But if it’s time to venture into or improve your business ad sales, these tips should get your staff organized and increase their confidence.
