Return to Yearbook Zen

Remember the camaraderie, excitement and motivation last spring and fall as you started your current yearbook? In this column, that is our idea of Yearbook Zen. Now you may be asking where the energy and time have gone. You and your staff were so enthusiastic about every detail – and now you are dreaming of your summer vacation.

Get back to the idea of Yearbook Zen now. It will make a big difference as you finish this year and get ready for the next one. Think about what you love about yearbook – design, writing, marketing, photography, etc. Do activities to prepare for the upcoming year that will remind you why you love your job as the yearbook adviser or staffer.

• Look around to see what is happening in your school, community or world that inspires ideas for a theme or coverage.

• Search out new and upcoming trends and design. Grab a coffee at your favorite book store and a comfortable seat near the magazine area. Relax and look through magazines you might never buy or subscribe to, but offer great ideas of trends and awesome design. Use your cell phone to take pictures and buy several of the magazines or books that really inspire you.

• Start a folder or box to collect all things cool and inspiring. Even if you’re not sure how it could contribute to your book, add it to your collection. These could be ads, layouts, tags, brochures, junk mail, packaging, billboards, event tickets, a T-shirt – anything that could inspire design, a theme or new trends.

• Between now and the next school year, create a wall or bulletin board of inspiration. Tack up everything you and your staff added to your inspiration collection and look for similarities or trends in your collection. Is there something that jumps out – a theme, styles, design ideas, colors or fonts? Now you have a good start for your book – and it’s fun!

• Yearbook advisers, drained from the year and dreaming of big summer plans, find nothing that re-energizes them more than a summer workshop. These are also where student leaders are created! Review local opportunities here or attend Walsworth’s Adviser Academy. Attending anything yearbook-related may be the last thing you want to do. But you will look forward to the event as it approaches, and you will be thankful as you are leaving that you are ready for a new year and back to Yearbook Zen!