Advisers can take heart. Yearbook staffs are full of teens creating a publication for teens. They usually will know what is trendy and cool and what is not. Trust them, but give them some direction. That is the recommendation of a few yearbook advisers whose yearbooks, or who themselves, have recently won national awards.
backgrounds
A unique way to make images pop is to contrast them. The staff at J.W. Mitchell High School in New Port Richey, Fla., combined the techniques of cut-out-backgrounds, color/black and white, drop shadows and repetition on several spreads, including this cross country spread featured in Caught Our Eye on page 38.
There is only so much a designer can say with a white page. True, the beauty and simplicity of a plain background can be stark and dramatic, calling readers’ attention to a stunning photograph, a dramatic headline, or an isolated story. But other times, less is not more, and, well, more is needed. Textured backgrounds have been a staple of magazine designers for years. They are not too distracting, but give the page a nice feel.
