As I used to tell my students, you do not do journalism for the awards. There are many paybacks for student journalists just by producing a great story, photo, design or an entire yearbook to share with readers. But an award honoring a student’s hard work, creativity and dedication certainly is icing on the cake.
tips
The digital age increases the importance of Adobe Photoshop in yearbook photojournalism. Photoshop makes all the difference in the world in getting images ready to sparkle on the yearbook page. However, before discussing techniques to help in using this powerful program, let me start with some basic photo advice.
Yearbook advisers must be inventive. The following six tips might help you be more organized, save some time and even help handle a few of life’s little inconveniences.
It usually does not take long for people in stressful jobs, such as parents, to start analyzing repetitive or tedious tasks to try to figure out a better way to do things.
All of those D-Days during the school year – those deadlines that needed to be met – were just the precursor to your yearbook’s big D-Day – Distribution Day. Distribution is another yearbook job that requires planning, organizing and coordination. It is a lot of work, but that effort before the big D-Day will make handing out the books as rewarding for you as for the recipients.
Most everyone is familiar with Find/Change to correct misspellings and search for word references. But in InDesign, the tool has broader applications, such as type formatting and styles. Here is an example of using Find/Change to make a style consistent throughout documents.
Interviewing is a skill gained by following practical procedures. Good reporters, from local newspapers to national magazines, follow these procedures to get great stories. For yearbook writers looking for stories and details to capture the year, the same techniques will work for you.
Now is the time to head off common complaints heard at distribution.
Not too long after the first heavy boxes are sliced open and the new yearbooks distributed, it begins.
Veteran advisers look back at their first year or two and wish someone had warned them about what can go wrong. Here are some of the more common issues that advisers face, and tips for avoiding or resolving them. We tried to come up with a list of the Top Ten Pitfalls to Avoid, but we can’t count, so here Mike Frazier’s article with help from advisers Renae Goldie, Amy Morgan and Danielle Bradley, and yearbook representative Karen Ray.
Call your customer service representative for questions and problems concerning your yearbook. Your CSR is a valuable resource who knows where to go for the answers to your questions. CSRs are located in the pre-press plant, with access to your yearbook during the production process.
Before you pick up the phone to call your Walsworth yearbook representative and schedule your first visit of the year, stop. There are a few things you can do ahead of time to help make that first visit go smoothly, and make sure your time is used well.
