Designing your yearbook can be a lot of work. It can also be a lot of fun! Your yearbook page layouts provide the perfect opportunity to really harness your creative skill-set.
The real question though, is how you can design captivating yearbook page layouts? It’s one thing to have a creative, artsy layout. It’s an entirely different thing to have a yearbook layout that really captivates your audience!
We’ve put together some tips to help you design a captivating yearbook page layout.
Creating A Yearbook Page
A great yearbook is organized, well-structured, and maximizes all the space available. Your yearbook page layout is more than just the copy and visuals.
Let’s start with the basics. In order to make a yearbook page, you need to:
- Start with your yearbook’s style guide or master template
- Set the goals for your page, such as content and theme.
- Choose a yearbook page template. Alternatively, create a custom yearbook page layout. Your choice should depend on the goals for your page.
- Add your content. This will include captions, copy, photos and headlines.
- Edit your page. Get feedback from your yearbook team.
- Proof your page.
These steps can be followed for every page of your yearbook. Following this process can make creating your yearbook much easier!
How to Design Captivating Yearbook Page Layouts
Now that we’ve covered the basics, it’s time to get into the details! Designing a captivating yearbook page layout is easier than you may think. Follow these tips to make sure your yearbook is one that really captivates.
Write Effective Headlines
A headline has one primary purpose: to tell the reader what the page is about. Your headline needs to jump out at the reader. A good headline is short and descriptive. Make sure it’s readable, and in a large font that captivates your reader.
Compliment your primary headline with subheadings throughout your copy. These are a great way to break up the content. They also help to further highlight what your page is about. Your headlines can be a great way to grab your readers eye. Try using drop shadows or other effects on your headlines to really make your page pop!
Choose The Right Photo
Choosing the right photo for your yearbook page is important! Make sure the photo that you choose relates to the content of the page. Just like your headline, the right photo will jump out at your reader. It will entice them to read more.
Feel free to add additional photos or pictures to your page. Make sure they relate to the primary content and theme.
Selecting Your Font
It may not be something that you immediately think of, but fonts can help define a page. It’s also a great opportunity to get creative. You can highlight elements of your page with different fonts, or different colors.
Margins & Bleeds
As part of creating your yearbook layout, you should have an understanding of your margins and bleeds. Remember, not all of the workspace you see on your page will be printable space. You’ll want to know where the trim zone on your page is (spoiler alert – this is part of the page that’s cut off at the printers).
Your yearbook design software can be a great help here. It should highlight where on the page you can place your various design elements. Background colors and elements should span the entire page so that they bleed from one corner to the other post-trim, but other design elements should stay within a safety zone to avoid being trimmed in production.
Find Your Perfect Yearbook Design Software
The best way to create a captivating yearbook page, is to play around with different options! Using yearbook design software can give you the flexibility to try different design elements on your page. It may also offer various templates and backgrounds for you to choose from, to help you create a one-of-a-kind yearbook.
At Yearbooklife, we want to help you create a professional, memorable yearbook. That’s why we offer easy-to-use yet sophisticated design tools like Pictavo. Create a unique yearbook, keep your staff organized, and get help marketing your yearbook. Interested in learning more? Contact YearbookLife by clicking here today.
Follow the steps below to submit your Yearbook
1. As each page is completed it should be marked as “Ready for Approval” by the designer. To mark a page as “Ready for Approval”, click on the “Pages” drop down menu in the secondary tool bar and click on the green check mark.
2. Each page should then be reviewed and approved by the Admin. To mark a page as “Approved”, click on the “Pages” drop down menu in the secondary tool bar and click on the blue star to “Approve” the page. NOTE: Only the Administrator can Approve a Page.
Both of these steps can be done on each page individually, or on multiple pages through the “Pages” drop down menu. To mark multiple pages as either “Ready for Approval” or “Approved”, click on the first page you want to approve, then hold down the “Shift” key on your keyboard and click on last page you want to approve. This will highlight all of the pages in between and allow you to approve them all at once.
NOTE: Be sure to check all of the warning messages on each page before submitting. These can be seen on your Ladder View.
Once all of the pages are approved, the Admin completes the following:
3. Click on the Submit Icon on the top level tool bar.
4. Click on the blue “Submit Pages” button.
5. Complete the Submission Form (be sure to confirm the number of books and pages, and indicate if you want the Autograph Supplement pages or any other options.) NOTE: Your book is not submitted into production until this form is complete.
This is a multi-step process. If you are both designer and administrator of the pages, you still have to go through this process. Each step only takes a few seconds.
If you are also submitting your cover while you are submitting your pages, you will follow similar steps, all starting with the Cover Icon. The cover must also be marked as “ready for approval”, then “approved”, then submitted. There will be a separate production form for the cover. Make sure you complete both forms.
If you have any questions, please contact our Technical Support Department at 1-800-887-0414.
A theme is the central idea, or unifying “attitude” of the year captured by the yearbook itself. It should tell a story about what makes this school year different and unique from other years—something that everyone can relate to and identify with.
A motif is the visual cues or recurring symbols that reinforce the theme and remind readers about the central idea. Motifs create mood and sentiment by using images, shapes, colors, patterns, etc. repeatedly throughout the yearbook.
Your theme should be woven throughout your yearbook in every section using your motif—the sports section, student life section, clubs and organizations section, portrait section, academic section, advertisement section, endsheets, etc.
Choosing Your Theme
Developing a theme for your yearbook should be fun and creative. Your theme should reflect the attitude of your school that year. Is your school going through a growth phase? Celebrating an anniversary? Initiating new changes? Welcoming new administration? Your yearbook is the perfect medium to tell this story so it is remembered by all. It should document the events and celebrate the milestones of the year in a story format that ties into a main idea.
Planning Tip: Many schools choose mascot- or spirit-related themes that tie in with school colors or anniversaries. Whatever you decide, make sure you keep it consistent throughout the book and add art and text that support it.
Brainstorming Tips
Listed below are a few theme ideas to brainstorm around. Take a moment to review some of these ideas when developing your school’s theme. Make sure to use it throughout your yearbook – on the cover, endsheets, title pages, division pages, and sections of the yearbook. There is no “wrong” theme; however a theme may be underdeveloped and difficult to understand. To avoid this, make sure to brainstorm ideas with everyone on your yearbook staff or ask faculty to weigh-in.
A Cut Above
A Day in the Life
A Flash from the Past
A New Awakening
A New Point of View
A Season of Change
A Step Above the Rest
A Touch of Class
Any Way You Slice It
Attention to Detail
Between the Lines
Breaking Thru
Built to Last
Capture the Magic
Catch the Moments
Caught in the Act
Check Us Out
Check It Out
Color me ___________
Come Learn With Us
Days of Our Lives
Deep in the Heart of…
Destined to Be…
Distinct Impressions
Every Step of the Way
Eye On…
Face The Facts
Find Your Place
First Class
For Members Only
Forever Young
From This Moment On
From Start to Finish
Get the Picture
Going In Style
Going Places
Gotta Have It
Great Moments in…
Had to Be There
In Quest Of__________
In the Making
Inside And Out
Into Something New
It All Adds Up
It All Begins With You
It Goes Without Saying
It’s A Small World
It’s About Time
It’s All in Your Mind
It’s Anyone’s Guess
It’s Our Time
It’s Your Choice
Just Passing Through
Just for the Fun Of It
Just Had to Be There
Laying It on the Line
Let’s Face It
Lights, Camera, Action
Listen Up
Living the Dream
Look at The Best
Make Your Mark
Making the Pieces Fit
Moving On Out
Never Had It So Good
Never Say Never
New Beginnings
Nobody Does It Better
On Our Own
On the Edge
One and Only
One Size Fits All
Once in a Lifetime
One Last Look
Only The Finest
Our Time to Shine
Pardon Our Dust
Picture This
Piece By Piece
Pieces of the Puzzle
Reach for the Stars
Remember This
Right On Target
Road to Success
Say It With Style
Seeing is Believing
Seize the Day
Signs of the Times
Simply the Best
Still the One
Sum It Up
Take Another Look
Take a Closer Look
Take It from the Top
The Best of Times
The Show Must Go On
The Spirit Of…
The Times of Our Lives
The Year to Remember
This Is Our Time
Too Hot to Handle
Turning the Page
Unbelievable
Under Construction
Unforgettable
Unleashed
We’ve Got It All
What’s Next?
Year of the __________
You Had to Be There
There are five major parts of a yearbook that can have a significant impact on your
budget. They are as follows:
• Endsheet Specifications
• Type of Paper
• Binding of Pages
• Special Inserts
• Add-On Options/Features
What you choose in each of the areas listed above can raise or lower the cost of your yearbook. In each category there is usually a standard feature for the yearbook, and a custom or “additional cost” option. The more “customization” you do, the more increase in budget you will have to plan. (The more customization, the higher the price you may have to charge your students, or the more advertising you may have to sell or fund-raising you will have to do to underwrite these costs.)
COVER DESIGN & APPLICATION
• Full-Color Printed Cover: This is the most popular type of cover since it is easy to create and can produce stunning visual results. For a HARD COVER the design is printed in the 4-color process on a thin sheet of paper which is coated and glued to thick cover cardboard. Schools create full-color covers with sophisticated design programs such as Pictavo™, Adobe® Photoshop® and Adobe® InDesign®. Make sure to review your layout with your yearbook representative and publisher. Hard cover layout specifications are included in the kit you will receive.
Designs can also be used for SOFT COVER books, which are printed in the 4-color process on a thick, rigid sheet of paper before being attached to the book. Soft covers are very economical.
• Embossing: This is the use of hand-carved or machine-carved dies and pressure plates producing decoration that is raised above the surface of the cover. The opposite —Debossing—lowers the decoration below the surface of the cover. It is possible to use these features on EITHER a hard or soft cover book. Schools who traditionally use hard covers often choose to have a vinyl or leather-like material to cover their books with, and typically use foil stamping (see below) and embossing or debossing to accentuate their school name and cover design. These covers have a powerful appearance, but often involve the creation of costly dies and additional processing which make them more expensive. The larger the design size, the more expensive the cover will be. Embossed and debossed covers will require a specific price quote from your yearbook representative because of their custom nature. Note: If the school creates a design that is used year after year, some cost will be eliminated because the embossing/debossing die can be reused.
Costs are also considerably reduced if using one of your yearbook publisher’s standard dies.
• Foil Stamping: This is the process of applying a metallic “foil” by heat and pressure to the yearbook cover. This, too, can be used on both hard and soft cover yearbooks. As with embossing, a custom or stock die is needed to “stamp” the foil into the cover material. These dies can also be costly, and will require specific pricing from your yearbook representative. The die is reusable.
Instructions for creating the artwork for a foil stamping die is included in your kit. Talk with your yearbook representative about your proposed designs.
ENDSHEETS: Endsheets are the thick paper glued to both the inside front and back covers of a hard cover yearbook, and are attached to a reinforced fabric strip which in turn is glued to the flyleaves (first and last sheets in a book before and after your yearbook content). The quality of the paper is usually different than what is used in the rest of your yearbook. For additional fees, printing can be done on the endsheet and fly sheets of your yearbook. Review this option with your representative.
PAPER: The type of paper your yearbook is printed on can have an impact on the price of your book. Yearbooks are traditionally printed on a coated glossy paper. The paper is glossy because the coating (clay) has been calendarized—a process whereby the paper is pulled over several steel drums to polish the coating to a shiny finish. The clay coating helps give the paper opacity, which keeps the printing on either side from showing through to the other side. Standard paper weight for yearbooks is 80 pound paper, which provides excellent opacity and durability. 100 pound paper is another weight which is heftier and gives a yearbook a more distinctive, durable feel. You can request 100 pound paper for an additional charge. Since 100 pound is heavier paper stock, it will also cost slightly more to ship your books. Changing to heavier weight paper can go unappreciated and unnoticed by students, so make sure it is a necessary upgrade for your yearbook.
SOFT SADDLE-STAPLED BINDING: This binding method involves gathering folded signatures over a “saddle” where they are stapled together on the spine of the yearbook. This feature comes standard on most soft cover books, and is very durable for books under 96 pages. It is not recommended for yearbooks over 96-pages. A new method of squaring the spine on these books makes them look similar to Perfect Binding, but they are more durable because of the staples.
SOFT PERFECT-BOUND: Perfect binding uses a process similar to hard cover book binding, but instead of sewing a book’s signatures together, they are glued on the spine and, at the same time, glued to the cover of the book, usually a soft cover. This is a very common binding technique you see often in catalogs and directories. You can generally tell a book is perfect-bound by the soft cover and square back. This type of binding also allows the books to lie flat when opened.
