Yearbooks are a fun representation of the year. They help highlight students, activities, current events, and the overall school. Creating a yearbook takes a lot of work and dedication, and it’s down to the yearbook staff to create an exciting, memorable yearbook.
School spirit, a creative streak, and a fondness for nostalgia are important qualities in a yearbook staff. An eye for detail and catching mistakes is also crucial! Here are the top 10 yearbook mistakes to help you avoid common pitfalls.
Top 10 Common Yearbook Mistakes
It’s a big, wild internet out there. To help make your journey easier, we’re looking at the best places for yearbook tips, tricks and inspiration.
Missing Delivery Dates – Missing one deadline can have a ripple effect on the production and publishing of your yearbook. Plan key delivery dates and deadlines at the beginning of the year, and stick to them. This has the added bonus of teaching valuable time-management skills!
Budgeting – Underestimating the cost of your yearbook can hurt the project. As with any business, It’s always best to overestimate the cost and have funds left over, than under-estimate. We recommend understanding all of the fees ahead of time and sticking with your intended specifications, so no unexpected price changes occur. Having a back-up fund, in case unforeseen extra fees arise, is also a good idea.
Low-Res Photos – It’s not just about choosing the right photos for your yearbook, selecting quality, high resolution photos are just as important. Low resolution photos don’t print well. Quality, high resolution photos are key – we recommend saving the files at 72 dpi or larger.
Choosing an Effective Cover – Your yearbook cover is the first thing that everybody is going to see. Covers should grab peoples’ attention and be impactful, without crowding the page. Simple is often the way to go. Check out our Pinterest page for yearbook cover inspiration.
Consistency – It’s important to be consistent in your yearbook. Make sure your headers and footers are consistent throughout. To achieve this, you may want to consider a yearbook template.
Fonts – Fonts matter! Too many fonts crammed onto one page is a common mistake. Avoid using too many fonts at one time, as it distracts from your yearbook’s message. We recommend selecting one font that you will use for headers, one for captions, and one for general text. Stay consistent throughout and make sure the font styles are all compatible.
Photo Placement – Have you heard of the gutter? The gutter area is where the opposing pages of your yearbook meet and roll into the binding. Be sure that no significant text or important images crossover that gutter area, or they may fall into the gutter during the binding process.
Editorial – It’s important to maintain consistent editorial standards throughout your yearbook. This applies to spelling and formatting. Don’t use ‘e-mail’ on one page, and then ‘email’ on another. Staying consistent throughout will keep your yearbook looking professional!
Multiple Checks in Place – No matter how keen an eye for detail someone has, mistakes are still possible. Ensure that you have multiple checks in place for your yearbook to help minimize the risks of errors. This applies to proofreading, fact checking and formatting!
Choosing the Right Company – To help create the most amazing yearbook, you want to choose the right yearbook company. Personalization, templates, easy-to-use software, the latest in digital technology, customer service and turnaround times are all key considerations. And these are all available with YearbookLife!
YearbookLife provides easy-to-use yearbook design software, great customer care and technical support assistance. We provide all the resources to simplify the yearbook process for you, with some of the best prices in the industry. There’s still time to save money on your yearbook this year with our Back To School Special. Get our lowest prices of the season by signing up today. But hurry, our sale ends on November 1st, 2019! Request your yearbook sample and price quote today.