The holiday time is exciting! It is a time for parties and gifts and upcoming vacations. It’s also a time when most of us like to “loosen our belts” and tend to lose focus on everyday tasks and goals. That includes the yearbook committee.
So how can you keep your committee productive and avoid procrastination during the holiday season without being called “the Grinch?” Here are some tips:
- Provide your committee with a work party. While this may sound counterproductive, work parties can motivate the team to continue working while simultaneously enjoying the season. Maybe have a Secret Santa for just the staff and bring in special holiday food for the committee while they work.
- Implement a rewards system. Reward systems are spectacularly beneficial during the holiday season because there are so many unique activities that will for sure entice team members. For example, reward team members that finish their tasks with a gift card that they can then use on holiday gifts for their friends and family.
- Create looser goals. Yes everyone wants to slow down the pace during the holidays. That doesn’t mean the great yearbook you are creating should be neglected. By giving the team lighter written goals each day you can help them stay motivated but also reward them with free time that they can enjoy. Remember a little bit of work is better than no work at all.
The holidays are about being together. Productive yearbook committees will more than likely continue to enjoy each other’s company while they are staying productive and creating a great yearbook!
Did you know it takes humans just 150 milliseconds for a symbol to be processed and 100 milliseconds to attach a meaning to it? All of us, including students are visual people. Infographics are graphic visual representations of data that are intended to present complex information quickly and clearly. Infographics can be a great solution for presenting and communicating yearbook information by simplifying it in a visually engaging way in order to attract and inform a large audience like your entire student body, teachers and parents.
By utilizing infographics within a class yearbook, it can make the pages much more engaging and understandable. They can also be used to present extra information or a piece of a story in a unique looking way.
So what makes for a good infographic in a yearbook? Here are some examples:
For the athletics section of the book, instead of just showing stats of the teams, why not create a highly visual infographic that encompasses not only stats but also visuals during the season as well as quotes from the players and coaches.
An occupational outlook infographic can discuss the current top career opportunities for students graduating and planning to pursue in college. This infographic will for sure be fun to look at ten to fifteen years from now as jobs and salaries change through the years.
A current event themed infographic would be a fun way to highlight various events that occurred during the graduation class’s school year. Maybe it includes the amount of candy that was given out during a Halloween party to neighborhood kids or the amount of money raised during a fundraiser. By incorporating stats together with photos, it will help readers digest, understand and most importantly enjoy the significant events that occurred during the school year.
Infographics should be original but also aren’t hard to create. And, no you don’t need a graphic designer to create one. There are a variety of tools including many for free that can make creating Infographics a breeze. Two examples are Easel.ly and Piktochart.
Have fun and create some great Infographics for your class yearbook today!
Inspiration concept, retro vintage letterpress type on grunge background
When a yearbook committee comes together to create your class yearbook a lot of decisions needs to be made. One very important element that can help dictate the overall outcome of the book is where the inspiration is found.
So where do you turn to find that lasting inspiration? Here are a few ideas:
- Pinterest. Pinterest is a great social network to visually get ideas and inspiration for just about anything. That includes your class yearbook. By browsing various boards and pins can help in driving some great ideas that could make your yearbook very unique and distinctive. Don’t forget to check out the YearbookLife Pinterest while you’re at it.
- Quote websites. Many times a theme of a yearbook can evolve from a famous quote. Quotes are great ways to give a meaning to a school year like a quote said by Beatles singer John Lennon. By making that the focal point of the book can then be expanded in other ways throughout the book using Beatles themed references. A great place to find great inspirational quotes is http://www.brainyquote.com.
- Current events. In many instances a yearbook maybe remembered most significantly by theming it around a current that happened during the school year or around that time. This current event could be something that was internally very important to the school or a current event that occurred nationally or globally. For example, perhaps if you are creating your class yearbook for a catholic school you may get some inspiration from the Pope visiting the U.S.
There are a lot of ways to find inspiration for a class yearbook. In addition, when you use YearbookLife as your yearbook publisher, you get access to the Pictavo software. Pictavo is great yearbook design program that is full of inspiration ideas. A yearbook makes for a lasting impression that will be brought up and shown for generations to come. Make it awesome!
As a yearbook advisor or staff member, you may have questions about whether or not to use social media content in your yearbook. Social media, including networks such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, have become a big part of our daily lives and are commonly used communication channels in today’s generation. That doesn’t mean that all content used on social networks is necessarily appropriate for the school yearbook.
Here are a few tips when considering adding social media content in your school’s yearbook:
- All the parties involved in the content need to provide consent before anything is printed.
- Confirm that all images used in the posts don’t have copyright or rights-managed restrictions on them. Images can always be deleted on social network. Once they are printed and published though – it can be a whole new “ballgame” when it comes to legality. The last thing you need is to be publishing an image that is copyrighted and not legally allowed to be used.
- Any content that is used shouldn’t be controversial in nature. What may seem appropriate today may not in 15 years when looking back.
- Subliminal, inside-joke messages should always be a no-no. While they may make sense to some, they probably won’t make sense to most. Instead, use social media content that will be memorable and understandable to all. Perhaps homecoming content or tweets and photos from the prom.
Social media hugely influences today’s younger generation and can play a big part in their lives. However, not post or tweet is appropriate for the school yearbook.
Creating your class yearbook isn’t a two-minute process. A lot of hard work, teamwork and dedication are involved in making it look great. For a graduating student or students that have a lot going on, staying focused with your tasks on the yearbook committee can be challenging. Students aren’t getting paid to be part of the group and at times can feel worn out and frustrated.
As a committee lead, teacher or faculty member it is important to build positivity with your yearbook committee. Here are a few ideas to help achieve this:
- Recognize accomplishments. When a certain task for the yearbook is complete invite the entire team to have a small celebration such as a pizza party. Toast those special individuals that contributed to that part of the yearbooks success. This positive reinforcement will help those teams to continue to work hard and push others to work hard as well.
- Show support. Don’t throw anyone on the committee “out to the wolves”. This is essential for the sales team. By providing support and giving tips will lets those committee members that are on the front line know they aren’t alone and that you and the rest of team have their back.
- Motivate the team with incentives. Everyone loves a great incentive. It makes people work harder. While a monetary incentive won’t work in a setting like this a discount off their own yearbook maybe all it takes to get your committee to work hard and great.
There is always that saying “Garbage in…Garbage out.” If you show you don’t care and don’t provide guidance your final product will more than likely let down most expectations. By staying positive and always encouraging will for sure keep your yearbook committee at top speed!
So how can you keep your committee productive and avoid procrastination during the holiday season without being called “the Grinch?” Here are some tips:
