2009-2010 Yearbook
What is a yearbook? A memory book A reference book Make sure we have EVERYONE at LEAST once in the book. Check spelling of the name multiple times A history book Remember, we are history in the making. A public relations book Remember the book represents our school. We want sophisticated and classy, not trashy.
Why do we need a theme? Unifies the book The better the organization, the prettier the book. Tells a story Remember treat the yearbook as if your writing a novel, not just a bunch of short stories. Keeps it together.
What are the divider pages? Dividers relate to the theme. Spin offs or mini themes utilized All must have similar designs as the last Font, color and theme must be the same on ALL the dividers.
What is a copy? The story. Every Spread should contain a story, also called a copy block. Alternatives to copy includes list, quotes, personal narratives, surveys and other material that accurately tells a story. Make copies interesting. Students often believe that the academic section is boring, prove them wrong with a good copy.
What is a copy? Though students may not read the copies now, remember that they will read it at least once sometime in the future, so write the best you can. If you are not the best writer, ask for help or ideas. Copies for sports should include info on practices and set ups, not just the games.
Top ten tips for writing a copy Keep sentence structure simple Avoid vague words Such as many, a lot, several, some, a few, are weak and don t really tell your readers anything. Be specific and accurate Saying that the team had a 7-3 season Tells you more then The team had a winning season Shorter paragraphs are more inviting Keep most paragraphs under 40 words. The bigger the text block the more uninviting it is. Keep your readers attention
Top ten tips for writing a copy Avoid using the phrase this year and the name of your school I am pretty sure that the people reading the yearbook know which school and year it was, cause it is on the cover. Write a copy in third person Avoid using I, me, us, and we Do not editorialize Use quotes, have at least three sources and never state an opinion that cannot be backed up with a specific source. Follow your staffs style sheet Use the language of your readers Keep it clean and understandable
Captions The only time we are required to use first and last names is in their mug shots. On candid photos you may use just the first names. But we do ask for NO nicknames, for those could be taken offensive to others. This year we will be putting the captions besides the pictures, cause they take away from the photos when set on them.
Pictures Put emphasis on what goes on in the classrooms, not just the subject taught in the room. Remember the things that happen in the class are why the school exist, but avoid photos of teachers at the chalk board and the back/top of heads while students read or something along those lines, it is cliché. Try and get students on field trips.
Pictures Get up close and personal when taking pictures, just not to personal that it makes people awkward. Remember we want to have to use zoom as little as possible, it takes quality away from the pictures.
Interviewing The best kind of questions to ask while interviewing so you get better information for a copy are called open ended questions. An open ended question Has more then one answer Could have a different response from every person you ask Requires the respondent to describe actions and reactions.
Interviewing Closed ended questions are better for surveys. Closed ended questions can be answered with a yes or no, or just a one or two word answer. Not very detailed.
Guidelines for a good interview Be prepared Draft a list of questions to be asked. Make sure the questions are relevant to the page. Take good notes Introduce yourself, and let them know your intentions. Makes them feel less awkward. Try to have a conversation Instead of barreling headlong through your list of prepared questions, try to take a conversational approach. Respond to their answers by asking appropriate follow up questions. End the interview by double checking their names are spelt correctly, and that you didn t mistake what they said. Have them sign the bottom for our proof that they really did say what you wrote.
Design We ALWAYS want a dominate photo on each spread. A dominate photo is going to be the biggest photo on the page, and usually just by looking at it you can tell what the page is going to be about. Make sure that you remember to organize the spread to include caption boxes. Label pictures with numbers and label captions with the corresponding picture number.
Fonts and sizes We want to try and use similar fonts throughout the entire book, but in cases like sports pages you can use the all star font, or for dances something fancy. Otherwise lets try to just stick to easy to read, boring font. Sizes. Captions 8-9 Copy 10-11 Copy in the opening and closing 12-16 Sub headlines 16-24 Main headlines 48+
Our theme for this year We are Example, We are athletics, We are fashionistas, all in all it is all going to end up as We are FVHS trappers. We want it to show every aspect of who each and everyone of us is as students. Our theme will be carried out mainly on the dividers, but we will also be using similar templates, fonts, and layout designs to keep our theme throughout the book.