An electronic database makes it easy to keep track of which individuals
have been pictured or quoted, what percentage of those individuals
represents each grade level and how many pages represent student life,
academics and so on. Quoting as many different individuals as possible
in the copy and indexing the speakers’ names also help ensure that
everyone is represented in the book.
YEARBOOKS AND MAGAZINES^405
PLANNING THE YEARBOOK
With careful thought and planning, a yearbook staff can create a prod-
uct that appeals to each segment of the audience and includes everyone
in the school. Cover design and theme choice are ways to include every-
one in the yearbook, too.
Cover
- “PINK? Why Pink?”
- “WOW!”
- “What does it mean?”
- “Hey! That’s me!”
- “I don’t get it.”
- “This is cool!”
Students love, hate or ignore the yearbook at first sight as these reactions
show. The cover makes the all-important first impression people have of
the yearbook. Whether you choose a leather-look material, a shiny foil-
stamped design or a colored photograph for your cover, you want people
to respond positively to the book.
One of the services your yearbook representative provides is show-
ing the staff all the materials available for covers and special effects.
The staff’s imagination—or the budget—is the limit. Good planning
includes good budgeting, so always ask for cost estimates. Know the
budget for extras before ordering anything that is not specified in your
contract with the yearbook publisher. We’ll discuss more about working
with your yearbook representative at the end of this section.
Your Beat
- Analyze several of your school’s yearbooks. List the
specific ways in which each book fulfills the roles of
a yearbook (a memory book, a history book, a refer-
ence book, a public relations publication, an educa-
tional experience and an inclusive publication). - As a class, brainstorm to come up with a list of the
audiences for your yearbook. First, analyze the internal
audience, or the groups and factions that form the audi-
ence within the school. Second, analyze the external
audience, or the groups and factions outside the school
that may see the yearbook. Save these lists to use
when you begin planning a yearbook.