Creating a yearbook is a pretty big undertaking. A 96-page yearbook can have 400 to 600 photos and over 30,000 words! So, what can you do to make the project less demanding and more fun while keeping your New Year’s resolution to be more efficient in 2019?
A bit of yearbook planning can help you spread the load and improve the result substantially.
ENGAGE THE STUDENTS
Graphic design is part of the curriculum at most schools, and a quick look at some of the student portfolios will undoubtedly reveal some great talent. Likewise, many students are specialising in photography and writing. Getting these students to assist with yearbook creation gives them valuable work experience, provides their teachers with readymade assignments and generates more engagement from the whole school community. Students can learn new skills by utilising the Spacific Creative ‘Design Your Own’ online software, which is designed around multiuser collaboration and includes interactive tutorials.
PARENT HELP
Parents and former students are a great, overlooked resource for visual content. As parents help on school trips or camps, they often have the most time and inclination to capture great action photos. Contact teachers who coach sports, as they will know which parents to contact for high-quality photography of school sports days. Having a social media page, like a closed Facebook page to protect privacy, is a great way to encourage photo sharing. Good comments can then be used later as quotes – just ensure you get their permission first!
Parents can also be a good source of funding if you are subsidising the cost of the yearbook through advertising. Through the Spacific Creative online platform, you can manage the entire advertising process. This includes setting up a budget, allocating pages for ads and even taking online bookings.
TEACHER HELP
If you give teaching staff sufficient notice, they can incorporate yearbook content creation into their coursework. This could be a creative writing assignment or sending out a team of photographers to document a major school event.
The key to getting successful contributions from teachers and school staff is to make request succinct and easily achievable. Ask too much of them and it may end up at the bottom of the to-do list!
