How to Make a Yearbook: Part 1

How to Make a Yearbook

Making a yearbook that perfectly encapsulates a whole school year of memories can seem incredibly daunting, at first. As with any endeavor, though, the task becomes much more approachable when you break it down into actionable steps. If you remain organized and ensure that you get the support and funding you need, you will find that creating a yearbook can be an immensely gratifying project for you and your yearbook staff. The yearbook pros at making a yearbook below. Stay tuned for the latter 5 steps next week!

1. Create and organize a team.

Teamwork makes the dream work! As cliche as the saying is, it especially rings true with yearbook projects. Besides making the project much more manageable (or even possible to begin with), yearbook teams ensure that you incorporate multiple valuable perspectives on content, design choices, and other essential elements that will make the difference between a forgettable yearbook and a yearbook that people will treasure for decades to come. Just take care to find volunteers that demonstrate reliability, a collaborative mindset, and, most importantly, passion.

2. Establish and track your budget.

There are expenses involved in any yearbook project. To ensure that you used your budget effectively, determine how much you are willing to spend on factors like printing costs, photography, and other essentials. Figure out a system that you and your team can use to track such expenses. If necessary, implement an expense approval and recording process. Take care with this step – budgetary issues are easily preventable but sometimes difficult to deal with once they arise.

3. Create a shared calendar.

Deadlines make the world go ’round. A shared schedule helps keep your yearbook staff on top of their deadlines. Almost equally important is the sense of motivation and progress this can provide. Sometimes, while undertaking a project with a longer life cycle like a yearbook, it can be difficult to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Keeping track of deadlines serves to remind everyone of the progress they have made.

4. Make a yearbook content plan.

What categories or sections do you and your team want your yearbook to have? Think about the clubs, special events, and sports teams at your school. Then, when you add obvious sections like class photos, staff photos, and other common yearbook content, you will have a basic outline of your entire yearbook. This exercise makes organizing your team and setting deadlines much more manageable.

5. Procure content submissions.

Yearbooks can involve an incredible amount of content. It’s far from necessary, however, for you and your team to provide all that content on your own! To get the best content for your yearbook, find ways to encourage content submissions from everyone in your school’s community. This can involve anything from contests that reward the best photo submissions or incentives that discount their individual yearbook purchases if they provide useful content.