How to Design a Personalised Yearbook Cover: 7 Things To Remember

What are things to remember when designing a yearbook?

1. Organise the Materials for the Page
2. Have Visual Hierarchy 
3. Have Talkative Pictures but Don’t Forget to Caption Them
4. Make it About the Students and The School
5. Make A Big Impact with The Cover
6. Select Your Fonts Carefully
7. Only Accept High-Resolution Photos

To celebrate and commemorate the past academic year, schools from around the world publish yearbooks. These are usually created on personalised softcover books. Both faculty and students work together to create unique yearbooks annually. 

For the graduating bunch, this usually holds more meaning than others. The book features various spreads and sections to remember their last year in secondary school.

Here are some things for you to remember when designing your personalised yearbook. 

Organise the Materials for the Page

There are a lot of things that go into a yearbook. Before diving into creating the layout and design, the committee must organise all the materials needed. 

Throughout the year, a yearbook committee will be collecting photos from various events. Make sure to organise these and filter them immediately to see what can be used for the book. This will make it easier to look through computer files as you begin your layout. 

Have Visual Hierarchy 

On every page of this personalised book, there must always be a visual hierarchy — even on its cover. This hierarchy consists of the heading, subheading, and body text, providing the entire page with structure. 

But why is this necessary? This structure emphasises the importance of every design element to those who browse through the book. They can catch the most important element of the page because of this. 

As you design the layout, take note that the people naturally read from left to right, top to bottom. When creating your headers, make sure that these have the boldest and largest texts. Layout artists should decrease the size once they start dealing with subheadings and body text.

Have Talkative Pictures but Don’t Forget to Caption Them

Since a yearbook is essentially a personalised photo album, make sure that these photos tell a story. These are what people will first notice when they open the book.

Layout artists should consider creating a storyline with photos to paint a clear picture to their readers. They can start at the beginning of the school year and end with graduation. In between, they can include important school activities and precious moments for both students and teachers. 

Once they’re finished creating the layout, it’s also important to provide a short caption for photos. These can help students recall what event each photo shows. When they’re fresh graduates, these details are still fresh in their memory. However, as you grow older, you may no longer remember these events. Let captions guide you as you walk down memory lane. 

Make it About the Students and The School

Many people make an academic year memorable. It is not limited to the graduating batch and their teachers, but also various organisations, clubs, and members of the student body. 

As the yearbook committee, you should organise a pictorial for these groups. It’s also important to get action shots of their activities and ask them how they would want to be seen as an organisation. 

Aside from that, don’t forget to also include important events in the school year. Feature teachers and students who were behind its planning. These can include sporting events, dances, and academic activities. 

Make A Big Impact With The Cover

The cover page is what everyone sees first. Allow this to be attention-grabbing without crowding the page. There are many simple yet powerful designs that graphic designers can use in creating the cover. 

Your front page design will introduce to readers the theme of the entire book, so ensure that it makes a statement. 

Keep the Layout Consistent

Beginning at the cover to its last page, the theme of the entire yearbook should be consistent. Remember that these are long publications that include various forms of content like photo pages, write-ups, and even letters. You can tie it all together by maintaining a consistent theme. 

As you lay out the yearbook, the committee can set up a simple style guide to follow. This includes the colour palette, fonts, alignment rules, and even borders that can be used. This creates a unifying look and theme even with different forms of content. 

Only Accept High-Resolution Photos

Last, but not least, the yearbook committee should always make sure that you accept high-resolution photos. With most pages being photo spreads, quality should be emphasised to all photographers and organisations. 

If you’re unsure about the appropriate size of photos, you can consult with a professional graphic artist. A rule of thumb that many follow is saving the photos at 72 dpi or larger. 

Key Takeaway

Those were some things you need to remember when designing your personalised yearbook. Remember that these are meant to create memories for students and teachers. Many will look back at these and relive their favourite moments. So, make it special to them through its layout and design. 

If you’re looking for a printer for your personalised hardcover books, contact us here at Prima! We create the best custom photo books in Australia. At our facility, we can print these with high-quality material with a variety of sizes and finishes for you to choose from.