Words by Kerstin Upmeyer, M.Ed., Yearbook Advisor
There is a saying in yearbook circles that people pay us to read our homework.
This little saying essentially means that when you buy a yearbook, you purchase the staff’s hard work, both in class and many hours outside of it, throughout the year. It also speaks to a larger purpose that the yearbook class serves. We are creating a snapshot of that particular year at the Academy. We strive to capture memories that students will cherish year after year.
One way I explain the responsibility of what we do is by talking about my senior yearbook and my father’s from Clearwater High School, where we both attended. Through those books, I still cherish a special connection to him, my youth, and our school.
Once the staff understands their responsibility for creating the school yearbook, we delve into the process. The first step is developing a theme.
Step One: Developing a Theme
Themes are key for a yearbook. Everything else, from color, typography, and design choices to content and style, flows from that year’s theme. Themes are often a distillate of what we perceive as the most important elements of the year to come; they represent both the school community as a whole and that year in particular. An example of this was the theme for our 2021-2022 book. We drew inspiration from Netflix for a visual style and borrowed the phrase they used on their login screen at the time, “See what’s next.”
This both tied into the Netflix visual style we were using in our design and what was happening at Academy that year. We had just come off the rollercoaster of the last two years, which was caused by a global pandemic that changed many things for our community. We were back in school, looking toward the future, and getting back to all the little things that make Academy unique, as well as forging new and exciting possibilities ahead.
Compare that to the previous year’s theme, “Being Us,” which spoke to the ways we adapted to the pandemic while still remaining uniquely Academy despite the hardships and challenges—being ourselves, no matter what we faced.
Step Two: Setting up a Ladder & Style Guide
Once a theme and visual style have been chosen, the staff go to work setting up a ladder. A ladder is simply a list of all the pages that will be in the book that year, usually tracked via a spreadsheet. It lists page numbers and the names or titles of the spreads, such as a spread on Halloween or a spread on Soccer. Ladders can also include content details and ideas, as well as a list of staff members assigned to each spread.
At the beginning of the year, the staff receives training on various skills, such as the fundamentals of photography, journalistic writing, the art of interviewing, graphic design, and more. Staff members can specialize in areas of interest, but everyone must be prepared to step into any role as needed.
A style guide is developed. This document outlines the theme, color palette, fonts, and other design elements to ensure that each spread’s design remains consistent, regardless of who works on it. Style guides are essential for maintaining a consistent look throughout the book.
Both the ladder and the style guide are available electronically to all staff so that they can create a consistent design and track the book’s progress as a team. Here at Academy, we also have a Theme Continuity Editor, who, along with our Design Editors, works to ensure that the theme look and greater concept are reflected consistently throughout the book.
Step Three: Creating Content
Framework:
Once the framework is in place, staff gather content—photographing events, interviewing students and faculty, and designing spreads. Covering over 30 sports teams, 55 clubs, and numerous assemblies and performances across three campuses and divisions is challenging, but capturing what makes each year unique is rewarding. Wildlife emphasizes content-driven design, letting images and stories shape each spread. Leadership mentors guide newer staff in writing captions, articles, and selecting images. The design team edits photos and enhances layouts, while the proofreading editor ensures accuracy in names and grammar.
Fires:
As an advisor, I provide leadership and put out fires regarding production issues. While we continue covering some curriculum, most of the time is spent producing the publication and working as a team. Leadership and I review each spread using proofing check sheets to reduce errors. Deadlines are set with our publisher to guide our schedule.
Finale:
Pages are submitted in stages throughout the year, as publishers print the book in segments. Since final production takes about five weeks, staff create a supplement for late-year events such as spring sports and House Day. After final submissions, the team prepares for the highlight of the year: Distribution Day.
Step Four: Distributing
The day the books arrive on campus and the staff gets to look through them is always my favorite day of the year. It’s hard to fully grasp what you’ve been a part of creating, looking only at the pages on a screen. When staffers hold the book in their hands for the first time and open it, finding the art they designed, the photos they took, the stories they wrote, and the captions they crafted, when it hits that this is something they helped create – that people will keep and cherish for years to come? The look on their faces?
Best feeling in the world.
Preparing the books for Distribution Day takes days of work. Each book is hand-labeled with the student’s name, and the supplement is inserted. Then, we organize the books by grade level to distribute them at the various stations.
Finally, we take a breath and enjoy watching the student body explore this creation that we all worked so hard to realize throughout the year.
It’s a gift to bring Wildlife to the Academy community. I hope someday, alumni will sit with their children, comparing their yearbooks from their time at the Academy with that year’s new volume. I hope I am, in some small way, a part of creating that sense of history and community. If my staff and I are providing the opportunity for people to share across generations what it means to be a Wildcat, I will forever be proud of what we have accomplished.