THE YEARBOOK IS TECHNICALLY DONE WOW (and other updates)

TECHNICALLY as in we just turned in our final deadline last Tuesday... THE LAST DEADLINE. THERE IS A LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL. Well actually we aren't completely, totally done until we turn in the fixed proofs of those 32 pages, which should be coming in the mail pretty soon.

I can't believe the book is finished this early in the year. That leaves us with a good month and a half or so of getting it printed, a few weeks to have it bound and shipped, and arrive right on time at the end of May. It's certain things like this that makes me realize how quickly senior year has passed. I mean, looking at the spreads on a computer is completely different from seeing it in an actual, beautiful, physical form. I might be a little too excited.

As for my senior project, I've been working on my powerpoint for my second independent component, which is a lesson I'll be teaching to future editors and returning staff members on the basics of yearbook design, photography, and copy writing. I'm in the works of securing a classroom during a lunch period hopefully in a couple of weeks. I'm hoping that what I'll be going over will benefit next year's yearbook team.

Well those are some quick updates on what's been going on. Other than that, I'm seriously ready for spring break...

Blog 18: Third Answer

EQ: How can an editorial publisher produce a quality yearbook?
Answer 3: Incorporate copy that reflects students' memories of the school year. 

1. "Copy" is the term for the type of writing that yearbooks use in order to accurately portray people's memories and quotes, without sounding too formal or informal. 
• Example: Pep rally is a really upbeat, exciting, and busy event. The copy should reflect that, by using students' accounts and direct words. 
2. The copy that goes in the yearbook should compliment the respective photographs used on each spread.
• Example: A spread on pep rally has a dominant photo of Bryan Posada getting wrapped in toilet paper. The copy should compliment the photo by explaining what is happening, what Posada thought about the activity, the point of view from someone watching, and more of that context.
3. Copy should be written in a relatable way to the audience, in order to make it more interesting and make them want to read it.
• Example: Teenagers 14-18 are the audience in this case, and the way they speak and write are specific. Therefore, the copy should be written how a teenager would like it, instead of sounding too much like an essay, or even too much like text message.

Resources: 

• Patterson, Benton Rain and Coleman E.P. Patterson. The Editor in Chief: A Management Guide for Magazine Editors. Second Edition. Ames: Iowa State, 2003. Print.
• Interview #3 with Rebecca Chai, advisor of Walnut High School's Cayuse Publication

Concluding Sentence: Incorporating copy that reflects students' memories of the school year will best portray people's accounts of various events, compliment photographs that will be in the yearbook, and relate to the audience's age group, school culture, and individual interests.

Blog 17: Fourth Interview Questions

1. How can an editorial publisher produce a quality yearbook?
2. Can you define what a quality yearbook is in your terms?
3. Can you name a yearbook or a few yearbooks that meet all criteria in making it a quality book?
4. What can deter an editorial publisher from producing a quality yearbook?
5. What characteristics in design should a quality yearbook have?
6. Why is graphic design necessary in a yearbook?
7. Where have you seen great design in a yearbook?
8. Why is typography important in designing a yearbook?
9. What should a designer avoid doing while designing a yearbook?
10. What advice do you have for beginning graphic designers who are designing for yearbooks?
11. Is there a specific design trend you would like to see or see more often in 2014 yearbooks?
12. What characteristics in photography should a quality yearbook have?
13. What are some techniques or practices that a photographer should know or learn?
14. What advice do you have for beginning photographers in order to take good photos?
15. Why are well-taken photos important in making a quality yearbook?
16. What should a photographer avoid when taking photos?
17. Where have you seen good use of photography in a yearbook?
18. What characteristics in copy should a quality yearbook have?
19. What techniques or common practices and habits should a beginner-level writer have when writing yearbook copy?
20. Where have you seen exemplary copywriting used in a yearbook?
21. What should a writer keep in mind while interviewing a subject for a potential story?
22. What should a writer avoid doing when writing copy?