Last Post?! Brace Yourselves

Yearbooks are coming.

Today all 300 copies of the book came in at 11:30. I finished off my final duties as editor in chief by distributing books to seniors first. We spent a while stacking all the boxes and putting them in order by house so that people could come into the MPR and get them during lunch. Can't believe it's all coming to an end... Bittersweet moment! Aside from how proud I am of yearbook elective members, there were still some flaws that could have been fixed and I kind of wish I had a time machine to go back. Nonetheless, a lot of people worked really hard on this yearbook, and I'm so glad I was able to produce my fourth and final book here at iPoly.

Blog 22: Senior Project Reflection

1. I'm most proud of my activity. It actually turned out well because every person participated and followed instructions. It kept the fun and energy high and thus it created a more comfortable and confident environment for me to continue presenting. Also, everyone understood and applied my best answer/what I taught prior to their creations, and they seemed to really enjoy it.

2. a) AE/P; I feel that I did go above and beyond in this presentation by meeting P requirements as well as going out of my way to really decorate and set up a unique and cool presentation room.
b) AE/P; for the same reasons above, I did meet P requirements and went down a creative route in a lot of my components.

3. What worked most was doing this blog. It helped me keep track and showcase the progress of my project and guided me in keeping consistency with everything.

4. Honestly I think I did fine for the most part, but I'd really want to go back and start off my final presentation a bit better. I feel that my nervousness and jittery nerves kind of showed through in the beginning, as I felt myself talking much faster than I had practiced, and that did worry me too.

5. I definitely will use the experience from this project, and mostly from mentorship, to help me in college to hopefully start a career in the publishing and design field. I definitely appreciate the components of this project for diversifying the different ways I can interpret my topic and better improve my skills. Seeing how Mimi did her job and gave me valuable advice in being a better editor, I kind of got thrown the ropes of being in and experiencing an actual publishing career.

Blog 21: Mentorship

Literal:

• Mentorship log on right side of my blog.
• Mimi Orth, Mr. Strand's room at iPoly High School

Interpretive:

• The most important thing I've gained from mentoring under Mimi was learning what it is like to work in publishing for a possible career choice. Mimi's experience in yearbook publishing and Herff Jones has benefitted me in not only my senior project, but also guiding me to real-life application of the skills I've learned under her wing, to use for other endeavors such as internships and working for a student newspaper, which I aspire to do next fall.

Applied:

• What I've done with Mimi in my mentorship really helped me answer my EQ through actual experimentation; for better clarification, I was able to really test out all three of my answers, and see which one of the three stood out the most throughout the duration of my mentorship. Mimi was present for the progress of my mentorship, and through her advice and valuable knowledge when she was present in yearbook, I was able to see how the best answer for my EQ showed through real situations and application. Having her teaching me as a mentor also helped in supporting my EQ and best answer fully and thoroughly, with evidence coming from what I did in yearbook under her watch, and was expected of me as an editorial publisher of a student publication (ie. how the staff worked, how I taught the staff, how spreads and content looked, etc.).

WRAP PARTY!

The yearbook is being printed at the Herff Jones headquarters in Indiana as we speak! All 128 pages and the COVER! I'm so excited for when they come in late May. In the meantime, yearbook is having a "wrap party" right now to celebrate the end of a great book and a great year. Once the book comes I'll definitely take some photos for you guys. Next week, we're planning on doing interviews for potential editors, as well as looking for a new editor in chief. The staff is currently working on something called Fakeline, which is just producing a fake mini-yearbook in hopes of coming up with next year's theme, and they'll be working on it until near the end of the year. Anyways, we have piles of food and a movie (Mean Girls) to watch :)

Blog 20: Exit Interview

1. What is your essential question and answers? What is your best answer?

• EQ: How can an editorial publisher produce a quality yearbook?
• Answer 1: Teach staff how to design visually appealing spreads.
• Answer 2: Utilize best photography practices to capture peak moments that happened during the year.
• Answer 3: Incorporate copy that reflects students' memories of the school year.
• My best answer turned out to be Answer 1. I found that in order to truly have a quality yearbook, it must look like a quality yearbook; meaning, visual appeal is crucial in determining whether or not a yearbook is of quality. Answer 2 and 3 are important as well, but it's most important to have it all visually designed and packaged in a way that will please the school audience, pertain to the school itself, and meet yearbook design guidelines (also known as the "golden rules" of publication design), which was mentioned in almost all of my sources but mostly from my mentor Mimi and her published book, The Yearbook Bible.

2. What process did you take to arrive at this answer?

• Research check is where I first began to think that Answer 1 was my best answer. All the research I used always mentioned how, because yearbook (or any publication for that matter) is very visual, it's design must be impeccable in order to accurately represent the content (photos and copy). I also used my first independent component to demonstrate the importance of at first all three answers, but as time went on, design prevailed and truly showed itself to be the best answer. Because my goal was to complete the first signature of the color spreads, design was the backbone to all that we did, regardless of the content. In the end, it really is about how it looks. 

3. What problems did you face? How did you resolve them?

• Problems that came up would definitely be finding credible sources. If you can tell by my WB I mainly used actual books and texts instead of articles. It was rather challenging to find legitimate articles on publication-related topics like design, photography, and copy. I resolved them by using books and journals in order to make sure they were credible for my research. Another problem happened to be with keeping up with my mentor. Often Mimi is so busy that I am unable to talk to her or ask for guidance in certain areas. She also does not come to iPoly as often, and sometimes I would have to go quite far in order to meet with her and discuss. Other than that, she is definitely a valuable mentor and I truly appreciate her help.

4. What are two most significant sources you used to answer your essential question and why?

• The Yearbook Bible by Dolores Sanders and Mimi Orth. This book focused on everything that a yearbook publication should do, emphasizing on design, photography, and copywriting. The book is written and composed by Sanders and Orth, well renowned experts and veterans in the yearbook publication as well as the general print publication for many years. It also contains tips and guides provided by professionals and school yearbooks alike. I used two main chapters from this source as part of my research, and other miscellaneous pages that had more useful information.
• Designing Magazines: Inside Periodical Design by Jandos Rothstein. Rothstein is a professional graphic designer who has worked for numerous publications such as National Geographic for over 30 years. His book covers spread design, typography, graphics, how to use creative digital applications, and much more. He also briefly talks about content and help for beginners. Through this source I also solidified my reasonings for my best answer.

Blog 19: Independent Component 2

a. I, Krystal Lam, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 30 hours of work.

b. Sources used:

• Sanders, Dolores. "Photography." The Yearbook Bible. By Mimi Orth. 4th ed. Charlotte: Herff Jones, 2012. Print.
• Rothstein, Jandos. Designing Magazines: Inside Periodical Design, Redesign, and Branding. Allworth Communications, Inc., 2010. Print.

c. done.

d. I completed a half-hour presentation of "Yearbook 101," which is basicallygeneral and summarized concepts of the three areas yearbook, being design, photography, and copywriting. I broke down each area within themselves to further explain them to underclassmen who attended this lesson during a brief lunch period in Strand's room. I also included an activity that utilized what I taught in that time. Most of them are planning on becoming editors or more integral staff members, so getting the basics down are extremely vital in being able to advance in yearbook. I spent a lot of time planning out which concepts of those three areas I would teach, as well as practicing my timing and overall presentation skills. I also did outside research from the Cal Poly library in order to do this component.

This component really helped answer my EQ because it actually integrated all three of my answers into a real-life demonstration. It helped me see how all three answers support each other and work in tandem in order to produce a quality yearbook. By teaching the kids who sat in for my lesson, I was able to understand how important it is that an editorial publisher properly educate staff on foundational subjects to yearbook. By first teaching the basics, it allows me to further instill knowledge into staff members as well as guide them along in doing better and improving on what they've learned. In response, I've begun to truly see how producing a quality yearbook needs much groundwork and understanding of design, photography, and copywritng, in order to best direct the entire publication towards that goal of quality. 

On the side of my blog, I have the powerpoint presentation I used for this lesson.

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...