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?

Continuing Research for Second Answer

Hey all, just a quick update on how my second answer is coming along. So my second answer is: utilize best photography practices to capture peak moments that happened during the year. The wording is kind of in progress with my presentation teacher right now. Anyways, after interviewing Rebecca Chai and hearing her stress the importance of "photography first, then everything else," I was inspired to look up the ingredients as to what makes for quality photographs that can be used in the yearbook. That lead me to search up the basic techniques of photography. Here's a video explaining the rule-of-thirds, which to Rebecca and fellow yearbook photographer/pro Symphony Moreno (and pretty much every photographer), is essential in any sort of photography.

Rule-of-Thirds

Other than the rule-of-thirds, other techniques that should be used while taking photos are leading lines and cropping. Below are some videos that explain them.

Leading Lines

Cropping

Blog 16: Advisory Meeting #2

EQ: How can an editorial publisher produce a quality yearbook?
Answer #2: Utilize good photography techniques to capture peak moments that happened during the year.

1. Photography is a vital component in the yearbook, since a yearbook is more commonly or generally known for it's photos of the student body and what happens during the school year.
• Example: People want to see a photo of them or their friends, not a photo of, say, a desk or the teacher during a boring lecture.
2. Good photography techniques lead to better quality photos that will capture the peak moment of an event or events, that can later be used in the book.
• Example: Having a dynamic photo capturing a person mid-kick during a soccer game is better than a photo that doesn't display that type of action/dynamic. The reader should look at a photo and feel as if they are right there when the event happened. 
3. Using good photography techniques will benefit the staff in their photo-taking skills. In other words, using good photography techniques will help staff members develop creative skills that will help them in other projects aside from the yearbook.
• Example: Getting staff members used to using the rule of thirds, where an image is slightly off center. This can come in handy when taking photos in general, or is also when drawing, painting, and other creative mediums.

Resources:

• Sanders, Dolores. "Photography." The Yearbook Bible. By Mimi Orth. 4th ed. Charlotte: Herff Jones, 2012. Print.
• Interview #2 with Rebecca Chai

Concluding Sentence: Utilizing good photography techniques lead to better quality photos that will be vital in the composition of a yearbook, captures the peak moments and events that occur during the year, and benefits the staff's skill sets for future creative endeavors.

Blog 15: Independent Component 2 Approval

1. Describe in detail what you plan to do for your 30 hours.

• For my second Independent Component, I will be teaching a workshop lesson on the general basics of spread design, effective photography, and compelling copywriting for next year's editorial team and staff in the Yearbook elective, on a Friday or the weekend (most likely April 12, if I am given permission to use a classroom that Saturday) after our final deadline.  

2. Discuss how or what you will do to meet the expectation of showing 30 hours of evidence.

• Throughout this month and next month, I will be creating a visual PowerPoint, 3 activities corresponding to each section, and an oral presentation, where I will present to students coming back into this elective, and those in editor positions for the next year. Often, the Yearbook editor-in-chief/editorial publisher does this as tradition of "handing down the title" to the younger students, and must ensure that they have acquired the basic foundation of what makes a quality yearbook. I will be taking lots of photos and videos of what I will be doing; when I am making the visual, practicing in front of my current senior editors, doing research for the information I will be speaking of, making presentation speaker notes, etc.

3. And explain how what you will be doing will help you explore your topic in more depth.

• After creating my first answer, I figured that I should incorporate more of the teaching or directional aspect of editorial publishing (since I will also be rephrasing my first answer for later). It is important that an editorial publisher advise, direct, and instruct their staff members and editors. Of course, I am not creating the product, the yearbook, by myself. My job is to lead and maintain the creative vision and progress that goes into a quality yearbook. Teaching others how to execute it is key to creating a quality yearbook and proving for a piece of successful editorial publication. 

4. Post a log on the right hand side of your blog near your other logs and call it the independent component 2 log.

• Done.

Blog 14: Independent Component 1

Literal:

• (a) I, Krystal Lam, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 30 hours of work.
• (b) Sources used:
• Mimi Orth, my mentor. 
• The Editor-In-Chief, by Benton Rain and Coleman E.P. Patterson. 
• (MLA: 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.)
• The Yearbook Bible (Chapter: The Elements of a Yearbook Spread), by Dolores Sanders and Mimi Orth. 
• (MLA: Sanders, Dolores. "The Elements of a Yearbook Spread." The Yearbook Bible. By Mimi Orth. 4th ed. Charlotte: Herff Jones, 2012. Print.)
• (c) My log of hours dedicated to this independent component is located on the right sidebar of my blog, called "Independent Component 1 Log." Also on the sidebar is a document titled "Independent Component 1 Completed." Some previous blog posts of mine contains photos and descriptions of what I did while working on first deadline.
• (d) I completed the first deadline of the 2013-2013 yearbook. The first deadline consisted of the cover, endsheets (also known as the "space for signing and signatures"), and pages one through thirty-two.

Interpretive:

• I worked on completing the first thirty-pages of the yearbook, where I had designed a few of my own spreads, brainstormed on coverage ideas, assisted and taught the design team, gathered and organized content such as photographs and writing, and edited or revised spreads before they would be turned in. The first deadline is honestly the most important, because it contains many of the color pages and has the most impact on the school body, being that it contains the cover as well. I was responsible for making sure that all of these spreads would be turned in on or before the due date, November 18, 2013. I dedicated many hours to creating and editing spreads, as well as directing, helping, and guiding the design team on their assigned pages. I had to refer back to my sources every now and then to ensure that the spreads would turn out to be quality ones, where the overall aesthetic of the spreads would be pleasing and interesting. I also spent time going over and checking all of the photos and writing from staff members. Going along with the ideas given by the designers and their respective spreads, I personally picked photos and chose the stories that were suitable for each spread. The evidence can be located on the right sidebar of my blog, titled "Independent Component 1 Completed," as well as in a few previous blog posts where you can view photos and descriptions of what I worked on for the first deadline.

Applied: 

• This component helped me understand the foundation of my topic, Editorial Publishing, much better because it showed me the kind of work an editorial publisher puts into the creation and creative process of their product. In my case, I had to dedicate a lot, and I mean A LOT of time, thought, and creative vision into my product, which was the 2013-2014 yearbook. Being that this was only the first deadline, this independent component also prepared me for the onslaught of more deadlines to come, a main component in an editorial publisher's duties. Independent Component 1 has also pushed me to continue learning how to produce a quality yearbook, by teaching, directing, and working with your fellow designers, editors, and staff.

Grading Criteria:

• Link on sidebar, "Independent Component 1 Hours Log."
• Link on sidebar, "Independent Component 1 Completed," as well as some previous blog posts containing photos and descriptions of what I did working on first deadline.
• This is the LIA, and it is on my blog once I press "publish." (・∀・ )