Treering Blog

Design hierarchy of a yearbook spread refers to the arrangement of elements on a page in order of importance, with the most important element drawing immediate attention and receiving support from secondary and tertiary elements. When you apply these design principles, you are taking your readers on a journey across each yearbook spread by telling them where to begin and where to exit each spread through visual cues. Sound complicated? No worries, we'll break it down below. 

Dominant Elements

Think, "We're #1!" The dominant elements in yearbook hierarchy are headlines, the dominant photo package, and a subheadline. The dominant elements are just that: they dominate the most real estate on the spread. It's from them the rest of the content builds.

Headline

The headline is the most important element on a page and serves as a brief content summary. It should be attention-grabbing and provide an overview of the page's content.

Dominant Photo

This is self-explanatory: the largest photo on the spread is the dominant one. It draws the eye. It connects to the headline. It sets the tone for the entire spread. The best dominant photos are storytelling or action shots.

Subhead

The subhead is a secondary headline that provides more detail and context to the main headline. It can also be used to break up yearbook spreads into smaller sections, or modules.

Secondary Elements

Your secondary elements build from your dominant ones. Think of them as a great ensemble cast.

Photos

For most, photographs are the most important part of a yearbook. The individual images and their positioning on the spread can help further illustrate the page topic and make the page more visually appealing.

Quick tips:

• Eyes should look toward the center of the spread, not off the page
• Similar photos should be in proximity to one another

Tertiary Design Elements 

If your headline and photographs did their job, readers will swoop in to enjoy your captions, copy, and extras.

Captions

These beauties provide context and information about the photos on a page, therefore they should be near their respective photograph. While they should be concise and well-written, it's easy to get cliche: "Tomás Bernal (7) enjoys his lunch." Start with the 5 Ws and then up your caption game by adding expanded captions.

Body Copy or Yearbook Stories

This is the main text on a page and provides the details and information about the subject being covered. It should be well-written, easy to read, and relevant to the headline and dominant topic of the spread. Often, when a dominant photo is of the storytelling variety, it will complement it and further explain its significance.

Sometimes, an "ident caption" will suffice. This is a list of names of students pictured, including their grade. In the middle school book below, the yearbook team used ident captions to outline the event program from the annual fundraiser.

Pull Quotes

Pull quotes are quotes from the body copy that are set off visually and used to highlight important or interesting information or one-off quotes from a student. They have both visual and verbal significance because they highlight the spread's topic with a unique POV. They can also add to the overall theme by bringing in theme elements.

Graphics and Design Elements

Like everything in yearbook design hierarchy, graphics and design elements, such as borders, backgrounds, and page numbers should be intentional. It's easy to get out of hand with Treering's graphics library, so that's why our design team cultivated 300-ish fully editable themes and color palettes for you. The purpose is to make the page more visually appealing and easier to navigate while telling the story of your year.

The hierarchy of a yearbook spread can vary depending on the page's content, and following this basic structure can help ensure that the page is well-organized and easy to read. If you're teaching yearbook or leading a club, use it

• As a checklist for students who are beginning to design
• For a scavenger hunt to see who can identify elements on a spread in a magazine or another school's yearbook
• To build your program by strengthening yearbook hierarchy in each design

Forget resolutions, it's time to get to work. Our staff brainstormed the top yearbook hacks you can use at any stage in the yearbook creation process and packed this blog with videos, how-tos, and examples. Use the quick links below if you need to jump to a specific area.

• Yearbook Design Hacks
• Get More People in the Yearbook
• Marketing Tips
• Hacks for Yearbook Advisers

Yearbook design hacks

Designing a yearbook is much more than just putting pictures on pages. Intentionality, storytelling, and branding are included. The following time- and sanity-savers will help you progress in your role as editor, adviser, coordinator, or yearbook fan girl.

1. Auto layout

What if you could just drag the photos you want to use on a spread and they would magically be organized and re-sized? Voilà!

The best part? Everything is still fully editable, so if you need a starting point, you can continue to build your spreads with more photos and text, swap our images, and change the color of the elements.

2. Color picker

You can pull the exact color from any picture to add to your design. This builds the yearbook’s visual cohesiveness because you can pull from photos or graphics to create your custom palette.

3. Layers in design

Up your design by using layers to arrange photos, images, and text. In the examples below, you'll see graphic elements used as photo frames (movie night spread) and editable shapes used to organize content (table of contents). Using the forward and background tools in the options panel can help you arrange elements.

4. Custom pages

Schools are used to offering senior ads as a way to congratulate students. Treering schools take it a step further and allow every family to tell their story with two free custom pages (and the option to add even more).

5. Missing portrait hack

"Picture day is the easiest day of the year," said no adviser ever. As hard as we work to make it a flawless experience and to capture every student and staff member, perfect attendance is out of our control. One way we love to see people included in their respective sections is by flowing them in with this spirited touch.

6. Advanced portrait settings

Another hack for your people section is included with the advanced portrait settings. Subtitles are a simple way to add marks of distinction such as student activities and honors as well as staff department or job titles. Other advanced portrait settings include spacing and sizing options.

7. The magical shift key

Shift your process for aligning and rotating objects.

8. Printed proof

A printed proof is an exact copy of your yearbook, and every school gets one free. Use your printed proof to

9. Picking favorites—it's OK!

"Liking" graphics, backgrounds, and photos makes it easier to find them to add to yearbook spreads. To use your hand-picked collection in your book, filter by "My Likes" and "Team Likes" in the drop-down.

10. Pre-designed pages

Annually, Treering publishes elementary and middle/high school "Year in Review" and "Best of the Year" Pre-Designed yearbook spreads. These spreads include noteworthy highlights from pop culture and current events, and like all things Treering, these pages are editable so you can choose to replace the content with your own. Some communities prefer school or local election news, campus trends, or athletic records. Pre-Designed pages which include mention of our philanthropic partner, Sandy Hook Promise, are also available as well as about me, art gallery, and puzzle pages.

Get more people in the yearbook

The best practice for yearbook coverage is to ensure each student is in the yearbook three times. Think one photo in each section: portrait, classroom, and activity.

11. Crowdsourcing features

Treering’s crowdsourcing tools include integrations with Facebook, Instagram, and Google Drive as well as shared photo folders. Teachers, parents, and students can email photographs from their devices directly to event folders in your school account. 

According to adviser Lauren Casteen, Yearbook Hero and leader of Treering’s Teaching Yearbook cohort, there are four reasons to crowdsource content:

12. Monitoring coverage

A big question we hear is, "Why would you want to tag student names when we're not doing an index?" Since our job as advisers is to cover all the students on campus, tagging is one way to track how many times students appear in the yearbook. It also helps you find out who is missing from your pages and craft strategies to include them.

13. Keyword tagging

By using keywords such as event names and topics (e.g. AP Lit), your search just became that much more powerful, and the English folder less intimidating to navigate.

14. Find Carmen San Diego

Tagging by student name helps you easily find students within your web of folders.

15. Polls

Create polls to give a snapshot of the student body's preferences. Treering's software even makes the graphs for you. Expand on this or that-style questions or multiple choice ones by interviewing a respondent for more detail. You may be surprised why your star soccer player is a cat dad.

‍

Marketing tips

The second semester is when we see surges in book sales. Here are some hacks to get more yearbooks in more hands.

16. Free yearbook flyers

The price is right. So is the message.

17. Use your printed proof as social proof

Social proof is one way you can positively encourage others to support your program by buying a yearbook.

Hacks for yearbook advisers

All of the above definitely apply to yearbook advisers and coordinators, and here are few extras because you are our people.

18. Free webinars: Yearbook Club

A yearbook adviser PLC? Live yearbook training? Technology pro-grow? However you want to sell it to your admin, we have it. And it’s free. 

19. Styles

By establishing photo and text styles early on, you create a cohesive look for your yearbook. Because the font library continues to grow, it's nice to set some limits, especially with emerging designers!

20. Portrait proofing with PDFs

Printing PDF proofs from the editor dashboard as soon as you get your portraits flowed is one quick way to ensure accuracy. Distribute them to the office staff and classroom or homeroom teachers for a double and triple check.

21. A list of evergreen content

Evergreen content for yearbooks is a collection of interview questions, infographic topics, and story ideas that can be used throughout the year. While we want to have a yearbook that reflects the current year and trends, having a timeless collection keeps your students working on interviews and photography and provides material to fill in on portrait pages, sports sections, and even in the index. 

‍

22. Supplemental books

Sometimes club sports, special events, and alumni need a little extra. You can still attach a fundraiser, take advantage of our free design software, and enjoy all the other perks of making a Treering book: no minimums and a three-week turnaround from the day you submit.

Treering’s printed books for family reunions, church or neighborhood directories, scout troops, sport associations (rodeo, mountain bike, cheerleading, gymnastics), 4-H, school auctions, cookbooks, performing arts studios, first responders, and more.

23. Yearbook hack central: Treering blog

(Shameless, we know!) We're glad you're here and hope you find more yearbook hacks by searching the blog or signing up for notifications when we post new content.

Since 2009, you’ve trusted us to capture and print your priceless memories, and we reflect on this honor every holiday season. In addition to helping schools raise nearly $2 million in the 2022 school year, we printed over 600,000 custom pages in 2022—that’s a lot of joy. Thank you for trusting us with this invaluable task. We wish you all the best this holiday season and we can’t wait to get to work in 2023. Happy holidays!

What to expect in 2023

• Semi-monthly training through Yearbook Club
• Design contests for editors and parents
• Your memories arriving within three weeks of clicking Print Ready
• New predesigned “About Me,” “Year in Review,” and “Best of…” pages
• Superior support as you design, market, and distribute your best book yet
• Weekly blog articles to provide inspiration and resources – subscribe and have them sent to your email

Staff pictured

Top: Chrissy K. (Customer Success Manager), Jason S. (Customer Success Manager), Jen C. (Customer Success Manager), Niri B. (Customer Success Manager), Brian M. (Director of Engineering) with Titan

Bottom: Melizza T. (Community Advocate Team Supervisor), Codey V. (Community Advocate Team – Quality Assurance), Daneesha B. (Community Advocate Team), Ramona E. (Community Advocate Team), Robelyn O. (Community Advocate Team)

Since 2009, you’ve trusted us to capture and print your priceless memories, and we reflect on this honor every holiday season. In addition to helping schools raise nearly $2 million in the 2022 school year, we printed over 600,000 custom pages in 2022—that’s a lot of joy. Thank you for trusting us with this invaluable task. We wish you all the best this holiday season and we can’t wait to get to work in 2023. Happy holidays!

What to expect in 2023

• Semi-monthly training through Yearbook Club
• Design contests for editors and parents
• Your memories arriving within three weeks of clicking Print Ready
• New predesigned “About Me,” “Year in Review,” and “Best of…” pages
• Superior support as you design, market, and distribute your best book yet
• Weekly blog articles to provide inspiration and resources – subscribe and have them sent to your email

Staff pictured

Top: Chrissy K. (Customer Success Manager), Jason S. (Customer Success Manager), Jen C. (Customer Success Manager), Niri B. (Customer Success Manager), Brian M. (Director of Engineering) with Titan

Bottom: Melizza T. (Community Advocate Team Supervisor), Codey V. (Community Advocate Team – Quality Assurance), Daneesha B. (Community Advocate Team), Ramona E. (Community Advocate Team), Robelyn O. (Community Advocate Team)

We made magic happen

Beginning the evening with a conversation on themes, a tour of the new look for Treering Yearbooks app, and a magic show, we transitioned to expert-led breakout sessions. The Magical Katrina wowed us with her close-up magic and improv skills.

Breakouts to make your stress disappear

Attendees had their choice of four breakouts:

Fundraising with your yearbook

I’m the yearbook coordinator… now what?

Teaching yearbook

Selling more books

Bag of Tricks

While magicians don’t usually reveal their secrets, we gave up a few of ours. Scan the QR Code below to access them.

Check out the full list of upcoming Yearbook Club webinars for even more training opportunities.

With Proclamation 5703, former President Ronald Reagan made yearbooks even more celebration-worthy by setting apart the first week of October for “appropriate ceremonies and activities” to recognize the creators and the power of a yearbook program. Over 30 years later, National School Yearbook Week remains a time to reminisce and a time to look forward. In 2022, we are celebrating on social and at our annual Treering Live (TRL) event.

Week of prizes

Win big during National School Yearbook Week by participating in one of Treering Yearbooks' five social media challenges. It's as easy as contributing a memory. You can also take the challenge of making an epic video to promote your own program, using the curated audio we'll share. Follow us:

• @treering on Facebook
• @treeringcorp on Instagram
• @treeringcorp on TikTok
• @treering on Twitter

There are no entry limits, so you and your yearbook team can enter as many times as you like. (We'd like a bevy of responses on Thursday, please and thank you in advance.)

Hashtags to use during National Yearbook Week

Share your celebrations and see what others are doing by using any of the hashtags commonly associated with National School Yearbook Week: #nationalschoolyearbookweek, #schoolyearbookweek, #YBWeek, #nationalyearbookweek, #yearbookweek, and, of course, #treeringyearbooks.

Week of celebration

Imagine, yearbook staffs from coast-to-coast celebrating the power of a yearbook and the work our teams do. There's something to be said about a national week of unity for us memory makers. Remember to celebrate the yearbook heroes in your halls:

• Post profiles of your staff and celebrate their strength on social media
• Educate your school community with some behind-the-scenes edu-tainment
• Offer your campus 5% off on their yearbooks (Treering does this for you... just take the credit!)

Capstone event for National School Yearbook Week

Treering Live is back to drop a little 24-karat magic. In this free, totally online event we’ll give you all tips, tools, and expert-led advice to make some serious yearbook magic. TRL 2022: Yearbook Magic will take place via Zoom Events on Thursday, October 6, 2022 at 4:00 pm PT/6:00 pm CT/7:00 pm ET. (Please note: you must have a Zoom account to register and attend.) In addition to a live magic show and instruction on yearbook themes, we'll have breakouts on:

• Yearbook marketing
• First-time adviser tips and tricks
• Fundraising
• Best practices for teaching yearbook

And if that's not enough to pump you up for the new school year, check out our ongoing Yearbook Club training.

UPDATE: see 2023-2024 yearbook theme ideas. For more post-pandemic design trends, keep reading.

Using graphic design trends such as 3D and geometric shapes, nostalgia, art deco, and paper cut out, the Treering Yearbooks design team created 22 new collections of graphics, font pairings, layouts, and backgrounds to help organize the story of your year. These yearbook covers and themes make it easy for you to create a whole book look with backgrounds, templates, and fonts.

Bold yearbook covers and themes

We love the way these three yearbook covers grab your attention. The vibrant colors and bold graphics are immediately attractive because they all have roots in the familiar. According to shape psychology (yes, that's a thing) geometric and abstract shapes are a part of the natural world, and because we see them in our daily lives, they create a level of trust we don't get with the abstract.

If you don't want to dive deep into that rabbit hole, and just want something pretty, try adding embossing to make the text or art pop even more. The extra tactile sensation on your yearbook cover will wow your school community.

Coordinating drag and drop layouts repeat the yearbook theme elements introduced on the cover. In addition, there are thousands of graphics and backgrounds you can mix and match.

A rule of thumb for creating your yearbook theme style guide: stick with the three-peat. Choose three repeating elements (font, color, or photo shape) and KISS.

Trending yearbook covers and themes

One way to make your yearbook theme so 2023 is to apply graphic design trends from the year. Incorporating these trends as well as pop culture makes your yearbook relevant now and will make your grandkids deem it a ‘20s relic.

Vibrant nostalgia

I'm not going to say, "I told you so." Just seeing the Windows 95 look popping up on packages, movie posters, and social media is enough.

Watching

Yearbook cover and themes based on technology aren't timeless, and that's a good thing. Remember Clippy? He represents a moment in time, as does your yearbook.

It may be tempting to search movies and show titles for the headlines of every spread and to use our drag-and-drop templates to create three layers of menus as modules. If that seems overwhelming, keep it limited to the thematic pages: title page, table of contents, divider pages, and closing.

ThreeD

"Vibrant Nostalgia" may be today, but "ThreeD" will be tomorrow. Sorry if that sounds like a Black Eyed Peas song. Designers who are pushing this visual envelope are doing away with flat graphics, and still using recognizable shapes and even text. If your students want to do a "Dare to Dream" or "Future-Forward" yearbook theme, this cover design and accompanying theme package are for you.

Design your own: even more elementary yearbook cover ideas

Creative elementary school yearbooks tie in their theme with a cover contest. Artwork from runners-up can appear on the back cover, on autograph pages, or on the title page.

What’s next for you? How about surveying your student body? If your yearbook team selects their pick for the five elementary yearbook cover and theme ideas, the student body can select their favorite.

Getting social to sell yearbooks sounds easy: just post and parents will pay up, right? We get it, yearbook sales can be stressful, especially if you have a publisher who requires an order quota. Adding social media to your yearbook marketing strategy can only help increase the visibility of your staff and your product. Here are five types of Instagram and Facebook posts to add to your yearbook's social cadence. (Share if you love your yearbook… kidding.)

1. Positive Peer Pressure

Customer loyalty is a big deal–it’s why we collect stars and points and become an Insider. You can erase the thought of a back-end engineering feat to get students a digital punch card in their Remind account and head to the local dollar store for a bag of candy. (We like candy necklaces because they are wearable reminders, thus reinforcing our campaign.) 

A simple, reward offering of “Sweet! You bought a yearbook!” followed by the names of buyers will create a positive buzz around campus.

How it Helps Sales

We’ve talked about social proof. We’ve talked about FOMO. This yearbook social media post does that and

1. Shows appreciation to those who listened early on and bought a yearbook.
2. Answers the age-old question: “Did I buy a yearbook?”

2. Call to Action: Crowdsourcing

Specific asks give you specific results. Consider these the two above: which one brought in 35 submissions in 24 hours? 

How Pictures Yield Purchases

This is not new information: if students know they are in the book, they will want the book. Using student-sourced photos from social media help sell yearbooks because it tells more of the year. And that’s our job. Follow up these calls to action by showing students you used their photos.

3. Sneak Peeks

Sneak peeks include: cover shots, close-ups or excerpts of spreads, and releasing yearbook photos. Be sure to include a countdown to distribution.

A few weeks before your final deadline, order your printed proof. Besides seeing the top-notch quality, you can use your book in photos to promote last-minute sales.

Use the Yearbook to Sell Itself

Product teasers are a mainstay in the marketing world. They pump up potential yearbook buyers and answer “What’s in it for me?”

4. Show and Tell

Giving glimpses of the work behind the scenes connects customers to the product. It builds trust among the student body because they see your team them working hard to photograph track meets in 100-degree heat or giving up their time at Homecoming to take photos on the dance floor. Beyond work, teambuilding, editor lunches, and TikTok trends can also serve as recruiting tools for next year’s staff.

Sell by Showcasing Your Yearbook Culture on Social Media

The yearbook shouldn’t be about your yearbook staff, but because of them. Parents, students, and teachers will believe in the work you are doing if they see themselves in it.

5. Nitty Gritty

The most important thing you can do it tell people how, when, and where to buy. Give them the details and make it easy. While a general “Buy a Yearbook” post shouldn’t be the only yearbook marketing post in your social toolkit, friendly reminders do help. You will sell more yearbooks by varying posts and increasing engagement on your social media channels.

Why We (Still) Share Yearbook Info

For the same reason your five year old knows the phone number for an all-inclusive resort, mere exposure leads to sales. People tend to love familiarity, and that’s why yearbooks are a tradition.

We’re just going to leave this here.

In the yearbook world, judging a book by its cover sounds harsh, yet it is our reality. It's a super important piece: the cover holds the book together while introducing the theme and its visual elements. We also use the cover to promote yearbook sales. Because of this, our staff gets pumped when we work with schools to take their cover from ideation to completion. Together, we grabbed our favorite covers and compiled a handful to inspire others with their displays of school spirit, artistry, and thematic elements.

Our favorite covers started with developed themes

We love a great yearbook theme (frankly, that's why we offer 300+ to users). A developed yearbook theme builds on what's trending on campus, such as new construction or an all-school volunteerism initiative. It inspires spin-offs, headlines, and coverage. It tells the story of this year.

Epic themes and epic covers

Scarsdale, NY's Greenacres Elementary School used school and world events to guide theme copy in their book. Over five spreads, they detailed the highlights of the class of 2022's journey on campus from their days in kindergarten during the 2016 school year to the move to middle school. Each fifth grader's portrait is paired with their kindergarten one.

We first saw St. Xavier Catholic School in Juction City, KS's yearbook cover when the team entered the #TreeringMemoriesMatter Contest. By creating St. Xavier Xopoly, the team demonstrated the strong culture on campus. On the dividers, they used game-like spaces to continue the theme. We never smiled so much over being sent to detention.

Virginia's Governor's School for the Arts combined travel and the pandemic into their student-designed cover art. Inside, the dividers combine the pen and ink aesthetic from the cover with photo collages created by digital artists on campus, taking us on a voyage through a year of development and discovery.

Why we love yearbook cover contests

Cover contests are popular with elementary and middle schools. They unite the student body around the yearbook theme or the school's mascot (more on mascots below). Besides gathering original art from campus creators, it's a marketing tool to sell more yearbooks.

2 Cover contest winners

Nebbie Williams Elementary from Rockwall, TX chose the Presley yearbook theme by Treering Yearbooks and used its rocking graphics to inspire the art direction. A sixth grader designed the winning cover for the 25th anniversary book and runners-up appear on the back.

Another original art plus Treering Yearbooks theme book that caught our attention was La Costa Heights Elementary from Carlsbad, CA. The parent-led yearbook team selected the "Dream Big" theme and filled the yearbook with inspirational quotes. They revealed the theme to the students on campus when they launched their yearbook cover contest and the students interpreted it in their submissions.

Spirit book covers

We call mascot and school color-centric yearbooks "spirit books" because they tell the story of the year wrapped in school elements. Some schools create an iteration of their mascot each year on the cover, others do it to celebrate anniversary years or big moves.

POV: mascots

The cover is a show-stopper, and the story behind the yearbook makes Chateauguay Valley Regional High School in Ormstown, Quebec, Canada more than a favorite: the team there is why we do what we do. When the school year began, there was not going to be a yearbook, so a group of students stepped in to create and promote it. (We're not crying either!)

Davis Intermediate serves fifth and sixth graders in Wylie, TX. The school’s motto is "A marauder… a swashbuckler searching for the greatest treasure of all… the treasure found within!" This cover contest winner encapsulates yearbook gold.

In Austin, TX, Purple Sage Elementary used art class to facilitate their annual cover contest. The art teacher brought in old yearbooks for students to look at, taught lessons on how to draw the mascot, and explained the concept of a yearbook to younger students. The Purple Sage faculty selected the winner from 48 entries: the top vote recipient is on the front, second place on the back. The ten finalists appear on the title page.

The value of student-driven yearbooks

The common element: our favorite yearbook covers began with a student-created piece. Student Emma Lorenz from Haywood High School in Hayward, CA said, "Seeing my own art be a part of my school's history feels like a dream. I'm always on a journey to improve my art and I can't wait to one day look back at this cover."

What will your students create this year?

Wouldn't it be great if your yearbook could help buy your school new Chromebooks or iPads or fund a new STEAM program? We think so too! Treering has already helped schools raise more than $11 million (and counting) and funded all kinds of wonderful things for schools. Make money from something you already do: add any amount to the price of your yearbook as a fundraiser.

Our books are so fairly priced that you don't need to feel guilty about adding a fundraiser to the cost of the book. Let's say the core price of your book is $45, and you add a $5 fundraiser. If you sell 500 books, you will have raised $2,375 for your school! That could cover the cost of a few educational field trips!

Full disclosure (because, hi, we love transparency): Treering charges just 5% processing to cover the credit card and bank fees.

Fundraising in Action

Mercury Mine Elementary

"Treeing's fundraising tools helped my school build a yearbook program that no longer creates a drain on our finances. Now with Treering we MAKE money on our yearbook program. Funds raised from the yearbook go to our school's 501c3 Parent Teacher Group and help us to support the school’s programs and services. Our PTG strives to promote communication, understanding, and cooperation among students, parents, faculty, and the Miner community. Our goal is to promote a supportive and engaging community atmosphere and Treering helps us reach those goals." - Erin

Augusta Circle Elementary

"We use Treering’s fundraising tool in two ways. First, we add to the cost of the book, making $1 off each book sold. We also sell celebration ads to parents. We use our extra funds to provide yearbooks to 5th graders who may otherwise not be able to buy one, so that all graduating students leave with a yearbook. Last year, we raised enough money to refinish the outside basketball courts, which were worn down, cracked, and had become hazardous, plus added two new basketball goals! This year we hope to add a large sunshade over part of the playground with the money we raise through the yearbook. We are so grateful for Treering!" - Ansley

Presidio Middle School

"We give books to 8th graders who are moving up to high school. I give away about 60 books to 8th graders. We call it a contest, [students have to fill out an online form to enter] but it susses out students who might not be able to afford a book and don’t want to ask for a free one." - Janet

PSA on Fundraising With Yearbook Ad Sales

Typically, yearbook ad sales are one way teams do their fundraising.

Generally speaking, schools sell yearbook ads for one of three reasons:

1. To pay back existing publisher debt
2. As an opportunity to teach business skills (sales, advertising, negotiation, and more)
3. As a fundraising effort to purchase new equipment

Number one can happen for myriad reasons: perhaps you bought far too many books last year, maybe your budget was slashed, or you inherited a yearbook program in the red. Negotiate, negotiate, negotiate with your publisher for more school-friendly terms. (Thank you for coming to our TED Talk.)

While selling ads is a good way to teach students about business, it’s not a necessity for every yearbook program. Virtually any fundraising opportunity can be turned into something teachable, and selling ads is probably the most resource-intensive of the bunch. This reality is what makes ad sales particularly alluring because they quite literally become part of the finished product.

If you want to add business development consider teaching:

• Problem-solving
• Goal-setting and project management
• Team leadership
• Social media marketing to promote your program, book sales, and crowdsourcing

Project manager. Social media marketer. Volunteer luncheon coordinator. Teacher liaison. Journalist. School historian. Memory maker. Yearbook coordinators wear all these hats and more! Below, we’ve taken one thing off your to-do list and compiled all the things on the definitive yearbook timeline so your planning and production resources are in one place.

When Last Year's Book is Complete...

Don't freak out. Keep scrolling if you were just handed the reins to the yearbook.

Fall

If there's one thing we hear from advisers around the globe, it's that they wish they started earlier! And while we can’t give you the gift of time, we can hook you up with some ideas to save you some.

Create a Plan

(Note to self: planning and controlling are two different things.)

It's impossible to think about yearbooks without considering yearbook themes. Whether you use a pre-designed one or create your own using Treering's design application, make sure it tells the story of your school this year.

Gather the school calendar, and PTA-sponsored events, previous yearbooks, and, with your team, start your ladder. This will be the overarching plan for the year(book). Your yearbook details should align with your ladder.

From there, add your team, create shared folders, and decide how to assign spreads. You’ll want to schedule follow-up meetings and track progress on this timeline.

Pre- and post-event check-ins ensure expectations are set and met. 

Tweet

Start Marketing

When we think of marketing, we think of yearbook sales. It’s so much more. Your marketing plan should include

• Crowdsourcing efforts
• Yearbook staff recruitment
• Yearbook sales

No one will know what you do (create the most epic yearbook ever), what you need (photos, photos, and more photos), and how they can be a part of it (upload photos, join the team, host a party) if you don’t tell them. 

Back to school is the ideal season to begin selling your yearbooks for two reasons: early discounts and the opportunity to earn free yearbooks. We’ve created a marketing plan template so you can stay organized.

If you are using your yearbook as a fundraiser, once again, work backward from your goal. For instance, is the PTG trying to earn money for more books in the library or playground equipment? Is your yearbook team trying to invest in new equipment? How much per book is needed to earn that amount of money?

Gather Content

August through November offer myriad opportunities to capture content and begin building your book:

• Student orientation
• First day
• Halloween
• Yerdsgiving
• Classroom shots
• Homecoming
• Spirit week
• Fall sports

Seize the [Picture] Day

Portraits comprise 40-60% of the average yearbook. If you aren’t on a first-name basis with your school photographer, it’s time to change that.

Touch base with your photographer and double-check they will export the photos in PSPA format (this is industry standard, but not everyone uses it) and confirm how they will deliver them to you. Copy your picture day coordinator on all correspondence (and offer up this professional school photographer's advice).

Winter

When you hit winter on the timeline, there is a shift at school: everyone becomes vacation-focused, and the list of things to do multiplies. (Late to the party? We have you covered with our yearbook quick start guide.)

Stay the Course

By now you have a rhythm: Your team has their assignments and together you’re tracking progress. Fall event pages are drafted and in the yearbook. Portraits should arrive momentarily. You follow up every event with an ask for additional POVs. 

Begin Proofreading 

Treering Yearbooks allows you to download a PDF proof of your book throughout the design process. Here’s how we use them:

1. Hand our portrait pages to teachers to help verify names and classroom placement
2. Project pages and evaluate them as a team
3. Track coverage
4. Post sneak peeks on campus

We have a whole module in our free yearbook curriculum on editing.

Cover Year-End Festivities

Fall and winter are the seasons for Bodhi Day, Christmas, Diwali, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, and Thanksgiving. Consider adding family celebrations to your coverage timeline as well as class parties.

Inspire Generosity

‘Tis the season to be selfless! Treering’s donation option makes it easy for families to gift yearbooks to the school. Advisers and coordinators then share the love by distributing yearbooks to those in need or gifting them to staff members.

Spring

It’s time to spring into action and finish the book! (Heads up: it’s also time to get those yearbook spreads and personalized pages ready for Treering Yearbooks’ spring contests.)

Finish Strong

If winter was the season everyone is ignoring you, in spring, everyone has questions. Can I have more time? How do I get my photos in? How do I buy a yearbook?

Some easy ways to help save your sanity are:

• Be proactive and share the personalized pages tutorial online (seasoned advisers hold their own training session).
• Use templates or the auto page builder to start your layouts. You can always modify them.
• Make sure all teachers and the front office staff have the ordering info. You may even want to share a QR code for them to place in newsletters.
• Add Year in Review and Trend pages

Let It Go... and Celebrate!

Before you hit print ready, ask yourself:

1. Do we need to order extra books? (Some schools like to keep a copy in the library.)
2. How do we want our books sorted?
3. Where should our books be sent? 
4. When will they arrive and do we need expedited shipping?

Summer

High five! You did it! 

QR Code is a registered trademark of DENSO WAVE INCORPORATED.

There are two schools of yearbook coordinators: the first, would never click on this blog, and the second, is ready to prep for the following school year. We’re glad you’re ready to lay the foundation for your yearbook over the summer and hope these three steps relieve stress because you’ll enter the school year more prepared than ever, and help you tick off some boxes so you can fully enjoy your summer vacation.

Step 1: Build your Team

Yearbook finished, check! Distribution party a success, check! Use this momentum to recruit a new team. Before you hand out your yearbook staff application, debrief with your current team and state your goals for the upcoming year. 

Are you creating a memory book? Be sure to build a team of photographers to capture the emotion behind the events as well as some marketing mavens who will pump up crowdsourcing efforts.

Are you looking to go more journalistic and create a history book? You’ll need writers/reporters in addition to your layout designers and photographers.

Are you creating a spirit book? You’ll want people who are passionate about your school community.

If you lead a student class or club:

• Make sure your recruiting message aligns with your goals
• Highlight the transferable skills
• Solicit recommendations from the faculty as well as your current team
• Build your syllabus and bookmark these rubrics from our free yearbook curriculum

Summer is a great time to do some introductory training with your team. Some advisers do a two- or three-day minicamp and select the theme, colors, and fonts for the year. Others host team-building events to build trust before jumping into design.

If your team is comprised of adults:

• Make sure your recruiting message aligns with your goals
• Set specific expectations for involvement
• Follow up, follow up, follow up
• Offer opportunities for all parents and teachers to contribute

Step 2: Start a Ladder

A ladder is the lifeblood of yearbook organization because it serves two functions:

• It helps you create a schedule
• It helps you determine your page count

From your ladder, you can reverse engineer your yearbook from the final deadline to all the photoshoots that need to be scheduled in between. Since this doc is an overview of the entire book, some yearbook staffs like to post it and use it to check off spreads when they are finished. 

Using this yearbook organization module will help you with all the back-end administrivia. 

Step 3: Relax and Wait for School to Start

We’re working parents, so we get it: it’s easier said than done. Yes, you’re going to want to solicit summer vacay photos for the yearbook, so grab you-time when you can. From an extra five minutes of privacy in the bathroom to hours with a great book, we wish you well. 

To echo the signatures in our yearbooks, have a great summer!