PAUL FANTASKI, ADVISER Kiski Area High School Vandergrift, Pennsylvania
leap A no risk guarantee? Don’t count on it. Consider the words of the filmmaker James Cameron: “There are many talented people who haven’t fulfilled their dreams because they over thought it, or they were too cautious, and were unwilling to make the leap of faith.” Take a chance. Every once and awhile, leap into the unknown and believe that you will make it to the other side. But look before you leap. Make sure that your staff’s choices align with their goals for the book. Then commit to your direction.
elements 8 spring 2013
The Kiski Campus staff and I spent four years looking for the perfect theme for the school’s 50th anniversary book. The autumn before its commencement, I saw a sports commercial on television that ended with three words: then, now, always. From that moment, we knew we had hit on a perfect theme, something very special.
PLANNING
STAGES
We first decided on the style of book that we wanted to produce. Everyone on staff agreed that the last thing we wanted for an anniversary book was the traditional, serious approach. We had a talented senior artist on staff and because of that, we decided on a whimsical, doodling style. We also chose the infinity symbol as a graphic to use throughout. Since we would produce a landmark book for the district, we agreed that our beloved navy blue and gold had to be the two main colors. Still, since the theme included three words, we added the third gray element to accompany the school colors. Upon further brainstorming, we assigned gray to all past elements (then), blue to all present elements (now) and gold for timeless elements (always).
On distribution day the year before, we had questionnaires ready that asked three questions: What item do you remember most from your childhood (then)? Who means the most to you right now (now)? What Cavalier experience has changed your life the most (always)?
We even traveled to the intermediate school to retrieve answers from the eighth graders. The responses became the whole-book link placed in the left, top, and right borders of successive spreads. To begin the designing process, my staff came to school over the summer and created four to five modules. At the end of the day, we had a bank of 30 secondary coverage modules to use throughout the publication: some then, some now, and some always.