DISCOVERIES VOL.14 ISSUE 2

YEARBOOK

DISCOVERIES

VOLUME 14 ISSUE 02

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Kimberly D. Hanzo

LAYOUT EDITOR Matt Leighton

COPY EDITOR

Ann Akers

DESIGNERS

Kerri Moskow, Jeff Por taro, Colleen Tunis

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Paul Ender, Herff Jones Special Consultant Charla Harris, Yearbook Adviser Pleasant Grove HS, Texarkana, TX

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RULES ARE MADE TO BE BROKEN There are reasons for design guidelines... and functionality is what matters most.

Adviser’s Desk

Book sales plans vary from school to school (but most require some staff effort).

aadds o l n re p s dDISoCOw VERIES KS.BIZ

OO g in @ReYsourEceAs >RYearBbook Discoveries > Lo

Nancy Hastings, Yearbook Adviser Munster (IN) HS Terry O’Keefe, Yearbook Adviser Colfax (CA) HS Beth Britton, CM Russell HS, Billings, MT; Cindy Hopkins, Pleasant Valley HS, Chico, CA; Phyllis Mandal, Bonnabel HS, Kenner, LA; Jim Morris, ThunderRidge HS; Highlands Ranch, C0; Linda Puntney, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS; Deborah Slayton, George Washington HS, Danville, VA; Lori Sturgess, Sue Cleveland HS, Rio Rancho, NM; David Wright, Schofield Middle, Las Vegas, NV

HJ LOCATIONS

Charlotte, NORTH CAROLINA charlotte@her ffjones.com Gettysburg, PENNSYLVANIA gettysburg@her ffjones.com Kansas City, KANSAS kansascity@her ffjones.com Logan, UTAH logan@her ffjones.com Marceline, MISSOURI marceline@her ffjones.com Montgomer y, AL ABAMA montgomer y@her ffjones.com Winnipeg, CANADA winnipeg@her ffjones.com Herff Jones Yearbook Discoveries Volume 14 Issue 2 was produced electronically using Adobe® InDesign CS4®, Adobe Illustrator® CS4 and Adobe Photoshop® CS4.

This magazine was created on a 2.66 GHz Intel Xeon PowerMac Quad-Core, with 6 GB of RAM and printed by Herff Jones, Inc., at its Charlotte, NC printing facility.

The cover was printed on CCN-1 White Colortext Endsheet stock using four-color process. The magazine pages were printed on 100# Premier stock using four-color process inks. The fonts used in Yearbook Discoveries Volume 14 Issue 2 were AHJ Unitus Condensed Light, AHJ Unitus Condensed Bold and AHJ Baskerville. The label headlines were created on a DYMO label maker and scanned to allow greater manipulation using Photoshop. Herff Jones and the Herff Jones logo are registered trademarks of Herff Jones, Inc. Apple and Macintosh are registered trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc. Adobe, InDesign, Illustrator and Photoshop are registered trademarks of Adobe Systems, Inc.

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08COLOR STRATEGIES DESIGN CONCEPTS BY PAUL ENDER

10 12 14 16

PHOTO CORNER BY TERRY O’KEEFE

These simple tips will help your photo team take better sports shots.

Writer’s Block By CHARLA HARRIS

Humanizing the story (any story, every story) pulls readers in.

THE STANDARDS By nancy hastingS Great photos, excellent reporting and good writing stand the test of time.

YBK ETC.

100 books later, it’s time to celebrate Royal Purple history at Kansas State.

COOL POSTER INCLUDED

Each issue of Yearbook Discoveries, Volume 14, will include a poster or series of posters for your staffroom.

We know there’s more than one way to look at every topic, so these doublesided posters give the option to choose what’s best for your staff. Have some fun and make your staffroom or office look like the yerd haven it is!

In yearbook, advisers and reps teach basic guidelines for design, coverage and more to increase the chances for success in as many new staffers as possible. The disconnect sometimes occurs when those same rookies see spreads that obviously broke the rules cited as great examples.

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HoofPrint, San Dieguito HS, Encinitas, CA It’s fine when display type crosses the gutter as long as no letterforms are dissected. ResumÉ, George Walton Academy, Monroe, GA Beginning with the percussionist in red, who attracts your attention first, the content flows logically in a counterclockwise arc leading to the copy.

Odyssey, Chantilly (VA) HS The location of the headline is not traditional, but the copy-starting T in the same font and color draws the eye back to the start of the story.

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Truly, the difference between the pragmatic beginner and a soaring experimenter is often no more than understanding the premise behind the rule and finding an alternative way to achieve the same results.

In yearbook, if you “break a rule,” you just need to find a suitable “fix.”

It used to be that there was one correct answer to any question regarding internal spacing: one pica. Between photos? One pica. A photo and its caption? One pica. A headline and its story? One pica. And, we taught, anything else constituted “trapped white space.”

Imagine the shock of yerds from coast to coast when the first yearbooks started using internal isolation in the same ways that magazines did.

While experienced designers were intrigued by the option to use white space as a design device with a specific directive, newer staffers could be heard identifying rail after rail as “trapped white space.”

Once lead designers began articulating their intentions, it was easy for everyone on the design team to see that using three levels of white space gave them a set of identifiable cues for the readers.

There was still consistency, but it was also clear that some components of the spread were meant to be seen as a unified package and others were intentionally set apart to be read on their own.

In basic design, it’s usually taught that both the main headline and the secondary unit lead the reader to the copy. That generally means that they would be positioned above the start of the story.

But that’s not always the case. There are many examples in both magazines and yearbooks that feature headlines at the end of the copy, to the side of the copy — even on the other page. But the experienced designer understands that the reason for the “headline above the copy” rule is to direct the reader to the copy. And there are other ways to do that. A large initial letter, enlarging the first phrase and boldfacing the first sentence accomplish the same goal. If the headline is not placed traditionally, it’s important that some device (usually smaller but in the same font/color/weight as the headline) deliver the reader to the start of the copy.

Another early design lesson prohibits type crossing the gutter. Because of the way yearbooks are printed, words spanning the gutter would likely be separated or uneven. Even though the rule is that type never EVER crosses the gutter, it’s not all that unusual to find a headline that runs from page to page. In most cases, the type is large and letterspaced. On closer observation, you might note that there are actually two separate text boxes (one on each side of the gutter), aligned perfectly to ensure that there’s not actually a letter in the gutter.

That’s just another way a designer can achieve the desired effect by “fixing” a rule that’s been broken.

Thunderbolt, Todd Beamer HS, Federal Way, WA More important than a dominant photo is a strong dominant element, which is often a photo cluster in contemporary books. But there still needs to be one image that packs more punch than the others and head size is a popular way to achieve that. The difference in head size here lends power to an image that’s not signifiantly larger than the other supporting photos.

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Saga, Rowland HS, Rowland Heights, CA Three distinct levels of white space are used on this spread to create consistency while making it clear which content is meant to be consumed as a package and which has been isolated to stand alone.

Most basic design guidelines require the use of a dominant photo. Depending on when and where staffers were trained, the proportion of that photo relative to others on the spread and the number of photos included will vary.

But more experienced designers understand that there’s more to that guideline than a literal interpretation. First, there needs to be a dominant visual element. Often, it’s a photo.

But it might be type or a photo package.

The important thing is that some element commands attention first — not that there be an enormous photo.

And there are lots of ways to make a photo dominant. Size is simply one of the easiest. But extreme shape, tight cropping and even the head size of subjects in the photo can help lure the readers to the image you choose to make dominant. Of course, this also means two photos that are different in size can still compete for reader attention.

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Sometimes the “fix” requires additional work.

Because the action in a photo creates a logical eye flow for the readers, it is suggested that the subjects move in toward the gutter or face the copy/headline unit. If you’re working with a template that would have the subject facing off the page, it might seem easy to flop the image so that it faces the desired direction, but that is not the answer. Rather than risk content that appears backwards or present an image that readers could identify as impossible or incorrect, the designer should instead rotate the spread design on the vertical or horizontal axis (or both!). Then the eye flow will be natural, not distracting.

Remember that the goal of most design guidelines is to help the greatest number of designers experience success. The desired outcome is always the same; yearbook designers strive to be creative while making it as easy as possible for the readers to navigate around the spread, consuming the information easily.

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There’s no one magic bullet. Sometimes the answer is doing the same thing every year and other times, switching things up brings more results. But more than ever, advisers from coast to coast find the need to invest more energy in...

We have sold the book at registration since I have been here and the cost just flows into the other fees that are paid at enrollment time. Our students and their parents are used to the fact that yearbooks are one of the things they pay for at registration each fall. The vast majority of our books are sold then with maybe another 50-60 sold during first semester; we cut off sales December 1. In 2009, we sold to 94% of the student body. Our real strategy has been giving our customers something they want to buy. The book has grown significantly in size and features (such as all color) over the years, and we always use a “gimmick” in each book that’s a surprise to our customers. For example, one year we did a foldout to cover a terrific event on campus.

Last year we used an actual school letter (like on varsity jackets) debossed into the cover. Another huge focus over the past eight years has been broadening the book’s appeal by expanding coverage to include every age group, ethnic group, organization, etc. — not just the friends and interests of the staff!

Jim Morris, yearbook adviser ThunderRidge HS, Highlands Ranch, CO

Not that many years back, spring was always stressful for me. We sold about 70% of our books second semester and I was never sure we were going to sell enough to pay the bills. Then we came up with a plan to completely change the culture of yearbook sales at PV. We sell early and we incent the students/parents to buy as school starts with prices that are the lowest of the year. We no longer offer $2 increases.

When we raise the price, it’s enough that they can feel it, so there’s a real incentive to buy early in the year. While we do still sell quite a few books during distribution, it’s at a premium price. Now, more than 70% of the books we sell are sold during first semester.

Cindy Hopkins, yearbook adviser Pleasant Valley HS, Chico, CA

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the In some schools, there’s a long-standing tradition of early sales, while other staffs have worked to create situations which enhance sales quantities or the cycle on which books are sold. Advisers from all over chime in and share some innovative ideas their staffs have implemented to make sure they have yearbooks in the hands of as many students as possible.

I’ve been at this school for 20 years and advising for half of that. We haven’t been selling as many books as we wanted. I knew the program could be stronger financially, so I discussed my plan with the principal and got approval.

Simply building the cost of the yearbook into the class card packages allowed us to nearly double the number of books we sold in one year!

Phyllis Mandal, yearbook adviser Bonnabel HS, Kenner, LA

www.yearbooks.biz

ADVISER’SDESK When David Wright took over as adviser at Schofield Middle School in Las Vegas, NV in 2006, the school was ordering 350 yearbooks. Despite some hesitation on We printed books sales details and Order Center information on 250 business cards before a school celebration right before classes started. A mix of yearbook staffers and cheerleaders at the event handed the cards to parents. We want to get the word about buying yearbooks out as many times and ways as possible. It’s important that it be simple to purchase the yearbook.

Lori Sturgess, yearbook adviser Sue Cleveland HS, Rio Rancho, NM

K YEARBOO Y

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y and you are rbook before Ma Purchase your yea year’s biggest the to d ite inv automatically out with your 6th period, hang party! Get out of

MAY 26, 2009

We are very visible on campus. If there’s an event like open house or orientation, we are there with a table — showing old yearbooks, answering questions, selling the book. And we’re visible every day at school too; we have a glass showcase in the hall that we update with photos to keep us out there. But we’ve done one thing the past two years that really makes a difference. In September, we send all senior parents a letter about baby ads and then three weeks later, we follow up.

The yearbook staff gathers to make evening phone calls to all senior parents. They answer questions regarding baby ads and remind parents that it’s time to buy the yearbook, providing the toll-free number to the Order Center. The next week, orders for ads and books come rolling in. People like the one-on-one contact; we are running a business and customer service is important.

Beth Britton, yearbook adviser CM Russell HS, Billings, MT

Between deadlines, my staff ran HJ Index Builder and crosschecked the list of people who had not purchased books against those with multiple appearances in the yearbook.

Then they made big colorful posters that said, “Hey, _____ _______, you’re on pages 23, 66 and 109! Have you bought your yearbook yet?” We probably made 50 or more of these and they were large (36" x 36") so people took note. We generated lots of excitement. Other students came by to see how many times they were in the yearbook. We definitely sold some books. I can’t remember where I first heard of the idea, but I liked it when I heard it — and it worked. We’re already planning to do this again!

Deborah Slayton, yearbook adviser George Washington HS, Danville, VA

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FREE PIZZA & SODA

6th Period to 3:45

signing yearbooks at the their pre-purchased pick their Students will receive the party may who do not attend g day in room 625. party. Students Wright, the followin yearbook from Mr.

campus, he was convinced that he and his staff could sell more books, so he increased the order to 550. In addition to producing the yearbook, his staff that year worked to make the yearbook visible to the students and their parents. Even with the significant increase, they came close to selling out. Only 30 books remained.

But Wright suspected there was still room to grow. The staff upped its involvement and its order.

The next year, all 650 books were sold.

The 2009 order was 750 books, more than twice the order just three years before.

The staff now has a link to its own web site on the school site. They make posters and iMovies that are shown with the daily announcements. Wright challenged the school to a pre-holiday sales goal and allowed staffers to shave his head in front of lunchroom crowds in the cafeteria when the goal was met. When the price increased as second semester started, the staff spent weekend hours on campus creating discount coupons and stuffing them in every locker on campus. “When we’re visible at all-school events, we are either selling yearbooks or letting parents know when and how to buy,” says Wright.

A pair of messages on the autodialer last spring worked so well the messages moved to fall this year. “We really work at keeping the yearbook front and center. Marketing our product is every bit as important as creating the yearbook.

If we’re going to invest all that energy and work to produce a book that’s full of history and memories, we want it in the hands of as many students as possible,” concluded Wright.

“We know first-hand what a difference strategically and enthusiastically selling the book can make!”

David Wright believes student participation is a key to sales success.

From video announcements and posters to distribution party fliers and a headshaving challenge, his staffers are actively involved.

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As all-color yearbooks become more common, the need for teaching staffs how to use full color becomes more obvious.

Good design is rarely about showing off how much color you can splash on the page and more about

using

with intention

by PAUL ENDER Look back at color pages in a yearbook from the ‘80s and you’ll likely find one of a couple of things happening. In many cases, only the photos were in color. Sometimes there were heavy colored backgrounds that seemed to say, “We paid for this color and we will use it as much as possible!”

On occasion, color was used to establish a theme look, but most staffs could not afford to have all of their dividers and their closing in full color so theme pages appeared in black and white (or spot color) later in the book. Other schools used a pick-up or echo color borrowed from the dominant and other photos.

But so few staffers really dealt with full-color pages that using color well was rarely a lesson directed at the entire staff. And, now, as more and more books are printed in full color, it’s clear that having a plan for the use of color will bring the best results.

As with any other graphic, it’s important to use color as a tool that makes it easier for the readers to consume the information on the page. It’s all about effective communication.

PICK-UP COLORS: Even easier to achieve than ever with the eye-dropper tool, many staffs still take their color usage cues from magazines and lift the colors from photos for a unifying look. An updated twist? The use of a pair of colors on each spread, which might just be a sectional ID color and a pick-up to creating both consistency and visual variety at the same time.

THEOGONY Hidden Valley HS, Roanoke, VA

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DESIGNCONCEPTS THEME IDENTIFICATION: Whether you select a single color or a specific combination, this would be the most rigid plan. Some staffs use color as an identifier for all components of the theme/concept package and others create a brand for the book, using the set colors (and only those colors) throughout the book.

TITANIUM ANTELOPE (CA) HS

SECTION IDENTIFICATION: This is a spin on the theme ID plan because all sectional colors would likely appear on the cover and in the opening, but then each section of the book has a color of its own.

These colors might be used for headlines, folios, color bars and more, but there is generally not deviation from the sectional plan.

Maverick ARCHBISHOP McCARTHY HS, Fort Lauderdale, FL

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by Terry o’keefe

Effectively capturing a single moment in time should be no accident. Equipping yourself with technique —­ rather than expensive gear — will help you harness those split-second story-telling moments.

Many photographers can shoot a great still life every time, and it’s not uncommon for the ratio of great shots to decrease when people and emotions are introduced. But as soon as action, intensity, an opponent and competition become part of the equation, the best photographers quickly set themselves apart.

Great sports photos are easier to come by for those who follow these four simple tips:

STUDY YOUR PREGAME There are many predictable occurrences that happen in stop-action photography, especially in high school sports. Someone will most certainly kick a ball in a soccer match or run at a cross country meet. Determine who the key players or matchups are and key on these. They will provide a lot of the action for you. There is a reason Los Angeles Lakers MVP Kobe Bryant has a plethora of cameras following his every move. Seek out locations where the action will take place and go there.

Get focused Pre-focusing is a simple technique for you to get clear,

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stop-action images. Focus the camera to areas where you anticipate the action will take place. By pre-focusing on this area, you can just wait for the action to come to you. As the event unfolds, be keen to those subjects (players) who tend to be in the action most and gravitate toward them. Avoid the right-fielders — and others who play in less predictable spots of action.

Play your position Getting into the proper position is simple. Locate yourself so the subject is moving toward you rather than perpendicular to you. By doing this, you neither have to track (pan) the action nor do you have to pre-focus as much.

Know what time it is Adjusting the shutter speed to an appropriate setting (1/250 second or higher for most high school sports) is as fundamental to photography as the “pass, dribble and shoot” is to basketball. Know how the time of exposure affects the visual outcome of the image. To stop the action, use faster shutter speeds. Remember, it happens in a blink of an eye. These tips will help you capture the moments that best tell the story of sports at your school.

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PHOTOCORNER

Sports photos from the 2009 COLFAX (CA) HS EVERGREEN yearbook demonstrate how using all four of these principles will yield story-telling photos that capture the essence of performance and competition. Photos by (clockwise from top left) Wesley Cox, Eli McNutt, Cameron Bingley, Danny Kern and Sam Rydell.

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You’re standing in the check-out line at the store behind moms with carts piled high. Even the express lane is packed, and it looks like you’re going to be here awhile. Scanning the racks, you slip out a magazine and begin to read, suddenly oblivious to the wailing babies and grumbling shoppers. And it’s not just that you’re intrigued by the exploits of Brangelina, Miley or Jon & Kate. Truly, you’re intrigued by people and their stories. It’s no wonder that People magazine produces nearly 4 million copies each year. The secret to 35 years of success? The world loves

by Charla Harris

While very few high schools have celebrities roaming their halls, every school does have interesting people. Whether they are ballroom dancers or lifeguards or students who go on mission trips with their churches, many students have stories you probably don’t know about. The secret is finding them.

Each fall, I assign everyone on my staff a list of 20-30 students to find and interview. Our school is fairly small so we simply divide up the student body. In a larger school, you’ll have to get more creative — perhaps talk to teachers, ask other students for tips or send out surveys, asking about hobbies or interests.

Once you get the information, you have to decide how to present the stories. One year we did an entire section of mini-profiles, some written in first person, others in traditional copy format. Another time we choose nine people to profile, devoting three profile spreads to the beginning of each section as part of the concept. We have also used short profiles as secondary coverage to include more students and teachers. Last year we did very abbreviated profiles as part of the folios, with information gathered from surveys about interests and hobbies, and we also included a short quote — as a result, we were able to put about 260 people in the book another time.

And that’s the key: putting more people in the book. The yearbook is not just about the events and activities of the school year. It’s about the people who participated in those events and activities. Find a way to get their stories in your book, and you’ll do a better job of telling the story of the year. Plus, it might help you sell more books!

1 The 2007 book’s theme “you • me • us” created the possibilities for an array of

features and supporting stories employing all three words. An extended opening spanned 23 pages with personal stories on individual students and teachers. 2 Personalized stories worked into the 2008 theme as well. In an effort to “define” Pleasant Grove, staffers chose six roles students often played: volunteer, athlete, scholar, leader, artist and individual and presented full-spread profiles on each kind of student to open the book. 3 2009’s “Next” was much more kinetic and chaotic in its approach; paralleling the frenetic schedules typifying high school, personal stories included lots of to-do lists, reaction quotes and favorite memories.

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WRITER’SBLOCK

The Hawk, Pleasant Grove Hs, 2008 Texarkana, TX

The Hawk, Pleasant Grove Hs, 2007 Texarkana, TX

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The Hawk, Pleasant Grove Hs, 2009 Texarkana, TX

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the more

by NANCY HASTINGS

the more they

the

four-sentence captions provide the Each year, as yearbook season kicks back into high gear, countless staffs focus most of their time worrying details about what happened before and after the camera captured that split about the latest design trends. They scope out the magazine racks at Borders and Barnes and Noble, second, beyond the obvious action looking for that magic formula that’s going to set shown in the photo. their yearbook apart.

Action-packed candid photographs document the year with the people While I’m all in favor of “pretty,” well-designed caught in the act of dancing in the books, I believe too many staffs sacrifice the essentials in the name of having a stylish yearbook. Commons during Michael Jackson Spirit Day, struggling to overcome Those essentials… what are they? Why do we put that queasy sensation while dissecting a so much blood, sweat and tears, and hours upon fetal pig or going for that dangling pretzel during Foreign Language Club’s international party hours of work to create a “year” book? celebration. Yearbooks depend on high quality, story-telling photographs so that today’s events can These fundamentals start with a basic live forever. understanding of the term itself. A yearbook must capture the life, vitality and history of each school year in such a way that 20 years from now Balanced coverage of all parts of life, from when we head off to class reunions, the coverage presentations and role plays in academics, to club activities involving food drives, fund raising and is just as fresh and inviting as it is today. You’ll want to laugh as you recall ’80s Workout Day for holiday parties, must find its way into the recorded Homecoming Spirit Week, fidget as you remember history of the year. Equal coverage of boys and those long, tedious AP US History tests that you girls sports, and fresh feature ideas in the people section force staffs to look beyond the obvious should have started studying for earlier, and tense up once more as you relive the last waning topics they cover year in and year out. Aiming to capture each student in at least one candid seconds of the semi-state championship game. photograph sets a goal that moves beyond just creating a “staff’s friends” book.

And how will this happen? The key starts with lively, well-reported copy full of specific details All of these essentials fuse under a theme/concept and memorable quotes that come from in-depth interviews with those involved. Quote collections, that captures the unique essence of the year and surveys, fact boxes and first-person accounts add drives the coverage, design and content. another layer to this history through alternative, Ultimately, design must showcase this content. quick-read copy.

But without action-packed candid photographs, without lively, detailed copy and without specific Complete captions, each its own mini-story, story-telling captions, a yearbook would be little enhance coverage with specific details and quotes more than a pretty book on a shelf. from the students photographed. Three- and

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LOG Columbus North HS Columbus, IN

ASH A WUT Gabrielino HS San Gabriel, CA

SKJĂ–LD Corning Painted post West HS Painted Post, NY

No matter how trendy your yearbook might be, the fundamentals remain. Specific story angles lead to copy enhanced by lively quotes and concrete details. Complete captions act as mini-stories that help the photos retain their value through the years and add facts, figures and other data that strengthen the yearbook’s value across time. True candids tell the many stories of the year by capturing crucial moments just as they were. All content is held together by a cohesive theme/concept that is related to the school and to the year. And, while the design creates a timestamp on the year, the goal of the page designer remains the same: helping the reader consume the content logically.

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99

After

YEARBOOKS ETC.

volumes, it was the perfect time for

Not all that many yearbook staffs get the opportunity to publish Volume 100, but Kansas State adviser Linda Puntney and her staffs have been thinking and talking about it for years. They knew they wanted to chronicle the impact of the Royal Purple yearbook on the campus and its students, but they also knew that they were way more interested in that magic number than most of the 23,000 before the conclusion of the weekend students on campus. that reconfirmed the importance of a In the 2009 Royal Purple itself, they did yearbook for former staffers now spanning the nation and working in an array of an extended feature titled, “100 Years of Excellence.” In addition to research fields, came one final surprise. What better way to celebrate 100 years of the from the university archivist, they Royal Purple than a book about the book? shared covers, an awards history and campus highlights from years gone by. A 112-page volume capturing stories The 16-page, full-color feature included of editors through the ages, traditions old and new and other RP details was a quick peek at all 99 predecessors as photos of the standing volumes created distributed to those attending. a base for other content.

Accompanied by the 2009 RP (lower left), the commemorative volume, At the Heart of Purple, and material from the weekend celebration capture history.

The book, which included a DVD supplement much like the 12 that have accompanied recent yearbooks, was completed by 10 alums and several current students over the course of a cold and icy weekend in February. They convened in Kedzie Hall for a hard-core weekend of research, fact-checking, page design and yearbook fun.

“It was far more work than we expected,” concluded Puntney. “In retrospect, I can’t think of a greater gift we could have given the university or the program. The history is there forever.”

But even that didn’t seem like enough coverage of a full century of yearbooking at K State. The RP staffs become very close while they are creating the massive volumes that arrive each April; 2009’s 480 pages would have required untold hours — even without the special project and event planning required for a celebration 100 years in the making.

As the 2009 yearbook was finalled, RP alums from coast to coast received invitations to a reunion weekend capped off by a banquet. Behind the scenes, a corps of their peers had been working on the grand finale. After the dinner, after the coronation of royalty and

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