Mastering Yearbook Design: Essential Rules and Techniques

1. Basic 8 Elements of Design

2. Basic 8 Elements of Design • Knowing the rules of design allows you to create great looking yearbook pages • These rules are guidelines but you have to know before you can know how to break them and still have great results.

3. Basic 8 • 1. Create columnar structure. • 2. Establish linkage. • 3. Include dominant element. • 4. Define ext. margins clearly. • 5. Maintain consistent inner spacing. • 6. Place copy effectively. • 7. Place photos in an interesting way. • 8. Use white space for impact.

4. 1. Column Format • Why? • Emits a planned look. • Builds a foundation. • Simplifies production.

5. 1. Column Format • Do’s & Don’ts • The flexibility of six and eight column formats makes them the most popular. • The edge of an element should not fall in the middle of a column. • Format stories and captions the width of one column. • Plan headlines and photos the width of one or more complete columns.

8. 2. Linkage • Why? • Conceptually, pages deliver the same message. • Visually, Linkage techniques unite facing pages.

9. 2. Linkage Guidelines • Create horizontal eye line. • Bleed photos across center of spread. • Use a Graphic Strategy.

11. 3. Dominant Element • Why? • Serves as the focal point of spread content. • Sets the tone or mood for the entire spread.

12. 3. Dominant Element • Guidelines: • Plan object as the obviously largest item on the spread. • Choose the most important and interesting object to serve as the dominant. • Pick only those photographs with strong technical quality.

15. 4. External Margins • Why? • Promote cohesion on a spread, within a section, and throughout the book.

16. 4. External Margins • Guidelines: • Top and side margins can vary from section to section. • Bottom margins remain constant throughout book, while allowing for folios, folio tabs, and folio art.

18. 5. Inner Spacing • Why? • When consistent, generates a planned appearance. • Signals where one element ends and another begins.

19. 5. Inner Spacing • Guidelines: • Use one pica of space between all elements. • Close registration occurs when elements meet with less than one pica of space between them.

21. 6. Copy Placement • Why? • Story and headlines operate as a single unit. • Captions accompany respective photos.

22. 6. Copy Placement • Guidelines: • Keep copy to the outside and avoid trapping white space. • Place headline above the story block. • Orient captions adjacent to photos – above, below, beside. • Avoid overprinting on or reversing copy out of photos.

24. 7. Photo Placement • Why? • Generates visual variety. • Stimulates reader interest

25. 7. Photo Placement • Guidelines: • Plan different sizes, shapes. • Include rectangular verticals and horizontals. • Vary the dominant from one spread to another. • Avoid two photos of the same size. • Position photos strategically. • Action photos should lead inward. • Avoid trapping faces or action in the gutter. • Bleed photos with a purpose. • Bleed dominant for more prominence. • Bleed secondary photos in opposite corners for informal balance.

27. 8. White Space • Why? • Draws attention to deserving content. • Creates an informal balance.

28. Guidelines: • Plan space carefully so that it looks intended. • Include white space: • Near dominant element. • Near important copy. • In opposite corners to create informal balance • As a graphic isolation technique.