Jostens Whole Book Judging

By Sharon Martin

From speech contests to wrestling, from hypnotists to snow days, the life of Iowa high school students is well documented in 2007 Iowa yearbooks.

Five books earned the Neubert Award: “The Statesman from Jefferson (Cedar Rapids) High School, “The Dragon” from Johnston High School, “The Centaur” from Mount Vernon High School, the “Duchess” from Pella High School, and the “Trojan Epic” from West High School, Iowa City. Ten books earned the Distinguished Merit award.

Outstanding graphic design set the “Dragon” apart from other books. This landscape-oriented book organized the book by seasons, then in sections within those seasons. Rather than include a full sized calendar, the staff designed a four panel series of images added the month above, the date in the corner of the image, and an extended caption underneath.

First person accounts entitled “What it’s like to be __” (insert the student’s name), provided interesting, sometimes humorous features in “Centaur’s” people section. A cut-out-background of the individual completed the package.

In addition to their thorough coverage, the “Duchess” is an excellent model for the usage of quick reads and sidebars. Copy and captions are loaded with details.

The “Trojan Epic” included engaging stories about life on a farm, work uniforms, clutter vs. clean, and growing up multilingual.

Many other books caught my fancy. The “Centralian” of Center High School made good use of their iLive theme, reflecting the popularity of the iPod. Spin-offs included iRock for student life and iAm for people.

The “Bentonian” of Benton High School featured amazing coverage and excellent quotes in captions, copy and sidebars.

The “Norwica” of Davenport North High School established the theme “A Closer Look” and used the spin-off “I Spy” in the academic section. Rather than topical coverage, the staff used alternative copy to feature what could be seen in the various hallways. Quotes were used effectively.

A SHOUT OUT goes to the staff of “Excalibur” from North Cedar High School which completed an excellent, fun book in spite of their adviser’s three-and-a-half-month absence.

The “Statesman” of Jefferson High School combined People with the Student Life section. They composed outstanding copy featuring students with diseases, dental braces, and being on stage, in additional to annual event coverage such as dances and graduation. Since the book was a 50th anniversary edition, sidebars included references to people and student life events from the past. The cover featured all 49 previous yearbook covers.

The “Iliad” of South Tama High School designed innovative business ads. Students were photographed holding a white card and the images were edited into cut-out-backgrounds. The business’ cards or advertising content were then laid onto the white cards so it appeared that the students were holding a large version of the companies’ business cards. This school also took senior portraits of those students who could not or did not have their portraits taken professionally, and a note from adviser Deb Plantz recommended this as both a fund raiser and a service project.

One innovation that jumped out involved the colophon. Some schools explained how their books’ themes were selected and what they meant. Although the content could be somewhat similar to the opening, it gave more insight to the staff and its decision-making process.

Businesses continue to support the books well. A number of books did not sell display ads but sold patron ads which included other benefits such as display on a banner in the gym. These schools are making tremendous money off of one or two double page spreads. Some schools sold page sponsorships. The most effectively designed page sponsorships were rather simple and surrounded by three picas of white space.

Trends
Give books a boost into the 21st century by emphasizing white space and strong dominant images. To obtain the needed size and impact, bleed images off the page. In the past, images were typically bled off of the top or bottom but designers are bleeding them off two corners. Surround these strong images with strong white space or flood the opposite area with white space. Pages will benefit from the linkage that is a result of bleeding a dominant image or a graphic such as a rectangle or bar across the gutter.

In the people section, there is no need to include mug images in sidebars when the pages already feature mugs; instead use candid images which demonstrate the content.

The best design technique to modernize a book is to add a grid of vertical or horizontal planned white space to guide readers’ eyes to what is most important. This vertical grid is typically about six picas wide and falls between the dominant image and the copy.

This planned white space can be broken by one unit such as one image, one image and its caption, a headline, a quote box, or another graphic device. The usage of the horizontal grid is fairly new but is very effective is setting off a secondary module such as a sidebar, group image, or scoreboard.

Trend-setting books from around the country also feature striking main and secondary head combinations. To achieve strong headline design, work with size, placement, color, and style rather than selecting a funky font. For the past five years, we have seen an increase in the number of books that use only one font. Numerous styles of that font family give heads and sidebars different appearances. Avoid a label of the page contents for the main head (such as “softball” or “homecoming”), and be certain that the secondary head contains a present tense verb.

Less emphasis is being placed on intricately designed sidebars. Although sidebars are still considered a standard, the best books in the country are including them less frequently and designing them much more simply. To set them apart, use thin lines, type treatments, or planned white space rather than boxes or heavy shading. Folios are also smaller and involve fewer graphics.

The trend in copy is to emphasize the personal aspect. Avoid summarizing the purposes of the club or academic area; instead relate the story of a person whose life was impacted by that club or class. Use a dynamic attention-getting lead and quotes to comprise the majority of the story. Transition paragraphs should contain new details rather than mimic what the following quote will say.

Recommendations
Captions should answer who, what, when, where, and be stuffed with details. Aim for two-sentence captions, one of which can be a quote. Of course, longer captions will create a need for a design change as more space must be planned.

Copy fonts are now smaller, size 9 with leading 10 and captions are size 7 or 8, with the leading set 1 point larger. Many Iowa books are smaller in size so copy can probably be size 8 and captions size 7, but the first priority is readability.

Most all of the books that I looked at were all-color. When selecting colored backgrounds, be aware of text readability. If a heavily saturated color is selected, print the text in white. Yellow does not print very well as text or as a background, so use sparingly – if at all.

Eliminate images with faces the sizes of pin heads. More images means that the strong images will be diminished and images of poorer quality will be included. Select your best, action filled images. Most books can easily handle nine images but not more than 11.

Adjust image color through Photoshop. It appeared that many images were dropped in just as they were downloaded from the cameras. Skin tones were dark or not true. Open them in Photoshop, go to Image, Adjust, Levels and slowly move the sliders to achieve an accurate skin tone. Include candid story-telling images, excluding images that feature open mouths, tongues, hand gestures, or mugging for the camera.

Since you pay for endsheets, spend a bit more and print theme-related material or the table of contents on them.

Include image credits so that photographers get the credit they deserve, both good and bad.

Finally, consider adopting the mantra “Less is best:” less secondary color, fewer images, and fewer fonts.

May 2008 be filled with dynamic themes, exciting copy, and expressive images.