Top 10 Tips for Developing a Theme or Concept
YOU CAN’T PULL A THEME OUT OF A HAT. TAKE A MOMENT WITH THESE BRAINSTORMING SUGGESTIONS TO PICK THE PERFECT UNIFIER FOR YOUR SCHOOL THIS YEAR.
1. List what is unique to your school this year.
2. Check theme lists. But, make it work for you.
3. Make sure it is memorable and flexible enough to be developed into sidebar mods.
4. Keep the visuals – type, colors, shapes and patters – consistent throughout the book.
5. Decide how to carry the theme through the book. Put it on the cover, endsheets, title page, opening, dividers, mini-magazine, sectional graphics, folios and index.
6. Develop mini themes for coverage mods within traditional or unique sections.
7. Create mock-ups of the theme pages and hang them around the room. Live with the theme for a few days to decide on final details.
8. Brainstorm coverage ideas to use throughout the book and promote the theme/concept.
9. Create a stylebook to ensure consistency. Consider all type treatments for headlines, copy, captions, mods, profiles and folios.
10. Incorporate the theme with sales campaigns to hint at the theme/concept without giving it away.
Additional Resources
My Life Beyond Yearbooks
Giovanni Montalvo didn’t get his yearbook portrait taken his senior year at Cinco Ranch High School. Or his junior, or sophomore or freshman year. He can’t really remember why. He was still interviewed for his senior yearbook and even made a video, “My Life Through Yearbooks,” (above) which has more …
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