Yearbook covers

Book 1

2004 Talon, Liberty High School (Bealton, Va.), Adviser Lisa Miller • 2004 Ceniad, East Lansing High School (Mich.), Adviser Lynn Strause • 2005 Sentinel, Centennial High School (Boise, Idaho), Adviser Marla Allen

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Yearbook

Apparently, you can

St o r y B y K i m H o c u tt

P r o d u ct i o n Ph o t o s b y C l i f Pa l m b e r g • B o o k p h o t o s b y N i c k P i r o n i o Anyone who thinks the cover of a yearbook isn’t important should talk to Betty Gibson. In 1995, she was vice president of student affairs for Kentucky State University, and then she refused to distribute the 1994 edition of the yearbook because she didn’t like the color of the cover, purple — instead of the traditional school colors of green and gold—among other reasons.

Six years later, in 2001, KSU agreed to distribute the books after an earlier decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, in Kincaid v. Gibson in which two students argued that confiscating the 1994 edition of The Thorobred was a violation of their First Amendment rights.

One of the most important decisions a school yearbook staff will make is what to put on the cover, and how to put it on there.

Agree 44%

Disagree 31% Neutral 26%

You can judge a book by its cover.

SOURCE: Online survey of advisers, February 2006, n=106

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Communication: Journalism Education Today • 37

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LEFT: 2006 Duchess, Pella (Iowa) Community High School, Adviser Ann Visser: �We did a campaign called ‘We Want You to Face It.’ We put signs up around school asking people to come to the journalism room (ours is not a huge school). When they came, they could mug it up with any sort of expression, etc., so this was lots of fun for many students. The people on the cover were selected from those who came to have their pictures taken. However, we did strive to have a good representation of all classes and also include some staff/faculty as well. Our theme is ‘We Are ...’ and the faces depict all of the different faces that we are. MIDDLE: 2006 Spectator, Louise S. McGehee School (New Orleans, La.), Adviser Scott McLetchie. RIGHT: 2006 It’s Dysart, Dysart High School (El Mirage, Az.), Adviser Brian Snyder.

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2003 Balance, University Schools (Muncie, Ind.), Adviser Betsy Ahlersmeyer

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Yearbook Neutral 13% Disagree 38% Agree 87%

Agree 37%

Neutral 26%

The cover should be designed by students

It is acceptable for the cover to be produced by professionals, including company artists.

Your first chance to make a good impression Y

About the survey The URL to an online survey was distributed to subscribers to the JEAHELP and JEATALK e-mail distribution lists.

In response, 106 people submitted their opinions to the five-question survey.

Summer 2006

ou’re on the way to the mall to pick out an outfit for the first day of school. As you walk into the store, the “perfect” shirt jumps out at you. There are thousands of other outfits to be seen, but the presentation of that particular shirt keeps calling to you as you browse the rest of the store.

Why is it you can’t get that shirt out of your mind? Advertisers know you don’t get a second chance to make a first impression.

The same holds true when talking about creating a yearbook cover.

For your audience, the cover can make all the difference. Chances are if students don’t like the cover, they will dislike the book — no matter what’s inside.

With this in mind, it is important to evaluate the purpose of the yearbook cover and to determine what should be included. According to the Michigan Interscholastic Press Association’s yearbook evaluation guidebook, the cover introduces the unifying concept and includes the name of the book and the year. In addition, the spine should include the name of the school, city, state and volume number. Most state and national press associations follow similar guidelines.

While the information serves as a

A multitude of processes can be applied to make the cover appear unique. Here, a worker inserts covers into a silkscreening press.

guide for the basics of what should be on the cover, staffs want to create a unique look for their school.

Abilene High School (Texas) adviser and JEA South Central Region Director Wayna Polk says a yearbook cover should reflect the personality of the book.

“If we are doing our job to choose a theme each year that is ‘that year,’ then our covers are representative of our students and of our school for

that calendar year,” Polk said.

Planning the cover usually begins either in the spring of the previous year or during summer workshops.

Students should design a plan for the cover themselves and not rely so heavily on yearbook company or summer workshop artists. Problems arise when staffs have a wonderful, professionally designed cover but nothing on the pages inside to tie the book together.

As a 15-year judge of yearbooks, Chantilly High School (Va.) adviser Mary Kay Downes said she believes that “when a staff works with a vision that is really not theirs, often they do not have the ability or the resources to carry out that vision throughout the book. At the very least, students should insist that fonts on the cover are available for them to use in the book and they should take care to use graphic details throughout the book.”

Students should bring their own vision to the table for the cover artist to help them bring it to life — and remember, the ideas they leave with are not set in stone. Too often, staffs want to do some sort of special treatment or application on the cover simply because “it’s cool.”

Editors need to consider whether continued on page 41

Communication: Journalism Education Today • 39

LEFT: 2004 Tiger Tales, Valley High School (Des Moines, Iowa), Adviser John Brindley: “The students wanted to do something different with the cover and no other school in the state (at that time) had done a plexiglass cover. The staff liked the theme ‘Clearly the Best’ and saw how the clear cover would complete it. I probably wouldn’t do another one due to the cost factor and novelty angle.” MIDDLE: 2005 And Now Our Feature Presentation, Snow Canyon Middle School (St. George, Utah), Adviser Cameron Hansen. RIGHT: 2006 Wings, Arrowhead Christian Academy (Redlands, Calif.), Adviser Crystal Kazmierski: “It is simple and gimmick-free, printed on our “signature” linen. This will be a four-color litho on linen, varnished. We wanted a kind of faded denim look so printing on linen should give that texture and should wear a bit with time.

Disagree 38%

2005 Indian, Shawnee Mission North High School (Overland Park, Kan.), Adviser Becky Lucas Tate

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Yearbook

Neutral 20% Agree 72%

I was happy with the cover on our yearbook last year.

Workers inspect the application of the cover to the binder’s board. The cover is more than simply a pretty face on the book. It also serves as the “case” to hold the book together when glued to the endsheets and inside signatures of pages.

continued from page 39

the application process is relevant to the concept of the yearbook. Also, staff members and advisers should ask themselves whether there is a valid reason to use the application.

How would it enhance the book’s concept in ways readers would understand and appreciate?

As staffs begin to plan and capture the essence of “that year” at their school, they should create a verbal/visual connection between the concept and the cover. For its 2005 theme concept, WB Ray High School (Corpus Christi, Texas) chose “five in ’05.” Connecting the 55th volume of the yearbook and the year 2005, the theme worked as a fitting unifying concept.

When deciding how to tie in the concept with the application/process to use on the cover, the staff selected five photos with the fifth photo being shown through a die-cut that revealed a portion of the picture on the endsheet. The die-cut design effectively invited readers to look immediately into the book — thus, “five in ’05.”

After delineating good reasons for applying special applications or processes to the cover, students must determine whether the technique is within the staff’s budget. Staffs want to create a unique cover, but at the same time they must not break the bank — all part of the educaSummer 2006

Processes such as embossing, foil stamping or die cutting involve creating metal dies.

Larger dies can be expensive.

tion process. Work closely with the printing company representative to achieve the ideal cover that fits within your budget.

In addition to needing careful planning, the cover needs thoughtful evaluation. Because the yearbook is for all students, it is only appropriate to address their desires when planning the next book.

At Whitney High School (Calif.), adviser Sarah Nichols’ staffs create a half-page survey to be inserted in a random spot within the book before distribution. At the signing party when students are looking through the book and come across the survey, they complete the questions and

sign it for a chance to win prizes that afternoon. Questions often include these possibilities: • “What do you like best about this cover?”

• “Is there anything you don’t like about this cover?”

• “Do you think the cover should always use the school colors?”

• “What would you like to see on next year’s cover, including possible color ideas?”

Implementing an idea for feedback allows editors and staffs to use the survey results to plan and to prepare next year’s cover and book based upon their buyers’ wants/ needs. Though the students may finalize their theme at a summer workshop, they can conduct a similar survey in the fall with the same idea in mind: to ensure the yearbook leaders are responding to pertinent student desires.

The survey may help steer a staff in the right direction, and it may also help increase yearbook sales as students recognize that they have input into the yearbook.

Remember that the cover is more than simply the front of your book.

While taking all aspects of producing a cover into consideration, it is essential to regard the cover as the first chance to make a good impression, one that turns on the imagination and magnifies the pride every reader enjoys.n

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Roundup, Great Falls High School (Mont.), Adviser Linda Ballew, adviser. Photos by John Dalke

Kinds of covers 2003 Talon, Liberty High School (Bealton, Va.), Adviser Lisa Miller

2004 Balance, University Schools (Muncie, Ind.), Adviser Betsy Ahlersmeyer

2005 Plainsman, Clovis High School (Clovis, N.M.), Adviser Carol Singletary

1996 Panther, Hillcrest High School (Dallas, Texas), Adviser C. Dow Tate

Offset Printing Using the same process that is used to print pages of the book, any design, illustration or photograph can be in up to four colors. Most printed covers are then laminated to make them more durable by using a gloss or matte laminate.

Foil Stamping A die is created of the cover design and then used to stamp foil onto the cover material.

Embossing\Debossing A metal die of the design is used to raise or lower areas of the cover to bring out the image of the design.

Tip-ons Laminated photos or art are placed by hand into a debossed area of the cover.

2004 Talon, Liberty High School (Bealton, Va.), Adviser Lisa Miller

Quarterbound Two different materials are used on the front lid.

2004 El Paisano, Westlake High School (Austin, Texas), Adviser Cindy Todd

Silkscreen A process where a design stencil is impregnated into a screen and then ink is forced through to form a design on the cover.

42 • Communication: Journalism Education Today

2003 Balance, University Schools (Muncie, Ind.), Adviser Betsy Ahlersmeyer 2005 Tower, Northwest Missouri State University (Maryville, Mo.), Adviser Laura Widmer

Hand rub Ink, usually black, is rubbed, often by hand, into a grain or embossed/debossed area of the cover to bring out detail.

Die Cutting A process in which a simple geometric shape is cut through the cardboard that makes up the cover.

Summer 2006

Yearbook

What needs to be on the cover?

More than 95 percent of survey respondents said the name of the book, volume, school and year need to be on the cover. About half said a theme phrase needs to appear on the cover. And fewer than half said the school’s city and state need to appear on the cover.

title page graphically carry theme; cover and title design appropriate to contents, theme, school, year; avoids amateur art; uses colors suitable to book, theme, year” Texas Interscholastic League Press Conference — ”Does the unifying concept appear on elements such as the cover (front and/or back), the endsheets, the title page, an opening/closing section and on divider spreads?”

Oklahoma Scholastic Media — ”Unifying concept begins on the cover, has immediate visual appeal and coordinates with the endsheets. Essential information on the cover includes name of book and year. The spine includes the name of school, volume number and year.”

Virginia High School League — ”The name of the book and year appear on the front cover. The name of the book, name of school, Some cover applications have to be done by hand. Here, a worker rubs ink off as city, state, year and volume numpart of a process that leaves ink in the depressed areas of the cover such as in ber appear on the spine. Design is Michigan Interscholastic Press the grain or around an embossed or debossed area.

Association — ”Front cover simple, neat and theme oriented. includes name of book, year, introduces theme; spine includes name Colors used create a favorable impression. Type is attractive, readable. of school, city, state, volume number; (theme) is introduced on cover Artwork reflects the quality of professional standards. Neither vertical through theme phrase, design or both; cover, endsheets (if not plain), nor angled type appears on the spine.”

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Early enrollment deadline: May 26 Communication: Journalism Education Today • 43

Technobabble

Cover terminology Bleed The portion of the cover that extends beyond the panels is the bleed. On inside pages that are trimmed, elements that extend beyond the edge of the page are said to “bleed off the page.”

Front Panel

bleed

Print area

Case-in Binding is the process of connecting a book’s contents to its cover. The case is a printing term for the cover.

The process of wrapping the cover material around the binder’s board is called case-making.

SPINE

Die A piece of metal with a carved design may be used in cover processes, such as die cutting, embossing and foil stamping.

Front/back panel Also called the front and back lids, they are the surface area of the front and back of the book.

Spine The portion of the cover between the front and back lids is the spine, or backbone. Often, the name of the school, the year, the volume number and title of the book are displayed here. Because the spine is crimped between the front and back panels, only a portion of the spine should contain text.

2004 El Paisano, Westlake High School (Austin, Texas), Adviser Cindy Todd

Creating your cover

Setting up correct page size half the battle

By Bradley Wilson

W

hen it comes right down to it, at least as far as the computer is concerned, the cover of a publication is simply another spread. The cover is often printed on a different kind of paper.

However, producing it simply requires planning another spread though it is one that needs special instructions.

The cover of a hardbound book is no exception. It is simply an extra-large piece of paper folded around two pieces of cardboard, which are secured to the rest of the book with glue. The most difficult part of creating the cover on the computer is setting up the page size correctly, a feat that involves simple mathematics.

Once the correct page dimensions have been set, the next steps in creating a cover depend on the type of cover. The file for a four-color, printed cover can be treated like any four-color page. Import photos, graphics and use process colors as you would for any four-color page.

The colors you see on the screen may not match what the printer prints so define colors by using swatches provided by your printer.

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Most yearbook covers are printed at the same resolution as inside pages so digital files should be saved at 300ppi for output using a 150-line screen.

Covers can also be printed using spot colors of ink rather than process mixes. To use spot colors, generally no more than four, define each color as a spot color so it prints on a separate layer. The setup also works for screen-printed covers.

To indicate which items are going to be printed in foil or in other special applications, define a spot color for those items as well.

The more intricate or complicated a cover is, the more likely cover artists at the plant are going to want to have the original file, not simply a PDF, to tweak. In fact, with all covers, it is a good idea to submit the original file, fonts and linked graphics in case artists at the plant need to fix something.

It is also imperative to work closely with your company representatives locally and/or in the plant to make sure that the file is set up correctly. Don’t take shortcuts on the cover.n

Summer 2006

bleed (b)

bleed (b)

{

print area bleed (b)

bleed (b)

Back Panel

Front Panel

{

Spine

bleed (b)

bleed (b)

Panel size (horz x vert) Book size Panel size/inches 7 ¾" x 10 ½" 7 20⁄₃₂" x10 24⁄₃₂" 8 ½" x 11" 8 12⁄₃₂" x 11 8⁄₃₂" 9" x 12" 8 28⁄₃₂" x 12 8⁄₃₂"

Panel size/picas 45p9 x 64p6 50p3 x 67p6 53p3 x 73p6

Spine width Pages 72 96 144 160 192 256 320

Size/picas 5p3 5p7.5 6p4.5 6p9 7p1.5 8p3 9p2.25

Size/inches 28⁄₃₂" 30⁄₃₂" 1 2⁄₃₂" 1 4⁄₃₂" 1 6⁄₃₂" 1 12⁄₃₂" 1 17⁄₃₂"

Actual spine width may vary depending on weight of paper. The nib is 12⁄₃₂" (2p3) in from the edges of the spine on both sides.

Page dimensions x = width of panel y = height of panel s = spine width b = bleed (fixed at 20/₃₂" or 3p9)

After calculating the proper (and exact) dimensions of the cover, it is easy enough to create the file on the computer. Notice that the text on the spine reads from left to right when the book is turned to the left.

For example Create a typical 9" x 12" book with 256 pages on standard paper. x = 8 28⁄₃₂" 53p3 y = 12 8⁄₃₂" 73p6 s = 1 12⁄₃₂" 8p3 b = 20⁄₃₂" 3p9 Width

= = = =

2x + s + 2b 2 (53p3) + 8p3 + 2(3p9) 106p6 + 8p3 + 7p6 122p3

Height

= = = =

y + 2b 73p6 + 2(3p9) 73p6 + 7p6 81p

Print area =

=

=

s - 2(2p3) 8p3 - 4p6 3p9

Enter the width into the width field, the height into the height field. Enter the dimension of the print area into the gutter between two columns.

Enter 3.75p (or 3p9) — the bleed — into all margins.

It is these dimensions that you enter into the New Document dialog box or Document Setup… /Margins and Columns… dialog boxes.

Width = 2x + s + 2b Height = y + 2b

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