Designs
Just like how every aspect of the world changed this year, student journalism and our process as a staff completely changed too. Nothing could prepare me for this year as a student, designer, or student journalist. Through the frustration of cancelations, closures, and even more steps to the yearbook process, there was a lot to consider. That is how I settled on the yearbook theme this year: consider. The feeling of this year began to translate through my designs. Unstructured. Separated. Conversational. This book is less about the word "consider" and more about what we ask the reader to do. We have a conversation with our audience— now and years in the future. "We've assembled the pieces; the stories and photos from this year. All we can ask of you is to take it into consideration." Through design I suggest this conversation. "Think about this perspective. Did you realize this statistic? Hey, rotate the page for a new look."
Introduction
Some Notes About This Year's Design
My job this year was to translate the feeling of the year into the design and communicate to the audience how they interact with that content that we present them. My designs feature a lot of contradiction, because there was a lot of that this year. We have a serif font, Sharpe, as the main headline and a sans serif font, Olympia Bold Condensed, as our subheads and pulled elements. Our headlines serve as suggestions for the reader, Sharpe aids in the gentle, yet bold suggestion. Our headlines also overlap and feature differing transparency on the layers. These designs play with structure (of photos and modules) and then overlapping text that interacts with itself and photos. Our colors are bold primary colors, a back-to-the-basics palette so that our designs and photography can dominate. I also use a light beige box as a unifying element throughout the book, again as a suggestion to the reader. (Either a suggestion of structure or a suggestion of focus, for the reader's attention.)
Design 1
First Opening Spread
This is the manifestation of several conversations we had with our staffs and peers. We cannot tell the story of this year without talking about what it could not be; everything that we missed out on as students. This is the biggest roadblock in making the book— "what even is there to cover?" This spread is the response. "Yes, this sucks. Yes, that was canceled too. But let's get this portion of the conversation out of the way so that you can consider what ths year truly was." The layering of the lighter blue on top of the dark blue mimics our cover and endsheets, which feature the same effect. The prominent red/yellow phrases are the shifts in the conversation: from academics, to sports, so on and so on. I wanted this spread to feel structured (the text defining the margins), but overwhelming, to convey the grandeur of emotions that we experienced as students and to point out what a lot of adults don't realize: yes, we are back in school, but it is not the same.
Design 2
Second Opening Spread
Here's our (the yearbook's) voice in the conversation. "Your year was not canceled. It looks different, which is the exact reason why this year is the most important year to have a book." This spread introduces multiple key elements in our thematic design. The blue background, which has bled through the cover, title page, and first opening spread now shrinks in, suggesting the focus of this book. Throughout the rest of the book, we use this element (of boxing with color or defining margins) to suggest structure and focus to our audience. Our internal spacing is defined— about one grid of space around separate elements. I introduce the layering of text, photos, and captions (the defiance of how spacious the modules are) in this spread. The layering of photos suggests multiple perspectives to the audience, not just one look at or definition of the event or person. I give the audience options here. "Think about how Vann saved his season. Look at how Poms (even with virtual practices and an injury) still won Leagues. Sure, your traditional year was canceled, but consider how all of these students persisted in their activities."
Design 3
Fall Divider
This spread is overwhelming. Fall was overwhelming. We adjusted to hybrid learning, cohorts, new activity guidelines and mandates, and that's just the "school" aspect of our world that was insane. In years prior, our divider pages would be huge, full-bleed, gorgeous photos of one event that defines the season. For fall, it's the Homecoming game. For Spring, it's the Wish Week assembly. This year, our student body was divided up into four different cohorts. This meant that there is no unifying experience that every student had. There is not one event that everyone partcipated in or witnessed. So, this divider reflects that. Each "module" suggests a new way students spent their time. Some skated, some protested, some performed. Again, I use a light beige to define our margins and suggest focus and unity to the audience. "These are all different experiences, but all our students." Again, our internal spacing and separation is reinforced, but contradicted with overlapping photos and text in the individual modules. This year was a lot of enforced structure and space, but students finding unique ways to still come together. The red numbers are meant to stand out in the page. Each module points our audience to the spread that they can find coverage for this content on. All the information that would be in a traditional caption will be found on that spread. Our audience's curiousity guides their journey through the book. "Oh, I like to skate, I wonder what park they're at." (That person flips to page 36.) No one in our audience is having the same experience or connection to this spread as anyone else. That's the point.
Design 4
Fall Politics
"Woah. Something big happened, this whole spread turned. This must be important." I know the audience probably won't say that verbatim, but a girl can dream. This is the first of four politics spreads we have throughout the book. All are turned vertically. This was a year of extreme political tension, everything seemed seeped in politics. This was also a year with more politically-active students than I've ever seen before. Politics became a huge part of students' lives, it deserves to be a part of the conversation of our book. Here, the reader flips to this page and is initially confused. We force them to change perspectives (flip the book) in order to participate in this conversation. At first they won't be able to read anything except the horizontal headline, their only anchor to the page. From there, the book turns and they suddenly have options to engage with: stats, behind-the-scenes photos, etc. Again, the spacious design prompts the audience to look at multiple angles of the event. The reader starts out uncomfortable and shocked by the abrupt change, but then adjusts and begins to engage with multiple details and aspects of the event. (Kind of like how we wish everyone would handle politics, right?)
Design 5
Health and Lifestyle
This spread really encompasses the feeling of the book. Again, spacious yet structured. The modular feeling of the page is reiterated throughout the book, which gives the audience multiple ways to connect with the content. Again, I emphasize two modules with a light beige box, which also unifies them. Same concepts carry through this spread; multiple options and ways to look at how students stay healthy. Multiple photos gives us many ways to consider the activities.
Design 6
Spring Break Student Life
I love the modules of this spread, they perfectly achieve our goal with covering Spring Break. Each module prompts a different look at a student's Spring Break experience. Was it snowy? Sunny? Super boring? I also emphasize the story attached to the dominant with a beige box. The story addresses how the ocean connects her to her family. So, unlike anyone else's beachy Spring Break, we consider the significance of this location for the subject of the photo. Unlike years prior, where editors would design months before the spread's event happened, I ended up designing most spreads after content was collected. With the nature of this year (separated and disjointed staffs, hybrid-to-remote whiplash, event cancellations, etc) we could not predict what content we would have for spreads. For this spread specifically, the modules were crafted with more intent, because we already knew the "story" of Spring Break. That's why I was able to highlight this story and reserve a lot of space for it.
And just like that, we've reached the conclusion of our journey together. I hope you considered all of the physical aspects of these designs and the story/emotion they convey. Thank you for your time, perspective, and insight.