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roller · 01:20 PM

I am a yearbook adviser on the high school level. I got the job by putting my foot in my mouth, but have come to love everything about it (ok, well... not EVERYTHING). Anyway, by yearbook standards, we produce a national quality book, as we are regularly selected as a "National Sample" yearbook by our publisher, Jostens.

However, I came into this job 8-9 years ago with no training/experience in design. I would like to learn more. I feel like everything I am doing is basically the same as what I have always done, in terms of layout and design.

I'll leave the question open: What would you suggest I do/read/try in order to learn more about the concept of page layout and design?

art_director · Jul 20, 2007, 02:29 PM

You won't find reading material dedicated to year book design. You might consider looking at design / advertising industry pubs / annuals like Communication Arts, The One Show, Lürzer's Archive Magazine, Print Magazine, Graphis or other similar resources.

You should also look at sites like You Work For Them to buy design related books.

Finally, if you get to a city with a large design / ad community, check out their museums. Often times those places have nice bookstores full of wonderful design texts.

With all these options be prepared to part with some big $. Design books tend to be full of 4-color printing and thius carry a hefty price tag. Should you find books you want you could also peruse half.comn for used copies.

art_director · Jul 20, 2007, 02:32 PM

I have in no way named all the possibilities. No doubt others will fill out the list of potential resources.

roller · Jul 20, 2007, 02:40 PM

Thanks... Yeah, I'm not looking for yearbook-specific design. Really, looking more to understanding the basic principles of good design. I design (or help the kids design) what I think looks good, but that is really all it is based on. It seems to work, but the bar is not set very high.

One of my good friends is "the" graphic designer in the area and while I haven't asked him specifically, he has mentioned CA to me in the past as well. I will check out the resources you suggested.

I do look at current magazines for ideas/concepts (witness the take off of the American Express campaign we did this year- see cover at yearbook site in sig), but again that just shows me examples/ideas of things that work; it does explain WHY it works.

BuddingAD · Jul 20, 2007, 02:50 PM

I've suggested the Non-Designer's Design Book before. It has some good foundation points.

DrKoob · Jul 20, 2007, 07:36 PM

I have been in graphic design and yearbooks for more than 30 years. The number one source for graphic design knowledge and expertise and ideas and just about everything else graphic design is Before and After magazine. You can find them at http://www.bamagazine.com/

Subscribe to their magazine and buy every back issue you can. I own them all and I am continously going back to look at their info. They are beyond outstanding!

BuddingAD · Jul 21, 2007, 01:51 AM

ya, B&A does rock.

shifuimam · Jul 26, 2007, 04:42 PM

Originally Posted by roller

I'll leave the question open: What would you suggest I do/read/try in order to learn more about the concept of page layout and design?

If you live in a city big enough to have a community college, investigate class options there. You generally don't need to be working towards a degree to sign up for one or two classes. My experience has been that I can learn a lot on my own, but the finer points and the little tricks that make life easier are learned in a hands-on classroom environment with a good teacher.

Also: with page layout and design, don't try to reinvent the wheel. There are tried-and-true layouts for magazines and yearbooks and the like, and going too far off from those standards can make your stuff look crappy. It's like websites - don't try to reinvent how navigation works. Take what is standared and make it look as slick/pretty as you can.