When you’re looking to create a yearbook that’s totally unique to your school, just sharing the photos from your school’s events isn’t always enough. While photos can depict some of what goes into a year on your campus, there are other things you should weave throughout the content of your yearbook to really make it shine – and one of my favorite ways to do this is through artwork that’s created by the students, for the students! Take a short walk through the art rooms on your campus – there are definitely some beautiful works of art that are just begging for a place to gather a little attention. And with the evolution of technology, it’s super easy to scan images of these fabulous works of art for the pages of your yearbook. Wondering exactly how this custom art could take your yearbook design to the next level? I’ll tell you all about it below!
The Yearbook Cover
When it comes to art enthusiasts, the yearbook cover is pretty much the ultimate place to get your work featured while you’re in school. It’s a huge honor to nab that coveted spot – which means you can use this as a way to really promote your publication and try to boost yearbook sales! To do this best, let the students know what they’re competing for: space on the front of the one publication nearly everyone in the school will lay eyes on. Set a deadline for submissions, then host a judging panel to determine the concept that best fits this year’s theme! For a more competitive contest, open up the submissions to the entire school. If you want it to be less intense, limit submissions to the top grade at your school – it can actually become something students look forward to throughout their years on your campus.
Class Specific Artwork
For younger grades, ask each teacher to work on a project with their students that captures who their class is or what they accomplished this year – then feature it with their class photo in the yearbook! Custom art within each section of the yearbook can definitely make your publication unique and let every student have a hand in the final book. Plus, asking teachers to do this work with their class can take some of the hard work off of your own shoulders – and if you’re working without a yearbook committee to help you, this can be a serious time saver!
‘Commissioned’ Custom Art
If you have a smaller school, asking students who excel in the art world to create a piece that will precede different sections of your book can really help those students to feel special. This is especially great for students who won’t have the opportunity for a ‘special feature’ in other sections of the book, like for a particular sport or group on campus. Offering special ‘commissioned’ custom art spots in the yearbook is a great yearbook tradition to start on your campus that can last for years to come – and definitely one that the students at your school will love to check out when the yearbooks finally arrive!
As always, it’s also important to strive for consistency with your yearbook theme. So as you’re looking for the perfect pieces of custom art to feature in this year’s spread, be sure to always keep your yearbook theme in the back of your mind. This will help to ensure that everything you do relates back to that theme and builds out a great yearbook design from start to finish!
