It’s the beginning of the school year and time to come up with yearbook theme ideas. You want it to be special, clever and creative. You’ll also want a yearbook theme that is a perfect fit for your school. I will share some tips on how to find your yearbook theme ideas.
The Internet
My favorite place to look for yearbook theme ideas is Pinterest. To be honest, I might be a pinning junkie as I have boards for everything from recipes to cleaning supplies, but legit it’s a great place to find yearbook theme ideas. The best categories to search for to find inspiration for your yearbook themes are: illustrations & posters, design, quotes, popular and film, and music & books. Treering has many yearbook related boards to get you inspired.
Magazines
A great place to find yearbook theme ideas is in magazines. Sometimes the cover, advertisements or an article can inspire ideas. Browse the magazine stand and look at titles that are new to you – you might find a visual theme or a conceptual theme idea. Some good magazines to browse are Lucky, Glamour, Rolling Stone, Esquire, HGTV. Not only can you pick out themes from magazines, you can also find lots of page layout ideas.
Books
Looking at book covers can spark lots of ideas. Browse books online (Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com) and look at different covers. Look at bestsellers, children’s books, arts & photography. Read the titles – sometimes they can be themes too.
A Theme Generator
Stop pinching yourself. You’re not dreaming. This exists. We built it for our schools, but decided to share it with everyone. So, go ahead: Check out our Yearbook Theme Generator. It’s so good you probably won’t need the rest of this list.
Your School
Sometimes coming up with yearbook theme ideas is as close as taking a look at your school. Is there a school motto you can use? Maybe your school is arts-focused – you would definitely want to incorporate some kind of art into your theme. Did your school have recent challenges or celebrations? Maybe something along those lines can be inspiration for your yearbook theme.
Other Schools
Yearbook theme ideas aren’t grown on trees, but they are cultivated by yearbook teams. And, sometimes, you’ll find some inspiration by looking at other schools’ yearbooks. It’s a tried-and-true approach to finding design elements, story-telling devices, and theme development that you can take and turn into your own. Not sure where to start? Find some yearbook covers that your yearbook publisher is already touting and ask them to introduce you to that school’s yearbook team.
Scrapbooking Sites
Since scrapbookers know how to put together photos and memories, you can find a lot of inspiration on scrapbooking sites. You can browse the galleries and look at the layouts for ideas for themes. Try CraftGossip or google ‘digital scrapbooking’. You will likely find layout inspiration too such as ideas for your Halloween or Valentine’s Day page.
Popular and Trendy
Chalkboards, ‘Stay calm and ______ (fill in the blank)”, technology (Instagram, Facebook, iPhone/iPad, etc.) – and other trends can be worked into a visual theme. Maybe a popular song or game? Look for popular things that are ‘in’ with the students at your school as they can make an appearance in your book too.
Your Yearbook Theme
Coming up with a fabulous yearbook theme is a little different for every school. From creative brainstorming to finding unique inspiration in the hallways of your campus, there are so many ways to come up with a concept that’s perfect for your publication. We would love to hear what theme you are using this year and how you came up with the idea.
