There are a lot of things that you put energy towards when creating an awesome yearbook spread. You have to brainstorm the best backgrounds for your photos, build out content that perfectly compliments every feature, and find ways to incorporate every student on campus into the pages of your spread. And that doesn’t include all of the groups, clubs and extracurricular events that you need to keep track of! But there’s one area of your yearbook that might get overlooked–and it’s the first thing people see when they open up your book. That’s right: The table of contents. Today I’m going to tell you exactly how you can spice up your table of contents to kick off your yearbook with a bang!
Why the Table of Contents is Important
You put a lot of hard work into your yearbook spread, especially in the specialty features that are designed to awe and inspire the kids at your school. But if you don’t highlight some of those interesting pieces of content right from the start, you run the risk of students skimming right past them. A great table of contents lets your readers know exactly what specialty items lie within the pages ahead. It reminds them to turn back to some of that great content when they look through their yearbook again and again over the summer and in years to come. And when done well, your table of contents can be an excellent place to weave your theme into the pages of your book right from the start.
Highlight Your Best Work
There are certain sections of your book that everyone comes to know and love–those traditional class pages, the sports team features and of course, those essential signature pages, reserved for fun summertime send-off messages. But there are other exciting features that you spent time brainstorming and crafting to perfection, which are specific to this year’s book. These are the lesser-known pages that can really wow your readers, so make sure you highlight them within your table of contents–this lets your readers know they exist! Make these special sections stand out through bold color choices, larger fonts and other design elements that catch the eye. This ensures that your hard work doesn’t go to waste and your students get a chance to see some of your best work in action. But remember–stay true to your style tile!
Stay On Theme
Like a business strives to stay on-brand with their marketing materials, your table of contents should stay on theme with the rest of the pages of your yearbook spread. Use your style tile to keep all of your predetermined design elements at the front of your mind while you’re building this important page. This ensures that the kickoff to the rest of your book, your table of contents, is consistent with your entire yearbook design. And that will create a much more cohesive look and feel from the second students open the cover!
A Yearbook Spread That Shines
To build an amazing yearbook spread, you need to think through your design from start to finish. While the table of contents is one of the last things on your list to prepare, it’s the first thing that your readers will see when they open up your book’s pages–and that makes it an integral piece of your overall yearbook strategy! So as you’re wrapping up the final sections of content for your book, don’t forget to put one last push on a terrific table of contents. When you finally see it in print, you’ll thank me for the recommendation!
