In Part 1, I talked about how it’s not just a yearbook, it’s YOUR book. In Part 2, we looked at how your students’ grade level and developmental stage shape what your book needs to be. Today, I want to talk about something equally important: how your strengths – and your staff’s strengths – shape what your book becomes.
I’ve been fortunate to attend Entourage Yearbook Advisors’ Conferences for years, and I’ve learned from some incredibly talented advisors. What strikes me every time is how different their yearbooks look from each other, and how those differences stem directly from what each advisor does exceptionally well. Let me introduce you to a few of them.
Jerry: The Photographer’s Eye
Jerry, from New Mexico, is a professional photographer. Not just someone who knows how to use a camera – he’s worked on major advertising campaigns and published a book. When Jerry became a high school yearbook advisor, his professional expertise shaped everything about his book.
His yearbook showcases stunning photography enhanced with Photoshop to elevate the storytelling. He’s not just documenting moments – he’s creating artistry. He taught a photography class at the Entourage Conference, sharing techniques that reflected his deep understanding of composition, lighting, and visual narrative.
Jerry’s book looks the way it does because Jerry is who he is. His strength became his yearbook’s strength.
Nicole: The Journalist’s Voice
Nicole, from Florida, is all about the journalism. She led a session at Entourage on journalistic writing, and one lesson stayed with me: the caption describes who and what is in the photo at that moment, but the story tells what happened before and after that moment.
That distinction is everything. A caption captures a frozen second. A story gives context, meaning, the fuller picture. Nicole didn’t just teach writing – she taught her students how to ask questions and conduct interviews to get the full story. Her yearbook reflects her commitment to teaching students how to be journalists, not just photographers or designers. Her students learn to go beyond describing what they see and start explaining what it means, why it matters, what led to this moment and what came next.
Her book is rich with student voices, carefully crafted captions, and stories that bring the year to life through language.
Jenny: The Designer’s Vision
Jenny, from Kansas City, taught a session about design guides – a concept I’d never heard of before, though I realized I’d been creating my own mental version as I learned to make yearbooks. A design guide documents your choices about colors, fonts, layouts, and visual consistency. It’s helpful when you’re working solo, but absolutely imperative when you’re working with a group or class.
Jenny talked about color theory, complementary colors, font choices, visual hierarchy. Her yearbook reflected strong, intentional design principles. Every page felt cohesive. Every choice felt purposeful. The design wasn’t just decoration – it was part of the storytelling.
(I’m definitely going to write a future post about creating and using design guides, because Jenny opened my eyes to how valuable this tool can be.)
My Approach: Graphic Elements for Young Readers
My strength was using Photoshop and Illustrator to create graphic elements and fun, engaging designs inspired by digital scrapbooking. I wasn’t manipulating photos like Jerry. I wasn’t crafting journalistic stories like Nicole. I wasn’t building complex design systems like Jenny.
I was creating playful fonts and visual elements that would appeal to my elementary school audience – many of whom couldn’t read yet. Headers and decorative elements that made the pages engaging and age-appropriate. Text treatments that were fun and inviting. A visual language that elementary students could understand and enjoy.
I developed my own mental design guide as I learned, creating consistency across my books even though I didn’t have a formal document. My books looked the way they did because of who I was creating them for and what I knew how to do well.
The Both/And of Learning
Here’s what I love about these four different approaches: we all learned from each other at the same conferences, in the same sessions, from the same community. But we each went back to our schools and made books that looked completely different.
I learned from Jerry about the power of strong photography and getting photos from all the angles. He taught us that the best camera is the one in your hand – whether that’s your phone or a fancy camera with all the bells and whistles. The fancy camera won’t get the shot if it’s sitting in a case in the closet, so if your iPhone is what you have in that moment, that’s the best camera to capture it. I learned from Nicole about the distinction between captions and stories. I learned from Jenny about intentional design choices and the value of documenting your visual decisions.
And I incorporated elements of what I learned into my own yearbooks – always filtering through what would work for MY students, MY situation, MY strengths.
That’s the balance I want you to understand: It’s YOUR book, but keep learning and keep making your book better. Don’t lose yourself in someone else’s strength or vision, but don’t be afraid to expand your knowledge and add new elements to your approach.
Learning from Jerry didn’t mean I needed to become a professional photographer or make my elementary yearbook look like his high school yearbook. Learning from Nicole didn’t mean I needed to add complex journalistic stories for students who couldn’t read yet. Learning from Jenny didn’t mean I needed to create the same kind of sophisticated design system for my audience of six-year-olds.
It meant I took what resonated, adapted what made sense, and left behind what didn’t serve my students or my book.
Lean Into Your Strengths
All yearbooks need photography AND design AND words. But the emphasis, the focus, the thing that makes your book distinctive – that often comes from what you and your staff do exceptionally well.
Are you a strong photographer? Make that a centerpiece of your book. Teach your students to see composition and lighting. Create visual storytelling that goes beyond simple documentation.
Are you a writer or journalism teacher? Lean into words. Teach your students to craft captions that matter and stories that give context. Make student voice a priority.
Are you drawn to design and visual systems? Build that into your book’s identity. Teach color theory and layout principles. Create a design guide and help your students understand why visual consistency matters.
Are you figuring this out as you go, learning what works for your specific students? That’s a strength too. Your adaptability, your willingness to experiment, your focus on what YOUR students need – those matter just as much as technical expertise.
Beautiful Books, Different Strengths
Jerry’s book is beautiful because of his photography. Nicole’s book is beautiful because of her journalism. Jenny’s book is beautiful because of her design. My books were beautiful because they served my elementary students in ways that matched who they were and what they needed.
None of us made the same yearbook. All of us made good yearbooks.
The key is knowing what you do well, building on that foundation, and staying curious about what you can learn from others without losing sight of what makes YOUR book yours.
Learn from everyone. Incorporate what fits. Stay true to your students, your strengths, and your vision.