Lesson

A Thousand Words

A yearbook is more than a scrapbook or picture book. Even though the old adage “A picture is worth a thousand words” is true, it is copy that will provide the context surrounding that photograph. Since yearbooks serve an historical function, it is important to include enough copy to clearly relate the story that goes along with the photos, captions, and graphics.

Desktop Publishing

Traditionally, body copy appeared in paragraph format with a style much like a feature article in a newspaper. It identified the who, what, when, where, why, and how of a particular school event in a highly readable, interesting tone. Desktop publishing has freed students to experiment with a huge variety of copy displays that literally take copy out of the box! Let’s look at some ways to publish information that will help with the visual appeal of your spread and coax reluctant readers into reading your copy.

Bio Box

For starters, let’s keep the copy in a box, but drop the formal paragraphing. The bio box is one method of getting across info about a specific person in a tight format. A bio box provides a brief description of a key person. There are all sorts of design possibilities! For yearbooking, bio boxes are a quick, eye-popping way to highlight particular students and their accomplishments. Look at the following samples of bio boxes.

BIO Box #1

Junior Class President Matt Waters

  1. 3.9 GPA
  2. Varsity Wrestling
  3. Future Engineers Club
  4. Plans to attend University of Alabama
  5. Favorite food? Pizza with ranch dressing
  6. Drives an old Cadillac that belonged to his grandmother… "It's the smoothest ride around!"
  7. Summer zoo camp counselor since he was 14
  8. Best movie ever? Raiders of the Lost Ark
  9. Dream career? Hollywood stunt man
  10. Little known fact? "I collect wheat pennies. They're double the good luck."
male student standing up against wall with books and backpack

BIO Box #2

LHS Teacher of the Year

  1. Who? Mr. Kyle Lobecki
  2. What? Chemistry and Physics
  3. What else? Varsity Chess and Science Olympiad
  4. Why do we love him? His Periodic Table jokes are the best!
    • Mr. Lobecki explains a chemistry lesson to his second block class. Lobecki not only took LHS Teacher of the Year honors for his work, but also won the Secondary Science Award for Excellence. Thanks to Mr. Lobecki, we'll always remember what to do with a dead man...barium!
teacher standing in front of class teaching as students ask questions

BIO Box #3

Freshman Lacy Sims

  1. 2011 County 50m Backstroke Champion "I love to swim. Gliding through the water makes me feel free."
swimmer in pool holding onto side of pool

 

 

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