Why a Good Cover is So Important

Creating the cover for your yearbook is such an important step. The cover is the first thing the students will see when you give them the finished book. You want them to be excited and eager to look through the yearbook because the cover is so inviting.The cover should represent your school and graduating class. If you’re looking for yearbook covers to inspire you, you need to remember that the best of the best aren’t just nice to look at. They also do one of three things really well: They reflect an overarching theme, they capture the spirit of a school’s community, or they embrace a longstanding tradition. We hope this blog will help you realize that there are many directions you can take and coming up with the cover idea might be the most creative step in the yearbook process!

Be Creative – there is no right or wrong cover idea

There’s no single design element that’ll guarantee your yearbook cover will be a success. You can use student art, stunning photography, conceptual art, or anything in between.Is there a parent who is an artist? Some of the best covers we’ve seen have been created by parent artists. We’ve even framed the original artwork and given it the school as a gift from the graduating class. You can also see if any students want to create a cover. Often yearbook covers take on the same theme as the year end graduation party.

Considerations for Creating a Cover

Sometimes a cover can be as simple as using color as its theme. Many times less is more when it comes to your yearbook cover. No matter the element, your yearbook cover succeeds when it’s well thought out and does one of three things:

• Reflect an overarching theme,
• Capture the spirit of a school’s community,
• Embrace a longstanding tradition

Think about what’s important to your school, pick one of the goals above, and try to utilize that into a yearbook cover. Now, take it a step further and incorporate one of the following:

Be Trendy: What are the hottest styles, words, and events of the year? Incorporate them into the cover and throughout your book. Though the trendy theme is an old idea, it is always fresh because trends changes every year. Always trending. This theme will share the overall emotion of the times in which we live and makes for a great memory book.

Stay in School: This theme is school-based and begins with the specific issues, events and vibe of your own school, and specifically, your own class. This is a fun theme because it is so endearing to the members of your class. These are priceless memories and experiences that will outlive this book itself and are sure to bring a smile to the face of each student each time they pick up the book and look through -today as well as years from now.

Inspire: This theme never goes out of style. Timeless,this theme covers the basics but also seeks to inspire. The goal of this theme is to have an impact on many, over and over again. Kudos to you for taking this approach. And only you know the best way that your class can inspire others.

Our Culture: The nation has never been more mixed than it is today. This theme celebrates diversity and inclusion. This theme makes it a point to highlight the many people groups represented in its hallways. This must be done with great tact. Always discuss such sensitive issues before running with them. This theme is a great way to channel your collective energy and will leave a very healthy legacy for your class.

Here are some thought starters with image templates to consider::

Chalkboard –

Chalkboard: This look can be carried throughout the entire book.

Comics – “Comics” type used throughout the yearbook is a “fun,” upbeat look!

Games

Graffiti

Outdoors                                           School Colors

Science                                                 Space

Space

Sports

All of these cover ideas lend themselves to incorporate individual photos of the school, classrooms and students.  As you can see from each of the various cover themes, it’s really all about your school and incorporating a cover theme that represents the students and their school experience. You want the cover to be the beginning of the yearbook’s story – the story of each student’s journey through their school. The story is in the cover, and the connection it makes to the rest of your yearbook and your school as a whole that will make it so good.

Have fun! Get creative!

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