OUTSIDE THE BOX
TAKING FAMILIAR
THEMES AND MAKING
THEM TRULY UNIQUE
Game on.
This is the
sports title
page from our
game board
themed book.
We used
our school
name and
designed a
custom sports
game board
complete with
team pictures.
Please note: Basing a theme on popular games, products and other
third party content may require obtaining the owner’s permission
Okay, you’ve come up with a theme for
your yearbook. Now what do you do with
it? Chances are your theme is not unique.
There are tens of thousands of yearbooks
out there and probably thousands with
your specific theme. What will set your
book apart?
they want excitement. It’s time to think
outside the proverbial box. As American
psychologist Rollo May said, “Creativity
arises out of the tension between
spontaneity and limitations.” Those who
narrow the definition of a yearbook limit
the book’s function.
The days are over where you can slap a
traditional cover together and put in some
pictures and text and have your readers
truly enjoy the product you put out. Kids
today want flash, they want color, and
A yearbook is more than just a history
or reference book; it is a product of the
creative process. How do you do that?
Use the resources that are available to
you. Your yearbook staff can surf the web
Theme Outside the Box 3
Please note: Basing a theme on popular games, products and other
third party content may require obtaining the owner’s permission
All in the cards. This eighth grade
title page comes from the game board
themed book. We took the popular game
Uno® and played with the idea a bit to
set up the 8th grade portraits. Even the
graduation year is displayed in the cards.
3-D fun. Another example of a 3D page
from our 3D themed smart phone book.
The stallion is our mascot and this page
represents a play on the unlock screen.
It is the first page of the book. With 3D
glasses this page really pops!
SAY WHAT!?
“It’s the ‘outside the box’
mentality that determines
what is inside the four
corners of the box that we
call a yearbook.”
4
Inspire • Fall 2010
and discover thousands of examples of
great books, hundreds that have probably
used your theme already. Pick apart those
books. Present all the great ideas to your
staff and hear what they have to say about
them. You would be surprised at the ideas
that flow. Each year the kids amaze me and
each year I ask myself, “Is that possible?”
Well the answer is an emphatic “Yes!”
more to theme development than what
appears on the so-called theme pages. Use
the theme to organize the coverage of the
year, to present things in a different angle.
What can you do with the theme to design
the superlative pages, the baby pages, and
the sports pages? What is it about your
cover or theme that you want to burn into
the hide of this edition of your yearbook?
Your theme provides a context and
perspective for the story being told. It
frames the content. Most staffs begin with
a theme and a cover design. From this
point, your staff should move to designing
opening and divider spreads, but there is
My yearbooks have never had a unique
theme; it’s how it was presented that makes
the books unique. From a Yearbook DVD
incorporated in the design of the cover on
our game board themed book to this year’s
3D iPhone® themed book complete with a
Super superlatives. This is an example of one of
our 8th grade superlative pages. This page is in 3D
and special glasses were issued to all the students
to view pages that were designed with the 3D effect.
Matthew Besman
BY
3D cover, several 3D pages and even 3D
glasses with every book. The themes have
all been done before but what makes these
books different is the “outside the box”
attitude I ask my staff to have. “Yes, it’s
been done before,” I tell them. “Give me
something different; give me something
truly out there.” Your staff will respond;
they will come up with all kinds of off the
wall ideas.
That’s where Lifetouch comes in. “Can we
possibly do this?” I ask. Their response is
always something like, “Well, if we haven’t
done it before we can certainly try to do it
now.” They have come through every time.
Use them, use their artists, and use their
technical staff–that’s what they are there for.
Make your book special by doing that one
thing that really stands out and incorporate
it throughout your entire book. Your readers
will be blown away and sales will skyrocket.
Once you build a reputation for quality
books, your pre-sales will skyrocket as well.
Always push the envelope. It’s the “outside
the box” mentality that determines what is
inside the four corners of the box that we
call a yearbook. I
Matthew Besman has been the
yearbook adviser at Polo Park
Middle School for nine years.
He is also the National Junior
Honor Society Advisor and the
Television Production teacher.
His books have won numerous
awards such as Best of the Best,
Best Cover Design, and even
nominated for a Benny Award
in publication. He has taught for
16 years.
Theme Outside the Box 5