Yearbooks are a traditional and nostalgic way to commemorate the successes and experiences that develop over the course of a school year. They have been an annual tradition for North American elementary, middle, and high school students for about 200 years. And, while it’s important to capture memorable moments to reflect on in the future, yearbooks must be as appealing to the eyes as they are on the student’s wallet.
Combining affordability with aesthetic excellence is a fine balance that yearbook teams and yearbook advisors know all too well. Every yearbook committee faces several decisions each year that require choosing between producing a dream yearbook product and current budgetary constraints. Those yearbook design choices are often quite frustrating.
Can yearbook teams design a yearbook that meets the team’s wants and needs while remaining affordable? At FutureBook Yearbooks, we know you can! In this article, we’re sharing great tips and tricks to help your yearbook team create their dream yearbook.
Avoid Hidden Yearbook Costs
Many yearbook teams discover that changing plans and preferences can quickly add unexpected costs and additional fees from their yearbook publishing company. To avoid being stuck paying unanticipated charges, choose to partner with a yearbook company that prides itself on its integrity pricing.
At FutureBook Yearbooks, we clearly communicate costs to our clients and provide updated budgets when changes inevitably occur. We understand that producing a yearbook is just as much of a creative process as it is a systematic one; this means flexibility is essential.
Create a Classic Yearbook Cover
When yearbook production costs start climbing, consider selecting an alternate cover. Hard book covers are the ideal choice to protect a yearbook’s pages easily, but if affordability becomes an issue, soft covered books are a reliable option. Still completely customizable and made of superior quality, soft-covered yearbooks can ultimately lower final production costs.
Or, consider keeping your yearbook cover simple and avoid using popular cover upgrade options. Another way to make the cover sleek-looking is to select one or two upgrade options that will make the final cover pop with sophistication.
Cover upgrades we recommend for simple and stunning covers include:
- Customized embossing
- Spot UV gloss on some text
- Cover foil application
Preview Your Final Yearbook
Viewing a sample of your finished yearbook design before sending it to the printers is a key tool FutureBook Yearbook clients especially appreciate. ProofBooks allow yearbook committees to see an accurate depiction of their yearbook design before it goes to the printers.
When you have a printed yearbook in your hands, it’s much easier to see if your yearbook design is seamless, fluent in theme choice, and elicits the feelings and tone your yearbook staff has worked tirelessly to create. It also allows you to glean a good understanding of what elements are missing from building that dream yearbook everyone envisioned.
Often, after viewing their ProofBook, many yearbook planning teams opt to add elements to make their theme more vivid and cohesive. The ProofBook is a valuable resource when deciding how to maximize design integrity while staying on-top of budget limitations.
Consider a Publisher With a Yearbook Design Program
Licensing fees for yearbook design programs can absorb a large amount of a yearbook team’s annual budget. With intuitive and user-friendly software options from your yearbook publisher, yearbook staff can keep their budget in check while creating a stunning and beautiful school yearbook. At FutureBook Yearbooks, we provide access to some of the top yearbook design programs, including Pixami, to our clients. And, with our commitment to integrity pricing, these programs come at a fraction of the cost required for costly licensed software programs.
While free software design tools may seem appealing at first glance, they often end up causing more harm than good to a yearbook team’s annual budget. Inexperienced user knowledge coupled with minimal resources and zero-support can have disastrous effects on a yearbook committee’s design and production process.
Controlling how much you want to delve into the publishing and design process is a cost-saving benefit of partnering with an established yearbook company that provides online software options. They’ll be there alongside you and your yearbook staff to teach you exactly how to navigate publishing design programs.
Create Stunning and Affordable Yearbooks with FutureBook Yearbooks
FutureBook Yearbooks is a leading agent in the yearbook industry focusing on sustainability, affordability, and flexibility. We understand the current landscape of education and community organizations is changing rapidly; we are excited to be part of the transformation. We believe yearbook staff and yearbook committee members don’t have to choose between yearbook design and budget. With the right tools and experts by your side, you truly can have both.
Exceptional pricing is why yearbook teams switch to FutureBook Yearbook’s for their yearbook design and publishing needs. For more information about our prices and how we can help your committee create the perfect yearbook, contact our team.
Want to receive yearbook design tips and tricks from industry insiders? Keep up-to-date by subscribing to our newsletter.
