Trends in yearbook design and production processes are always evolving. Many of the emerging trends are wonderful, such as sustainable paper options and eco-friendly yearbook themes. These directions are sure to provide long term benefits to the yearbook industry. One trend we’d love to see a resurgence of in 2021 is the use of detailed yearbook captions.
Yearbook captions provide enormous value to annual yearbooks. When properly used, yearbook captions bring a book’s content together more clearly, make images more enticing to readers and enhance the project’s legacy. They are fundamental for a yearbook to connect with readers for years to come.
If your yearbook team is interested in understanding the importance of yearbook captions, you’re in the right place. In this article, we’re sharing why yearbook captions are necessary.
What is a Yearbook Caption?
A yearbook caption is copy connected to an image in a yearbook. It’s used by yearbook staff to explain what is happening in a published photo. They are usually brief in length, written in an active voice, and often located directly below an image.
Yearbook captions should contain the following information:
- Who are the people in the photo?
- What is happening?
- Where was the picture taken?
- When did the event take place?
- Why is this relevant to the page?
More Yearbook Caption Details
The text of a yearbook caption should be different from the page’s main copy font. The difference can be a font with a different size or weight, an italicized font, or another unique characteristic. Yearbook caption copy selection should be consistent throughout the book as per your team’s style guide.
Why are Yearbook Captions Important?
Using yearbook captions is important because captions quickly provide information to readers about what is happening in an image. They allow the audience to instantly understand the event being portrayed and know why that image is relevant.
Image Captions Represent History
Yearbook captions are essential for representing the books’ history accurately. More than just a scrapbook, yearbooks are historical documents that will be viewed and reflected on by many for years to come. Additionally, they’ll likely become a reliable information source that future high school students and yearbook teams can use for inspiration and community history projects.
Uncaptioned Pictures are Confusing
Images in a yearbook spread without captions can be confusing or seem out of place. And, over time, the likelihood of the original intention of the image may be lost. Readers need to be brought further into the picture and the story of the page. Detailed, concise yearbook captions reveal why the photograph is meaningful, preventing the intended message from being overlooked.
Photos with Captions are Viewed More
In 2015, a study by the National Press Photographers Association (NPPA) on eye-tracking movements and photojournalism revealed that an image’s caption matters to a reader.
The study concluded, “the longer or better developed a caption, the more likely it was to receive attention.” Additionally, the following observation was made, “Most captions were read to completion, as people looked back and forth between caption and image, establishing context.”
Examples of Great Yearbook Captions
Create a Story
Seemingly plain images can tell a story. Before writing an image’s caption, gather pertinent information about the image first. Ask the following questions:
- Why is the picture necessary for the page?
- Who is in the photo?
- Who took the photo?
- What are they doing?
- When was it taken?
- Where is the location?
When you’ve answered the above questions, you should be able to identify the reason for using that image and know the details surrounding it.
In the image on the left, the caption answers each of those questions for readers.
Report the Facts
Not all pictures need a story to be compelling. Yearbook captions should reveal the facts surrounding the photo before a creative backstory is embedded.
If the image’s facts explain the picture and it’s placement in the spread well, no further information is needed.
Create Your Best Yearbook with Help From FutureBook Yearbooks
FutureBook Yearbooks is a family-owned and operated yearbook publishing company that strives to provide yearbook advisors with the tools and advice they need to help yearbook teams succeed. With fantastic pricing options and expert advice, our yearbook services are extraordinary! For regular tips to help your yearbook knowledge grow, read more from our blog!
