Celebrate Presidents Day with the 2024 Presidents Collection Video Series

Celebrate Presidents Day with the launch of our 2024 Presidents Collection Series! This special video series highlights national award-winning yearbooks created with Walsworth Yearbooks. Each short video takes you behind the scenes of these standout yearbooks, showing you the design elements and strategies that earned them national recognition. Along with each video, you’ll receive a Google Form assessment and a zip file of many of the spreads discussed, making it easy to incorporate into your classroom. Watch the videos with your staff on Presidents Day and dive into what makes these yearbooks exceptional. 

Let’s begin with the first five books in the series:

Lone Star, James Bowie High School, Austin, Texas

From the cover’s split-order layout that cleverly contrasts “Nothing Much” and “Basically Everything” in unique typography, to the thoughtful reinforcement of the three-part theme across the opening spreads, the yearbook team at James Bowie High School demonstrates a masterful understanding of visual storytelling. The designers’ use of overlapping photos, organic layouts and appropriately scaled mods on content spreads elevates even traditional coverage. 

Additionally, including personal student quotes instead of generic senior quotes and the creative divider headlines showcases a level of intentionality that is truly award-worthy. With a visually engaging index, colophon and nods to past accolades, this yearbook is a testament to the power of cohesive design and meaningful content. 

The Legend, El Dorado High School, El Paso, Texas

The El Dorado High School yearbook showcases an incredible attention to detail through the clever cover typography that blends a sleek sans-serif with a brushy, expressive typeface as well as the cohesive theme packaging that carries throughout the book. The creative use of graphics, like the sunburst motif, and the thoughtful integration of Spanish language content reflect the team’s understanding of their diverse student population.

Standout spreads, such as the trend spread with its dynamic overhead composition, showcase the staff’s willingness to take risks and produce visually engaging content. Overall, the El Dorado yearbook is a testament to the power of early planning, collaborative design and a commitment to storytelling that resonates with the school community.

Raider, Gulliver Upper Preparatory School, Miami, Florida

The yearbook from Gulliver Prep Upper exemplifies award-winning qualities throughout its design and execution. The cover’s bold, vertical layout and layered elements effectively communicate the “We’re Onto Something Big” theme, immediately capturing the reader’s attention.

The consistent use of branded design elements, such as color bars and typography, reinforces the theme across the entire book. Innovative layout techniques, like the organic photo arrangements and strategic white space on the summer spread, create visually engaging and cohesive storytelling. The first-person narrative approach for senior profiles demonstrates strong journalistic skills in capturing the students’ voices. The design, content and technical elements combined make the Gulliver Prep yearbook a clear award contender.

Fusion, Hagerty High School, Oviedo, Florida

This award-winning yearbook demonstrates exceptional design expertise and a commitment to creative storytelling. The cover’s split order and subtle tilted elements perfectly capture the “All Over It” theme, while the endsheets’ layered collage and title page’s balanced cutouts showcase the team’s attention to detail.

Throughout the book, the designers skillfully incorporate their theme with thoughtful headlines, rough-edged graphics and strategic use of white space, elevating the content in a cohesive, visually engaging way. From the trend spread’s innovative Stanley Cup graphic to the index’s incorporation of additional profiles, every design choice reflects the team’s journalistic excellence and desire to produce a yearbook that is both visually striking and narratively compelling.

Chieftain, Jupiter Community High School, Jupiter, Florida

Jupiter Community High School’s award-winning yearbook exemplifies exceptional design and storytelling. The split cover features a vibrant color palette of tangerine, blue and lime green, reflecting the school’s “all this right now” theme. Cohesive theme elements, like the repeated use of rounded corners and skewed text, tie the visuals together from cover to cover. The theme pages blend bold headlines, layered copy blocks and carefully curated imagery to create an organic, impactful mood. 

The book showcases a balance of short stories and long-form coverage, including a compelling feature on a teacher-author collaboration. Innovative design choices, such as the modular senior profiles and “Now” spreads, reinforce the theme and provide visual variety. The staff’s dedication to an iterative design process, from their initial “right this minute” concept to the final polished product, resulted in a visually stunning, award-worthy yearbook.

Tune in next week to read out about the next group of schools to be featured, and be sure to follow along with the videos in our President’s Collection and watch with your staff.