Yearbook
CAMPUS SERVICE
With my prolonged interest in art and prior knowledge in graphic design, I had always wanted to join yearbook. Unfortunately, I was waitlisted twice in my first year and did not have the chance to become part of the team. Therefore, I was exceptionally excited when the ExEd leaders particularly invited me to join the ExEd as a designer at the beginning of my second year. I readily agreed and aspired to fully commit to it.
A challenge came up to me since the first few meetings we had as a team when most people voted to use dada art as the theme. As I normally found it harder to create the "right" chaos that would effectively transfer the message of the piece without becoming too overwhelming, I resolved to keeping my designs simplistic with as few elements as possible. Despite how interesting its concepts were to me, dadaism completely opposed my style. As a conceptual art movement, dada arts were not created to be aesthetic but rather thought-provoking as it challenged the norms of the community through its surreal elements. The idea of having to work in the field that I was not as familiar with made me feel less confident in my skills.
As expected, I struggled in coming up with an idea. I spent days planning out the spread, searching for inspirations online and from my friends, though was still not satisfied with the results. Realizing that I might not be able to approach the new style the same way I have always did, I decided to change up my method.
I began by putting down different images and analyzing the color relationships between them. I kept modifying, moving the pieces around and adding and removing pictures until I reached the results I was satisfied with. Knowing that it was not the best, I took my initial design to the ExEd leader who gave me feedback and comments on what I could improve. We worked together in revising and soon I was done with my first dada art piece.
The yearbook designers worked independently of one another with each one getting an entire spread of a specific topic to themself for more effective performances. While it might seem that the interactions between members were limited, there were in fact more communications done among the different sections of the ExEd. I had to contact the photographers prior to the event if I had a specific shot I wanted to include in my spreads. Often times I also had to work with them after the event to request for color corrections on the photos – a task that could only be done by the photographers as they had among themselves a system of color schemes in order to keep the entire yearbook consistent. The same was with designers. Despite working on the spreads on my own, I often communicated with the ExEd leaders and other designers to make sure that my designs were consistent with theirs. I also worked with the writers, mostly asking for texts to be shortened or more elaborated depending on the given space.
My first spread working with dadaism
Given the structure of the ExEd and realizing that designers were given more power in the group as we were the only ones who could perceive the overall space as we assembled the pieces together, I learned to take charge within the group assigned for the same spread. When given the task, I began planning out my spreads without delay. Dadaism became easier to me as I got used to working with it. With my outlined spread, I explained to the photographers the ideas and outlines of the shots I wanted to incorporate. Sometimes, after I already received the photos, if there were changes I wanted to make or more shots I wanted to add, I also approached other photographers in the school that was not part of the yearbook team and asked for their permission to use their photos. When I was done with my spread, I went up to mostly the leaders – since they were the ones who would see everyone's spreads and would be able to make the best judgments – but sometimes also other designers and asked them for feedback in which I refined on before submitting the final spread. This process allowed me to create works of high quality and hence proved to be the most effective.
As I only joined the yearbook team to pursue my passion in graphic design, the ExEd had definitely given me more than what I expected. It taught me to work through challenges by venturing to take a new approach I was not familiar with. It taught me to realize my own power and how to most effectively use it to create the best products without taking too much control. I have had great fun in the ExEd and am determined to continue on the design path even after I graduate from the school.
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Examples of spreads I have designed for the yearbook ExEd