This book was specially created as part of the “Designing for Someone”

project for the students of the Green School in New York, New York from the
students the 2009 Lab class at Parsons the New School for Design.

Special Thanks:
John Roach and Julia Gorton
Green School Students
2008 Students of the Christopher Program
Kim Leddy and Steve Shapiro
Yulia Coburn’s Friends for Providing Awesome Pictures

Dianne Kim, Donnie Lauando, Yulia Coburn, Mary Bachand, Tatom Masagatani,
Savannah Foster, David Garcia, Francine Shamosh, Samantha Perlman, and Felix
Loomis
 MAKE YOUR OWN YEARBOOK
Who needs to order an expensive yearbook from Jostens? Wouldn’t you like to have a yearbook that
is unique to your school? Wouldn’t it be cool if students were in charge of the entire process and look
of the yearbook?

EACH STUDENT HAS A UNIQUE PAGE

Every student will receive a page of specific dimension and be asked to decorate and arrange it
anyway they like. You have the freedom to paint, draw, paste, and write anything you want on your
page!

Because the Green School is a unique place, it deserves a unique yearbook. Why leave all the fun
work to the “fancy-shmancy” graphic designers at Jostens when you could make a yearbook your-
self. From front cover to the back cover, the yearbook will be created entirely by students.
WHY IT’S CHEAPER:
People use websites such as Scribd.com and blurb.com to create their own books. The
books are easy to view and order online. You can choose how big or small you want your
yearbook to be. The cost is adjustable. On the average the book may cost 20-50 dollars.
Almost half the money it takes to order from publishing companies!

WHY IT’S MORE GREEN:

Websites such as scibd.com let you view your book online. No need to print your book! This
website also lets you view the book for free complete with an animation that turns the pages for
you!
MAKE YOUR
OWN PAGE
There are several ways to create a page. Think of a concept or a theme you
want your page to follow. This is your senior page so, how do you want to
be remembered? After deciding on how you want the page to look, consider
these options for making your page:

1. Hand draw your page and

simply scan it into a computer.
2. Use lots of photos and found images
to decorate your page.

3. Make everything digitally on

Photoshop and/or Illustrator.
Pick up some markers, pencils, or paints and go
crazy! Here’s some ideas to get you started:

1.Use markers to create text. Try mimicking

a graffiti style for a more graphic look. Go
wild with color.

2. Use colored pencils if you would like a

soft look that is less bold.

3. Use watercolor or acrylic paints for a

“messy artsy” look.
-Glossy photographs
-Printouts from computer
-Polaroids

Since the pages will mainly be put together

by hand,make sure you have a physical
copy of the photographs. Print photographs
from your computer, or use glossy photos
that you may already have. Make sure to ask
your parents first if it is okay to use their glossy
photographs.

YOU
A photo of yourself is highly suggested, but
not required, it’s okay if you are shy.

Other photos you may include:

-You and your friends
- Family
-Pets
- You with your boyfriend/girlfriend
Here’s a couple of tips of how to get a good photograph
of yourself:

-Have a friend take a photograph of you, rather than

taking it yourself. Your face will not be extremely close to
the camera and you can avoid the awkward “arm holding
the camera” in the picture.
-Make sure the environment is well lit and not cluttered,
so that you are the main focus of the picture.
-Above the shoulder photos are best so that your face is
the main focus.

If you’re not into the whole “Glamour Shot” thing, then

submit a photograph of yourself doing something you
love, like playing sports, dancing, running, or even playing
videogames. However, make sure that you are centered
in the frame.
Collaging is a fun way to paste pictures together in a good composition.
Technically you can do this any way you’d like, but if you are having trouble, here’s a step-by
step process of how to make a successful self-portrait using objects:
MESSY NEAT
(this is almost too neat)
ORGANIZING THE
BOOK
There are a number of ways to organize the contents of your book but here are some basic
suggestions:

1. Create an “Objective Page” stating the objective of your yearbook.State that the students were
responsible for designing their own pages, say something about your school, like a mission
statement describing why your school is unique. Make sure that the reader understands what the
book is about.

2. Create page numbers on the corners of the pages. It doesn’t have to be on every page but
enough to know that the pages are increasing and decreasing.

3. Create a table of contents. In the front of the book create a table of contents to guide the reader.
Use the pages numbers to refer the reader to
different pages and sections.

4. Create special “sections” for the yearbook so that related content is clustered together and not
all over the place.

You may consider making pages for:

Sports
Clubs
Special Events (talent shows, dances)
Faculty
Perhaps even a page about the history of your school.

The student pages may then follow.

In order to get a final product there needs to be different roles in the book. One person
alone can’t get it done. Divide and designate different jobs to different people. One strength
maybe another persons weakness, use your differences to your advantage to highlight each
other’s strengths and create one strong book.

YEARBOOK COMMITTEE
Roles:

Photographers: To take pictures of clubs

and events for the “activities” pages

Organizers: people in charge of collecting

everyone’s pages and putting them in order

Communicators: people who can inform

the school and faculty about what everyone
is doing

Jobs may vary depending on

what kind of book you want to
produce. Create roles that suit
your book.
UPLOADING INTO THE COMPUTER
Once you have collected individual pages from students and have the other pages organized
and ready to go, you may start transferring the content into a computer with a scanner and
internet access, so you can upload everything onto Blurb.com and Scribd.com in order to print.

1. Using a flatbed scanner, scan each image into the computer. Try creating folders to keep
yourself organized so images are not all over the place and do not get lost. Keep a tally of
whose page you have and whether or not it is uploaded.

2. When you are scanning make sure you scan with a 300 dpi resolution, your scanner should
give you an option for this, most scanners have this as a standard setting.

3. Crop the edges of the scans if necessary.

4.Once you scanned all the pages and you have the other pages ready to go get online and
begin putting the pages into blurb.com.

WHAT IS BLURB.COM?
Blurb is a website that allows anyone to create their own book. On their website you may
download a special computer program that will allow you to paste your pages into a blank
book. It allows you to choose various sizes and various pages. The prices are around 20-40
dollars per book. Make sure you meet and decide what size/number of pages your book will
have before beginning the project. Using the program is very easy and the program comes
with a tutorial. Once the book is finished, you may upload it on the blub website from where
you or anyone anywhere can order the book and have it delivered to their door.

What is SCRIBD.COM?
Scribd is a website that allows you to view your book online. When you are uploading on
scribd.com, make sure all of your files are put together in one PDF document. Acrobat
Pro lets you create a book from all of your files. Once again it will be your responsibility to
make sure the content is in order. Once you have made a PDF book out of your files. You
may upload and see the file as a book online. So anyone can look at the book on their
computer screen if they do not want to order a physical copy.
 WATCH OUT!
The scans that you create must be saved as jpeg files with proper
resolution. You HAVE to select 300 resolution or the images will come out
pixelated. Double check all of your images and make sure it doesn’t
happen.

If you are having trouble with uploading files, do not hesitate to check the
help links given on the websites. Uploading for the first time will be difficult,
don’t be frustrated and keep going.

Pixelated Image Good Image

 graphy

Darth Vader made out of type. All images found on Google Images.
typo

THE IMPORTANCE OF TYPOGRAPHY

Typography is an art form that arranges, designs, and

modifies type. In other words, creating letter shapes and

figuring out how to place them in a page. It may not seem

as important as graphics or illustrations but the use of

typography in any design is essential. If typography is

properly used, a message can be transmitted easily to a

viewer. Believe it or not, there are designers that dedicate

their careers into designing and arranging type. Trust us,

is more fun than what you might give credit for. The key

things that you must look for in a type are that’s legible,

sharp, and fits the page layout. Now, we don’t expect to

be complete experts in typography, but you should get a

general sense of how use it effectively.

Step 1. Type Crimes
You should avoid doing this at all times:
1. Double spaces between sentences
2. Distorting, condensing, expanding, or altering a font
3. Improper usage size ( Too big or too small)
4. Wide spaces between letters.
5. Leaving one alone in the last sentence
Of a paragraph

Step 2. Great Typefaces

These fonts are great for legibility
1.Helvetica
2. Futura
3. Gill Sans
4. Eurostile
5. Garamond

Step 3. Other Cool Typefaces

These type of fonts can be downloaded
for free in dafont.com
1.GosmickSans

2. Got Heroin?
3. A Bite
4. Idiot
5. xoxo
 cover
book

COMING UP WITH A GOOD COVER

Creating a good cover that reflects the image or the message that you are trying to give
out is hard. You can create something amazing but does it work?
Here are some tips on how to create covers.

Step 1. Composition
-Composition is the placement or arrangement of visual elements.
-Just by using a great composition in your design, you cover will look better.
- Use scale to create a shift of space and focus, in other words, create a focus by using
something noticeable and balance with something smaller.

Step 2. Color
- Color is important.
-Don’t be too colorful and use sorts of col-
ors to be “unique.”
All images found in Google Images

- White spaces creates nice contrast with

bright colors.
Example of Composition.

-Stick two or three colors and design using

those colors.
Step 3. Design A Cover That Fits Best
-You guys are the Green School, so incorporate that theme in you book cover design.
-Maybe using different shades and values of greens can create an interesting visual element
by contrasting it to its complementary color, red.
-Don’t choose a cover by impulse because its cool, make sure it fits the with the context!

Example of color and shades contrasted with white space.