Anyone who has been involved in designing an institution’s yearbook understands the enormity of the responsibility. From achieving the right tone to making sure everything is included can seem like an overwhelming task!

Like most things in life collaboration is often the key to success and it is no different when it comes to producing memorable and well-received school or college yearbooks that everyone feels happy with.

In general terms a yearbook is a publication that is produced annually by an institution for the purpose of recording, highlighting, and commemorating the past year of events.

It is commonly quoted that the first documented official bound yearbook was a university college yearbook created by Yale’s class of 1806. The yearbook contained a collection of information about the students, staff, and school year. Instead of photographs the students were represented by printed silhouettes as photographs were not yet invented!

Long before the official date of the first university college yearbook in 1806, yearbooks started appearing as early as four hundred years ago! These early examples took the form of simple scrapbooks filled with things such as pressed flowers, written notes, articles and even locks of hair commemorating special moments.

Another aspect of school and college yearbooks is that over time they can become valuable and collectable especially if one of your school or university colleagues has ended up being famous! A well-designed yearbook can increase further in value if that famous colleague of yours has signed it.

According to Belinda Goldsmith of Reuters Life, yearbooks are rare as they are mostly one-off print runs and therefore represent limited editions. The highest prices are attributed to yearbooks containing celebrities who have made lasting contributions in their field.

The internet is being highlighted as responsible for sparking a growth in the market for investors and collectors of yearbooks. Typically, collectors of yearbooks are made up of genealogists and history buffs but can also include other buyers with more sentimental motives such as people seeking to replace lost school yearbooks. Interestingly the demand for those looking to replace lost school and college yearbooks has climbed with the increase in frequency of natural disasters!

If you have been tasked with the enormous job of creating your school or college yearbook or other institutional yearbook, and are seeking to collaborate with an experienced graphic design agency who can deliver amazing results, then contact us at Fresco Creative.