Design

Color is more than decoration: it’s a communication tool. In a yearbook, color helps reinforce the mood of each section, creates visual hierarchy, and supports your theme. Understanding the basics of color theory enables you to make design choices that are intentional and effective, not just trendy. (If trendy design is your thing, head over to this blog.)

The Color Wheel

I can’t emphasize this enough: color is a complement to content. The right combination can make your theme feel energetic, calm, serious, or playful. Understanding how color affects emotions will affect your readers’ experiences.

Primary Colors

Red, yellow, and blue are the OG trio. As you learned in elementary school, you can’t make them by mixing other colors, and they can be combined to create every other hue. A section opener with a bold red or yellow background can instantly grab attention—just keep your type simple so it’s still readable.

Secondary Colors

Orange, green, and purple come from mixing two primaries. Secondary colors are a safe way to add contrast to pages without them looking too loud. 

Tertiary Colors

Mix a primary with a neighboring secondary and you’ll get shades like yellow-orange or blue-violet. These in-between shades are perfect for customizing your theme. For example, swap standard blue for blue-green to make a traditional palette feel more modern.

Color Harmony

Color harmony is about choosing combinations that are pleasing to the eye, and useful to you, the designer. Whether you’re creating a visual flow across a spread or building a full-book palette, these harmonies keep your pages cohesive.

Complementary Colors

These are opposites on the color wheel, like blue and orange or red and green. They create strong contrast. Use complementary color accents for headlines, callouts, or graphic elements. 

Split Complementary

Choose one color (yellow) and pair it with the two colors next to its opposite (blue). This gives you contrast without tension. For example, if your school color is yellow, balance it with pops of magenta and violet.

Analogous Colors

These sit next to each other on the wheel and are generally harmonious and soothing. If you’re getting started with color, use an analogous palette to determine your dominant, supporting, and accent colors. 

It’s easy to look at these and think you’re limited to three. Using varying tints and shades for value contrast will expand your palette. 

Triadic Colors

Triadic schemes use three evenly spaced colors on the wheel. We see this with the primary colors. Now shift over, you have the ultimate retro palette.

Monochromatic and Grayscale

One color, many values: Monochromatic palettes have so much potential. Purple can have varying degrees of school spirit, while black is sleek and modern. They create contrast, demonstrate intensity, and serve as a base to add accents for emphasis. 

Warm vs. Cool Colors

Warm and cool colors affect how your pages feel emotionally. Look at the two athletic examples above. You can feel the difference. In one, you're sweating with the team and on your feet. In the other, you're maintaining what's left of your voice, sipping cocoa under a blanket with your best friend.

Likewise, use color to determine how the student body will experience your verbal theme.

Putting It All Together

Here’s how to apply color theory to your yearbook:

• Pick a palette early. Choose up to five colors that support your theme and stick with them. Put them in your style guide.
• Use color to organize. You could assign colors to sections, use colors as the backgrounds to modules or pull quotes, or with your headline font to show points of entry.
• Make color intentional. “Don’t decorate… design” is every design teacher’s go-to for a reason. Be intentional and ask, “What mood am I trying to create?” “What color harmony supports that?” “Why isn’t this working?”
• Check accessibility. Make sure the text has enough contrast from its background.
• Balance bold and neutral. Too much color can overwhelm. Whitespace will always be your friend.

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In Treering’s inaugural Cover Design Contest, which—if we’re being real—was three concurrent contests, schools submitted their covers to one of three categories:

1. School Spirit – mascots, school colors, and anything else that shows off your community
2. Theme Development – an introduction to your visual and verbal theme
3. Elementary Student Art – original art by K-6 students

Students created original yearbook covers using paint, AI, colored pencils, crayons, mixed media, digital media, and pen and ink. Yearbook committees gave prompts that were open-ended, fixed, and everything in between. While many submissions were the result of a yearbook cover art contest, others were collaborative projects. All were steeped in the tradition of promoting student perspectives and community. 

Grand Prize Winner: Peace Valley Charter School, Boise, ID

“Waldorf schools instill a deep respect for the natural world, fellow human beings, and the spiritual elements in all beings,” said 6th-grade teacher Nichole Murray, whose students compete annually in the yearbook cover contest.

Murray, PCVS dad Jason Ropp, and yearbook coordinator Gigi Murfitt display the entries in the hallways so all students can see them and begin to dream ahead for their chance in the cover contest. PCVS teachers choose the winners, and first and second place go on the outside cover. All cover contest submissions appear inside the book.

“The elements of nature are expressed, and our mascot, the otter, symbolizes intelligence, playfulness, resilience, and adaptability,” they said.

Both art pieces caught the judges' attention because they used similar colors and exceptional lighting–one judge kept exclaiming, “The shadows!” 

The. Shadows.

The cover art introduces outsiders to the Waldorf philosophy, especially how the art curriculum helps nurture imagination, emotional intelligence, and a well-rounded intellect.

“Our mascot, the otter, symbolizes intelligence, playfulness, resilience, and adaptability,” Murray said.

The Final Five

Ladera Ranch Elementary School, Ladera Ranch, CA

Fifth grader Fiona Martin captivated us with the color explosion and detail on her cover design. PTA president Joya Celik said the yearbook team at LRES asked the students to create a design incorporating their mascot “that reflected courage, perseverance, and attaining [their] goals.”

Their 2024-2025 school theme was “Go for the Gold.” Martin surely did just that.

Normandale Elementary School, Edina, MN

Yearbook team leads Lauren Dickerson and Becky Sertich created a collaborative project for 5th-grade students. Taking their inspiration from water bottles, Chromebooks, and everything else tweens touch, they asked students to create their own “sticker” design.

They “scanned and edited [each submission] to add a white border (like a sticker) and to make the background transparent so the ‘stickers’ could be arranged on the cover like clip-art.”

The result? An on-trend, completely original yearbook cover that shows the personalities and priorities of promoting students.

Strawberry Elementary, Santa Rosa, CA

This one is also collaborative: the front and back covers are creations from 6th graders and the local high school (shout out Sonoma Academy in Santa Rosa) helped put it all together. The latter used AI design tools to expand the front cover art to wrap around to the back. On the back, they also created a composite of art.

“The high school students had originally envisioned a variety of student strawberries in the grass and eagles in the sky for this cover design,” yearbook coordinator Pamela Vincent said. “But [a] 6th grade student convinced them that one of the eagles could be arranged to carry a strawberry-filled basket.”

“In total, seven high school students and 11 elementary school students collaborated to make this cover a reality,” Vincent said.

Watchung Elementary School, Middlesex, NJ

Wrap-around cover, check. Multiple students’ art, check. This cover ticked all the boxes, and once we learned about the five-week process to create each self-portrait, we were even more in awe of what a PK-3 school produced.

“Students are placed in Polaroid frames to remind the third graders that no matter how much time goes by, their 3rd grade memories will remain the same,” Librarian Anne Erchicks said.

West Side Elementary School, Marietta, GA

The team at WSES made their 75th anniversary book an homage to late Principal Reid Brown's first yearbook theme. To convey “Shine Bright like a Diamond and Be the Best Bee You Can Be,” each student from kindergarten through 5th grade created their own bee and drew a diamond.

“Our yearbook team voted on using student art as the cover,” said yearbook coordinator Shelley Strack. “We also used the additional bees and diamonds throughout the yearbook as graphics.”

Strack and her team created contemporary art to celebrate Brown’s message. “I loved the use of new and old as a part of our yearbook,” she said.

In Treering’s inaugural Cover Design Contest, which—if we’re being real—was three concurrent contests, schools submitted their covers to one of three categories:

1. School Spirit – mascots, school colors, and anything else that shows off your community
2. Theme Development – an introduction to your visual and verbal theme
3. Elementary Student Art – original art by K-6 students

We said, “School,” you said, “Spirit.” Pride in your community shone through on every cover. 

Grand Prize Winner: Ruth Asawa San Francisco School of the Arts, San Francisco, CA

Mascot: Rainbow dragon
School colors: 15 colors representing 15 art departments

“Each of the dragon's colors represents one of the school's 15 arts departments. Those colors are carried through the rest of the design, appearing in the colorful garden that spans the bottom of the front and back cover, and in the text on the back cover where each department's name is written in its unique color,” said adviser Jeff Castleman, who also teaches drawing, painting, photography, and computer art.

This cover illustrates the adage, “Know the [design] rules, and break them.” Generally, we’d encourage a yearbook creator to avoid using 15 colors. Not Asawa Arts. 

They grouped warm colors for the sunset-inspired swirls, sandwiched between greens as grasses and blues in the skies. Each piece of flora has the base of the blues or pinks with pops of contrasting colors. Black lines hem it in.

A group of eight yearbook club students collaborated on the original illustration. The lead designers, both seniors, at Asawa Arts’ yearbook club developed the visual identity of the yearbook. They went from pencil sketches to creating their own computer-based line art. Six supporting designers (all juniors) filled it in with flowers, leaves, mushrooms, and butterflies. 

On the spine and in the dragon’s hands are roses. “The rainbow dragon symbolizes our school spirit,” Castleman said, “and the rose it holds represents our guiding principles.”

The acronym representing Respect, Openness, Safety, and Engagement is part of the campus as much as it is part of the culture.

Castleman appreciated the flexibility of working with his students to create the vision and fully customize the yearbook cover. He said each year, the yearbook team re-imagines the dragon, giving it a different feel, from East Asian and Medieval to this year’s psychedelic interpretation.

“We think of [the cover] as the crowning jewel on a bespoke book,” Castleman said.

Castleman's team earned a Treering-sponsored back-to-school ice cream bash for their campus.

The Final Five

Brooklyn International School, Brooklyn, NY

Mascot: none

“Our school is a very tight community as our students come from many backgrounds trying to achieve the American Dream, but not forgetting their roots,” Norma Gaytan said.

Gaytan’s students represented their classmates with flags and artifacts from their home countries.

Gloria Deo Academy, Springfield, MO

Mascot: Lion

This is the cover we expected: school colors and a mascot boldly proclaiming school spirit. The texture in the mane and near-watermark incarnations of the lion on the back adds texture.

Mid-Pacific Institute Preschool and Elementary, Honolulu, HI

Mascot: Pueo (Hawaiian Owl)

The drone photo in honor of Mid-Pacific’s 20th anniversary is impressive enough. We loved the before and after images.

Adviser Abbey said, “The students learned about how to use a grid to scale an image, practicing in art. We then applied the math to create a giant grid on our courtyard and replicated our school mascot with field paint.”

Montera Middle School, Oakland, CA

Mascot: Toro

Student art always holds a special place in our hearts. Montera’s cover art extended from the front to the back cover, making a bold statement of school spirit.

Olympia Regional Learning Academy, Olympia, WA

Mascot: Orca

The symbolism in the student art evokes powerful sentiments of school spirit. Both contest winners captured the essence of the K-12 campus’ mentoring ethos. On the front, a mother and baby orca represent the cooperative role ORLA provides. 

“We take our cooperative role with the families very seriously and we could not have the kind of school or kind of students we have without the role the caregivers provide, both at home and at our school,” adviser Rachel McKaughan said.

“The back cover also represents the playful spirit we have at the school with our many hands-on electives, she said, “where students are able to discover and express many different talents.”

From each submission, we learned school spirit is more than a sports team or school song steeped in tradition. It is comprised of community features: shared values and overarching identity. Thank you to the 300+ schools that shared their story with us.

Scroll through your yearbook ladder and try not to panic at page after page of emptiness. To help with planning, we compiled this list with the understanding that you would have the meat and potatoes of a yearbook:

• School portraits
• Candid photos
• Headlines

New at this? Pick one or two to include in this year’s yearbook. As your tenure as an adviser grows, so can your repertoire of things to include.

1. Autograph Space

This is why we throw yearbook distribution parties. It’s why we wait until the last vote is counted in the ASB election and last ribbon is awarded at field day. Three weeks after clicking “I’m Ready to Print,” boxes of books magically show up.

Autograph pages are easy to include in your yearbook: you use a pre-made template or design your own. It doesn’t have to be fancy.

2. Table of Contents

This is the most underrated spread in the book, a table of contents is the must-have launch pad for the reference book that is your school annual. It’s also something that can take a few clicks to create, if you’re using a Treering theme.

3. Collage Layouts

Many times, we see upwards of 60 photos slapped on a spread with no layout structure. The number of students covered is overshadowed by a chaotic layout.

PSA: Just because Treering offers layouts with up to 65 photos, doesn’t mean you should use them. Every student should be recognizable. Aim for their faces to be the size of a dime.

4. Superlatives

Superlatives—is Greg Heffley the only one who calls them “class favorites?”—are yearbook awards based on student surveys. These “Most Likely to…” awards highlight standouts. 

Check out our list of 100 superlatives focused on creativity, character, and community contributions.

5. Year-in-Review Spread

Unless your yearbook is chronological, including a year-in-review spread is a way to increase storytelling. It gives a holistic overview of the year, both in and out of school.

School-Level

A designated school year-in-review spread can feature images from events throughout the year, giving an overview of the activities and achievements across campus. Many yearbook creators love to use them for photos that may not have “fit” anywhere else or as a way to cover different students from saturated events pages.

We adapted it. Search "calendar" under "all page templates" to include this in your yearbook.

World-Level

Some schools include what happens beyond school walls on a year-in-review spread. To do this quickly, use Treering’s pre-designed one.

Yearbook classes and clubs that want to create their own should

• Meet and list the significant events at the end of each month; focus on moments students will remember, from sports championships to viral challenges.
• Use royalty-free websites to safely and ethically source images.
• Give credit where it is due: place a photo attribution in small text under the photo, in a sidebar, or on the colophon page.

Keep in mind: if your year-in-review pages include celebrities, logos, photos someone on your staff did not capture, even in educational yearbooks, you may run the risk of copyright. The Student Press Law Center has a digestible guide on fair use for student media.

6. Storytelling Photos

Both classroom moments and hallway hangouts show student life on campus. It’s important to include candids, academic photos, and even lunchtime snaps to balance posed portraits.

7. Content on Portrait Pages

Another way to break up posed portraits is to include content on portrait pages.

Shrinking your portraits to free up space for storytelling photos or even feature coverage, deepens your coverage and adds value to class pages.

8. Stories and Captions

This is last on the list, not least on the list. Regulars to the blog have seen this charge before: If there is no writing in your yearbook, add captions. 

Master them. Then, include expanded captions. Then, body copy. 

No matter your team size, you can include extras in the yearbook that elevate it beyond a photo album and make the difference between a book that gets browsed and one that’s cherished.

When beginning to develop your yearbook theme, the choice of a traditional or trendy theme determines the layout design and the overall feel of the book. Many see traditional and trendy as opposing ends of a design spectrum. We hope to show you how you can fuse them as you create your yearbook theme.

Traditional Design

Traditional yearbooks can be timeless. Their design structure is safe and predictable, easing readers through each turn of the page. Their appeal is not limited to students: parents, teachers, and alumni also feel included. 

When following traditional design, design elements such as consistency, repetition, alignment, and proximity bring beauty and order to the design. Everything has a place and a purpose. 

Some may argue that traditional design takes away from creative freedom, and they opt for the opposite: a yearbook led by a visual trend.

Trendy Design

Inspired by a new social media platform or pop culture movement, trendy yearbook themes can be the creative equivalent of a blank check. Graphics and layouts can be playful, dynamic, buzzworthy, or a combination of all three! The immediate response from the student body is reactive, in a good way, because a trendy theme is an in-the-moment one. 

Beyond hashtag sensations, fashion and art trends may drive the visual concept. Retro, scrapbook, and organic yearbook themes capture the spirit of students. Each conceptually has an authentic vibe and pushes traditional design norms by being more aligned with a DIY ethos. 

Cons of Using a Trendy Yearbook Theme

Because they are deeply connected with a visual concept, they may not be fully developed verbally, leaving the theme concept feeling unfinished. While trendy yearbook themes immediately connect with the student body, they may also quickly feel outdated. 

Take a look at these three tech-inspired Treering themes. Each captures a specific moment over the past ten years: the advent of "likes," virtual classrooms, and a glow up.

How to Choose?

The best way to select a visual identity is to begin with the verbal. What story do you want to tell? Why?

Think about longevity and what value you want the yearbook to have in ten years or more. Determine if you want to create another volume in your school’s legacy or capture a specific moment.

Classic and Current: A Blended Approach

A traditional book can feel dull with page after page of safe design. Conversely, a trendy book without proper hierarchy and balance feels chaotic. That’s why we advocate for trend-forward with timeless structure; it’s the Hannah Montana of yearbooks. Traditional design grounds the book, and trends bring it to life. 

Ideas to blend traditional and trendy design:

1. Font pairings: Use contrast to create your headlines

2. Color palette: Add a pop of color to a traditional color palette

3. Visual “hits”: Use up to three elements throughout the book to add variation

4. Showstopper spreads: Punctuate portrait pages with a highly visual spread

5. Trending treatment: Add a photo treatment to break up a traditional layout

Keep in mind, great design never goes out of style. And, when paired with quality captions and copy to tell the story of the year, that’s what makes your yearbook stand the test of time.

You, too, believe every child deserves the spotlight. And when you took on the open-ended challenge to celebrate in style, your creativity, honesty, and heart were on full display.

We're honored to showcase the showstopping designs and the stories of the creators who brought them to life.

Grand Prize Winner

Narrowing down over 1021 entries to the top 100 took two days. We reviewed every submission carefully, appreciating the heart behind each one. Designs that went beyond the template rose to the top because they had personal touches.

In each round of evaluations and re-sorting, one spread stood out and eventually became the $500 Grand Prize Winner.

Why we loved it: It showed how design can be energetic and balanced. Both the warm colors and shooting stars are lively.

"It screams, 'third grade,'" a judge said.

And yet, with all that is going on, the main entry point is still the headline, and your eyes move in a circular pattern. There are verbal guides to highlight the five main sections. Cotari keeps it grounded by using a consistent photo style and typeface.

Cotari said, "It matches [my daughter's] personal style, hobbies and interests, and her playful personality!"

POV: People Sent their Favorite Moments and Somehow they're OURS Too!

Nearly all the submissions captured a different perspective: students shone across academics, athletics, and activities. Grandparents held places of honor and remembrance. Together, we gushed over pet pics and cried over stories of overcoming trials. Check out the top 100 submissions before seeing the Big Ten.

Thank you for embracing the spirit of Treering's custom pages and giving your child the spotlight.

Custom Page Design Contest Finalists aka the Big Ten

A group of judges combed through the top 100 to create the top 25, then top 15, and finally, the top ten. Each of the runners up earned a $50 Amazon gift card for their visual interest and originality.

Tonya Renoud, Sweet Home, OR

Why we loved it: Renoud had us at start here.

"When he looks through these years later, he can walk down memory lane," she said.

This is exactly what she gave us. There is a path peppered with highlights from the end of summer to the start of next summer. Pets—this might be our first-ever duck submission—are especially timestamps in childhood.

Valerie Shannon, Findley, OH

Why we loved it: Brutus and Boden.

At a glance, these two family members stand out because of their cute factor. Once we stopped to read, Shannon won us over with her tongue-in-cheek copy, which she called a "fun peek into our homeschool day."

"The theme of this year's contest was 'Every Child Deserves the Spotlight,'" a judge said, "and she managed to use her spread to give four kids, the dog, and herself a moment to shine."

Shannon's design is clean despite being full of copy. We love how she chose a color palette and anchored each family member's daily routine with one color using a tool line and circular frame. Both the frame and the knockout on the heading text are offset. It's these little details that elevate the design.

Therese Wright, Albuquerque, NM

Why we loved it: This was one of two magazine-style custom pages that captivated us. We loved the torn elements and how Wright used the black paper to highlight moments from her daughter's senior year. For Wright, these design elements held further meaning:

"Torn pages with rough edges, curving tracks, splashes of pink (representing moments of easier breathing) brighten up the darker moments that have strung these ups and downs together and keep her rock 'n rollin toward an unknown future, able to face each new challenge and sing, 'I am ready! Hold Tight!'" Wright said.

The watermarked roller coaster further illustrates the Wright Family's journey, which began with a 17-month ICU stay. Despite countless hospitalizations, communication barriers, and daily health challenges, Wright's daughter has persevered with strength and joy, communicating through American Sign Language and music.

This is the ultimate senior celebration.

"Albuquerque Sign Language Academy gave her a voice in the world and a place to belong from 1st grade to 12th," Wright said.

Tracy Guara, Katy, TX

Why we loved it: The photos as badges caught the judges' eyes, as many identified with this milestone as troop leaders or former Brownies.

"This is a moment in time," said a judge. "It's exactly what custom pages should be."

Guara's daughter is a fourth-generation Girl Scout who achieved badge and cookie-selling goals.

"I was honored to create this spread mimicking a Girl Scout Brownie sash," Guara said.

Hannah Wong, Knoxville, TN

Why we loved it: It looks complicated.

"This spread is not just a collection of photos and milestones," Wong said, "it's a heartfelt tribute to her dedication, growth, and the pride I feel as her parent."

The layers made it rich. With a single photo as background across the spread, Wong layered photos, editable shapes, and textboxes to create this magazine-inspired look. Even with all the content, she maintained alignment in her columns (the designers really geeked out over this) and pulled color from the background to connect the top five headlines.

While it looks complicated, the layout is clean and straightforward to recreate with Treering tools.

Dana Denning, Albuquerque, NM

Why we loved it: Everything points us into the spread.

Denning's choice and use of graphics here are masterful: the plane is flying toward the center, the arrow points to the center, and even the shadows on the skyline at the base of the spread lead toward the center. Additionally, her spread uses a design hierarchy we don't see outside of traditional yearbook pages.

Rolly Garcia, Macon, GA

Why we loved it: It's cliche, but this spread truly put the cool in school. With playful colors, encouraging graphics, and photos of highlights in- and outside the classroom, Garcia captured the spirit of early childhood education.

"The filmstrip has those fine motor milestones in the classroom," said an educator-slash-judge. "We see pencil grip and dexterity skills developing."

Garcia said, "A notable element in the design is the paper airplane, which symbolizes the concept of 'soaring'—reflecting the idea that when students learn and grow, they are empowered to reach new heights."

Kirsten Megaro, Great Meadows, NJ

Why we loved it: Megaro's extra touches of texture made us want second, third, and thirtieth looks.

"I know this was made in the Treering app," said a judge, "but I can't help but think it was first a pen-and-ink creation in a notebook during math class."

The judges loved the rectangle at an angle, the use of circles, and the font choices. They also emphasized the black scribbles and frames, which brought clarity to what could have been a complicated visual.

"We want to celebrate and remember the 'regular' moments of life," Megaro said, "not just the school-related stuff, so these pages allow us to do that and we love being able to look back on them from year to year."

Ashley Babelon, Chicago, IL

Why we loved it: Max's kinder to-do list became an "eye spy" moment for us. We wanted to see if he ticked all the boxes. (He did!)

"Max also loves 'Toy Story' and Minions, and so the color scheme and font act as a mini time capsule of the things our little boy loves right now," Babelon said.

Ileana King, Stevenson Ranch, CA

Why we loved it: From the interview to the before-during-after photos, we loved the depth of coverage on this spread.

King said, "To add a fun twist, I used AI to create the sticker of a capybara and a T-rex, two of his favorite animals, riding a roller coaster. Then I added Treering graphics to make it look like Space Mountain, which is my son's favorite roller coaster."

One of the judges said, "This is one of the things you pull out when a future daughter-in-law comes over."

Thanks to all who entered and shared their story with us.

Scrapbooks are deeply personal and emotionally charged. They’re where Millennial moms stash ticket stubs, scribbled notes, and snapshots. Students also lean towards the collage aesthetic via pop culture inspiration—like the Burn Book in “Mean Girls” or My Adventure Book in “Up.”

While the Burn Book itself is not the kind of sentiment you want to capture in a school yearbook, its visual style has inspired many scrapbook-themed designs: magazine cutout lettering, sticker overload, and chaos-meets-craft aesthetic speak to the way students envision personal memory books. 

Likewise, Carl and Ellie’s book is a love letter to scrapbooking itself. It balances whimsy, sincerity, and nostalgia. (We’re not crying. OK, maybe a little.)

Three Free Treering Themes to Get the Scrapbook Vibe

One of the best parts of the scrapbook yearbook theme is its flexibility. You can up the visual intensity depending on your staff’s skill level and your community’s taste. We have three complete yearbook themes that model scrapbook yearbooks. 

Because a scrapbook style mimics personal journaling, students feel connected. It looks like their notes, their lockers, and, to an extent, their social feeds. The collage-inspired layouts also let you pack in more visual content, perfect for schools that crowdsource images from parents, staff, and students.

“Crafted” - Intro to the DIY Aesthetic

The 75 pre-designed templates have built-in white space and subtle borders, which gives a clean scrapbook look. The 64 graphics, which include a variety of torn papers and tapes, allow teams to add variety and rough edges. This look works well for journalistic high school books that want polish with personality.

“Collage” - Scrapbooking to the Max(imalist)

Lean into creative chaos with 862(!) design elements. This theme mimics a real-life scrapbook packed with overlapping images, ripped notebook paper, buttons, stickers, and magazine-style clippings. Because it is a maximalist look, you can create unity among the varied elements by

• Using the magazine letter for headlines and a clean font for body copy and captions
• Keeping photos to rectangles

“Venture” - the Vintage Journal

Inspired by antique books, this yearbook theme includes 100 aged paper backgrounds plus 616 graphics including typewriter keys, delicate handwritten fonts, antique elements, and photo corners. The textures and photorealistic elements work well in layers with a handwritten or type-writer font. Like the maximalist approach above, remember the rules of design to keep it from looking cluttered.

A scrapbook yearbook theme works at any level, elementary, middle, or high school. It can look rustic and handmade. Retro and analog. Colorful and chaotic. Minimalist and soft. The best part? It doesn’t lock you into a single aesthetic—it's more of a concept than a rulebook.

We asked you to “show us what you got” and you understood the assignment. The diversity of subjects—portrait, divider, baby photo, staff, senior tributes, superlatives, arts, and athletics spreads—coupled with the styles, themes, and narratives left us inspired. 

Thank you.

It sounds cliche to say it was tough to comb through hundreds of submissions, read your stories, and examine everything from how photos were cropped to how they balanced across the spread. But you delivered quite the challenge.

A panel of yearbook and design professionals, PTA parents, and journalists looked through every submission in a blind judging. They evaluated your submissions on

• Layout design
• Storytelling
• Visual elements and their relevance to content

Grand Prize Winner: Northern High School, Durham, NC

Remember those prom dress-I’ll-know-when-I-see-it vibes? That was our impression of Northern High’s homecoming spread. It was unanimous. As soon as the panel saw this spread, “This is it.” 

The “Polaris” staff at Northern High earned ten free yearbooks, a $500 Amazon gift card, and a $200 pizza party to enjoy as a staff.

“Our goal is twofold: To show that we are all part of our school community and school culture and to illustrate that there's more to us than meets the eye,” junior Nourriah Scott said.

Their yearbook theme, “All 'N' the Details," is both traditional (check out the classic typography) while adding modern design elements. Their theme goes beyond the visual and uses the narrative to showcase all aspects of an event.

“As the viewer travels through the spread,” Scott said, “they learn there's more to it: the court, the cheerleaders, the band, the crowd. Homecoming is just a single event in the course of an entire school year, and look how many people and parts of our school are involved in making it magical.”

Why we Loved this Design:

The details emerge once you get beyond the wow factor from the colors. Homecoming is written in a font similar to a letterman’s jacket and, as the main entry point to the spread, is behind the football team. This is a student-first design.

Additionally, the use of COB (cut-out background) photos enhances the design. The yearbook team positioned the sharp edge in the gutter and used a gradient to fade out the other.

Design hierarchy also played a key role. The story crosses both pages, bolded ledes give the reader even more entry points, and candid photos highlight all the participant groups. They indeed are “All ‘N.”

Bonus: As a Title I school, the “Polaris” staff does not have access to Adobe or other paid design tools. They created their winning spread using the Treering yearbook builder and free, web-based photo editing tools.

Runners Up

For hours, we had a solid 26 spreads on display and our panel highlighted the merits of each. When we returned to the original judging criteria, five emerged. In alphabetical order by school name, the following schools each earned three free yearbooks and a $50 Amazon gift card.

Finalist: East Stroudsburg High School North, Dingmans Ferry, PA

While this isn't the first time we've seen a streaming media look, it is one of the best iterations. The team at ESHSN used the cheer individual photos to create a movie poster on the right and recapped the season as the program description. 

Across the top are the TWOLF values “intended to promote the application of knowledge, develop healthy identities and decision-making skills, achieve goals, manage emotions, show empathy, and establish healthy relationships,” Adviser Keisha Agard-Thomassine said.

Why we Loved this Design

One word: color. The school color is front and center in a spread centered around the spirit-makers. Timberwolf blue is used on the yearbook logo and as a button. The analogous purple makes it pop further.

“We beam with pride over here,” Agard-Thomassine said.

The subtle detail of the group photo in the background adds another layer of complexity to a bold and balanced spread.

Finalist: North Star Academy, Redwood City, CA

Without seeing the entire book, you know there is a strong connection to theme: the aqua and goldenrod ovals and bold typeface are evidence of a solid style guide. 

Adviser Carol Landers has a class of 30 students in grades 4-8 who help work on the book. She reserved this tribute to promoting students for herself.

Why we Loved this Design

Each eighth grader had their moment to shine with both a personality photo and a baby photo. Landers said parents contributed “photos of their students holding an object or pet or doing an activity that is important to [them].”

This highlights each student individually while using the promotion year 25 as the thread that connects them. Brilliant.

Landers employed a Google Form to solicit submissions from parents, and she’s planning ahead: “I just learned about Treering’s ‘secondary photo’ feature, so I look forward to trying that out next year.”

Finalist: Seabury Hall, Makawao, HI

“This spread is not just a collection of memories but a tribute to the dedication and creativity of Seabury Hall’s performing arts program,” designer Ethan Berry said, “preserving moments that will inspire future generations.”

Adviser Dakota Grossman is proud of Berry, a sophomore, who worked on this page solo. She said she helped in the brainstorming phase, and this is just one of his designs for Seabury Hall’s scrapbook-themed yearbook.

Why we Loved this Design:

Grossman said, “[Berry] truly paid attention to every detail—there's meaning behind every photo, graphic, and sentence on that page.”

That intentionality appears in the second, third, and fourth looks: beyond the colors, layers, and texture are student voices, photos of the cast in action, and a passionate narrative from the program director. 

Visually, it is stunning. The narrative is compelling. 

We wholeheartedly echo Grossman’s pride in Berry. 

Finalist: Vanguard Beethoven Secondary, Pharr, TX

Bright, nostalgic, and playful, this spread is a showstopper. Baby photos capture the earliest moments of every senior’s journey, making this spread a heartfelt tribute.

Why we Loved this Design:

Aguilar’s vision is to blend a traditional yearbook with a multimedia presentation for the 58 seniors on their growing campus. 

“The plan was to scatter all senior baby pictures,” Aguilar said. “I took it to the next level and created a media slideshow and have a QR [code] for everyone to view.”

It’s an elevated take on a yearbook classic. And we’re here for it.

Finalist: Washington Montessori Public Charter School, Washington, NC

Senior Cadence Mallette’s creation could not go in any yearbook. This is uniquely WMPCS. She organized the yearbook team to capture student art, photos of the school and students interacting with their environment, student quotes, and a campus map. If that were a to-do list, it would look overwhelming.

Mallard made it work.

Why we Loved this Design:

We loved the mixed-media approach to this spread. Students in grades kindergarten through 11 submitted animals that share their habitat with WMPCS. Seniors drew the school mascot, a bald eagle. The winners made it on the spread.

Adviser Meredith Loughlin said this approach “united our yearbook group members while connecting them with our local ecosystem.”

This focus on unity also made it a winner. Sometimes, K-12 communities create separate upper and lower school content. Mallette’s design gives us a picture of whole-school approach.

Honorable Mentions

Because that’s not enough yearbook design inspiration, we want to call out these brilliant designs from elementary, middle, high, charter, and home schools.

Academy Days Co-op, Alliance Ouchi-O'Donovan 6-12 Complex, Alliance Renee and Meyer Luskin, Academy High School, Alma d'arte Charter High School, American Community School, Ancheta Academy, Assumption Catholic School, Atlanta Speech School - Stepping Stones, Atsa' Biya' A'ZH Community School, Auburn Hills Christian School, Avalon Middle School, Azle Christian School, Brush Middle School, Camas Connect Academy, Carencro High, CHESS Christian School, Chesterton Elementary School, City Garden School, Classical Conversations Folsom, Coconut Creek Elementary School, Cranberry Area High School, Cunha Intermediate School, Davis Intermediate School, Delhi High School, East Moline Early Learning Center, El Sobrante Christian School, El Tejon Middle School, Foothills Community Christian School, Fort Fairfield High School, Frank Bergman Elementary, Franklin Elementary School, Frederick Douglass High School, Frost ISD, Gate City Elementary, GEMS World Academy, Ghidotti Early College High School, Glencliff High School, Global Impact Academy, Global Impact Academy STEM High School, Heritage Christian School, Hilger Higher Learning, Hinsdale Elementary School, HomeWorks, HOPE Christian Academy, Indian Prairie Elementary School, John Glenn High School, Joyful Journey, Kennedy Middle School, Lakeside Christian School, Lakeside Elementary, Liberty Christian School, Maple Manor, Marfa, Marsh Grammar School, Martin J. Gottlieb Day School, Mary Morgan Elementary School, Maywood Center for Enriched Studies, Meiklejohn Elementary, Midland Elementary, Miraglia's Globetrotters, Mt. Everett Regional, NJWT New Jerusalem Worship Temple, North Bergen High School, O'Farrell Charter School, Options For Youth, Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School, Pinewood Intermediate, Pioneer Junior High, PRCES, Prune Hill Elementary, Quail Run Elementary, Rincon, University Marching Band, RISE HS, Rocky Mountain Classical Academy, Rocky Mountain Deaf School, Roseville Pathways, Ruth Batson Academy, Sacred Hearts School, Shatekon Elementary School, Shirley Hills Primary School, Smith Community Christian Co-Op, Soldier Hollow Charter School, Soldotna High School, South Orangetown Middle School, St. Jude Catholic School, Stratford Schools Fremont Boulevard, Stuart Paddock, Students On Academic Rise (S.O.A.R. High School), Swansea High Freshman Academy, Tandem Friends School, Tenor High School, Tenor High School | Cathedral Square Campus, TGU Granville, The Learning Connection (TLC), The Nova Center, Thomas J. McMahon Elementary School, Thomas Russell Middle School, Tri-County Homeschoolers, Victor H. Hexter Elementary, Vista del Mar, Wallace Elementary, Washington Middle School, Westlake Elementary, Westmont Jr. High School, Westside Global Awareness Magnet, Willett Elementary School

Yearbook divider pages are just that: they divide the book topically. Generally showstoppers, these spreads share similar layouts as they introduce the content within while reinforcing the yearbook theme. While they aren’t the pages over which students argue for editing rights, they hold deep editorial power. Divider pages enforce the book’s identity while giving each section a voice.

Use Dividers to Develop Your Theme

Yearbook theme development starts on the cover and flows through the book visually and verbally. It wows on designated theme pages. These pages include

• Opening and closing
• Table of contents
• Divider pages

Independent of the book, these theme pages form a cohesive “brand” package for your year. They repeat and reflect cover elements. They have the same voice. They develop the story of the year through copy and visuals. Each divider reflects the theme and shows how it impacts that section.

Do epic dividers mean you no longer have to include theme elements throughout the book? Think again. They’re just one more way to level up your design.

An Example from Magnolia Middle School

From the start, the book is gold and black, with pops of the school color, red. The simple title page has the theme "Stay Gold" and the school information. The iconic 50-year-old Magnolia Grove walkway is the only original part of the school remaining after a major renovation. The yearbook team re-visits the grove for the closing page.

Here are the divider pages. Notice how they created a unified narrative:

• Magnolia repeats key elements: script font, circular callout for pull quotes, and gold dots.
• The new building is the visual feature and showcases how students impact each area.
• Wordplay: “The Golden Age of the Bulldogs,” “The Gold Standard,” “Shining Example,” “Shine On,” and “Thanks a Bullion” all tie back to the book’s theme, “Stay Gold.” (Fun fact: the book is built using Treering’s free yearbook theme with the same name.)

Essential Yearbook Sections

Like a table of contents, divider pages help readers navigate the yearbook. They help reset and refocus readers. 

Most yearbooks include designated sections for

• People (portraits)
• Academics
• Student life
• Organizations and clubs
• Athletics
• Reference (index, ads, and teams)

You may further divide with lower/upper school, fall/winter/spring sports, or even subject dividers for larger campuses. 

Creating Divider Pages

Consistency is key when designing divider pages, OK any yearbook spread. While each divider should highlight a unique section, they should all share common design elements to maintain a cohesive look. These elements can include using the same fonts, color palette, and layout style across all dividers. Repeating theme elements, such as graphics or photo styles, help reinforce the yearbook's identity while keeping readers oriented. 

Yearbook coverage ideas might be our favorite topic: brainstorming ways to represent more students, resulting in a more authentic narrative of the school year. It could also mean more photos, interviews, and work for you. After a colleague shared Kingsbury Country Day School’s yearbook, a lightbulb went off. Yearbook coordinator Kara-Jane LaVoisne created the perfect layout that includes over 60 students, highlighting their impact and participation in school events.

Why We Love This Template

This spread packs a punch because it covers a large span of time in little space. It covers 24% of the school across two pages. It showcases events that would not be covered elsewhere. This template is also well-designed: it’s clean and has multiple reader entry points.

Home For Smaller Events

Oftentimes, we have several photos that don’t fit on a larger spread. This is especially common in books that do not take advantage of modular design. LaVoisne took advantage of those moments to create a means to include them.

Versatility

While LaVoisne used this template for a school-specific year-in-review, you can use it once per section or season. For example:

1. Fall, winter, and spring PTA or ASB events
2. An overview of the sports seasons
3. Semester rundown of student life

If you’re feeling ambitious and have the content, an hour-by-hour review of a major school event such as the talent show or homecoming weekend could be a showstopper spread for your yearbook.

What’s most important: your yearbook team celebrates the people in your campus community. This layout is just one way to cover more students in your yearbook. For more creative yearbook coverage inspiration, check out:

• Collage Page Ideas
• Six Ideas to Fill Pages
• 3 Content Ideas for Portrait Pages

This is the heart of Treering’s Yearbook Club webinars. Teachers looking for classroom support and parent volunteers looking for a launch pad can find resources and how-tos throughout the school year at no cost.

Synchronous Instruction

If you don’t speak teacher-ese (or don’t care to on your prep period), this just means it’s live. This real-time interaction means attendees receive instant responses to their questions. (Full disclosure: occasionally, we divert from the script because the group’s needs demand it.)

Direct Access to Expertise

See what happens when you bring together staff members from product knowledge, marketing, and community advocacy. No PowerPoint slides. No hypotheticals. All yearbook. 

We Believe in Show and Tell

Starting at Treering.com, every webinar shows you how to create, get inspiration, and receive help. We show you how to customize your styles and settings, find marketing materials, and maximize the automations in Treering’s yearbook builder.

Each month, new advisers can join a Getting Started webinar to get an overview of the design and print process. As you progress through your yearbook journey other webinars are available, including Treering Live, our flagship virtual yearbooking event and topical sessions on portrait, advanced design, and theme development.

Your Yearbook Your Way

Yearbook creation isn’t a one-size-fits-all process. Neither are Yearbook Club webinars. We’ll show you all your options to make your yearbook represent your population, from changing up backgrounds to creating custom word art.

The Yearbook Club team releases new Tip Tuesday videos each week on YouTube.

Community

Call it networking, if that’s your thing. In the live chat, attendees exchange ideas and strategies. 

On a personal note, I’ve met some yearbook advisers in the chat who have become contributors to this blog, and I’d like to think lifelong friends. We celebrate professional and personal milestones together. Occasionally, family pics pop into my inbox, or we text a timely yearbook meme. 

No one else understands what being a yearbook coordinator is like outside this small world. I’m going to seek support from those who do.

It’s fall, and we’re all going crazy about yearbook themes. After your team decides on the collective story to tell, consider how you will communicate it visually. If you haven’t yet, use student art on the yearbook cover to celebrate and showcase the diverse talents of the student body. It adds a unique, only-on-our-campus touch, which we love. After all, customization is our thing.

Custom Cover Advice from the Pros

The Treering Design Team helps roughly 200 schools annually with their cover issues. The biggest piece of advice: make sure you have enough bleed. This keeps art from being cut off in the scanning process. We always say to get those printed proofs ordered early; this is one more reason.

They also suggest advisers understand the technical requirements so your art prints sharply and vibrantly: 

• Scan the page at 300 DPI or higher
• Save it as a JPG or PNG
• Upload the image to Treering as a photo

Ideas For Gathering Student Art

Student art is that simple: it’s art from students. Whether you source it with an intra-campus partnership or create a school-wide drive, 

Cover Collaborations

Class projects, such as collaborations with art teachers, get students outside the yearbook room involved. (And really, this is marketing gold: you’re building a relationship with a group who are now stakeholders in your final project.) 

Yearbook volunteer Lauren D. shared how they went from classroom to yearbook cover with an art project at Normandale Elementary. The art teacher used batik patterns made by her students into creatures for their yearbook cover.

How to Do a Yearbook Cover Art Contest

“I believe that students should be the driving force behind the yearbook's design,” said yearbook Adviser Julie R. She uses a cover contest to showcase student art. She asks students to use school colors and to “represent what learning and school look like to them.” Her yearbook team looks through the submissions and selects the one that most authentically captures the year.

If you share Julie’s POV and want to do your own contest, you’ll want to communicate the following:

• Dates for the contest: submission window, evaluation period, and announcement of the winner(s)
• Art requirements: paper size and orientation, medium, required elements (e.g., school motto)
• Judging criteria
• If you have any grade or class restrictions (some schools hold the contest with the highest grade or limit it to students in the art program)

Explain the contest rules in advance to avoid unnecessary tears, hurt feelings, and frustration.  Depending on the number of entries received, all can be included in the yearbook. Check out how these schools integrated their runners-up.

Student Art on the Front and Back Cover 

This is the most popular approach: the winner on the front and runners-up on the back.

Student Art Throughout the Book

Think about it: if you asked students to represent your verbal theme through their submissions, why wouldn’t you use their interpretations throughout the book?

Tag us on social media (Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X) to show us how you use student talent to foster pride in your school community.