Yearbook hero Laura Dauley’s winning design tips

Treering Yearbook Heroes is a monthly feature focusing on yearbook tips and tricks.

Every year, Laura Dauley writes her kids a letter. Part recap, part encouragement, these letters get tucked away in a treasured collection. This year, the mom-of-two switched things up and added it to the yearbook. And entered it in a design contest. And won said contest. We asked Dauley, as the K-8 division winner of the Memory Marvels 2024 Custom Page Design Contest, to share her tips for creating an authentic, memorable custom page design… that won’t embarrass.

How did you come up with your design?

Harper’s moving on to high school. I wanted to commemorate 11 years at the same school, from first days to playground memories. Digging through photos from the same time every year was emotional. I included our dogs and her brother, who’s been with her every step of the way, to remind her of all they shared.

It was a fine balance to not select a pic she wouldn’t be embarrassed over. There are many memories and experiences, so I also didn’t want it to be chaotic. 

What does it mean for your daughter to have space dedicated to HER in her book?

What’s cooler than your eighth-grade yearbook? 

This was in the context of something she was already excited about: her friends, and her memories. And I got to tack on to that. Only she had this. When they pass around the yearbooks, she has something special and unique. Her custom pages allowed me to make an emotional connection with her.

She also thought it was cool that her pages won. She’s always been proud of me making things for her along the way.

You’re a designer by trade. What advice do you have for parents getting started with their custom pages?

Less is more. Keep it simple. Focus first on what you want to feature and then add graphics. Don’t start with flashy, arbitrary graphics. Here’s the process for Harper’s custom pages:

• Images first
• Then the letter
• Then years, color scheme, and typefaces

It could be a daunting task. Even if you don’t know design, you can make a really cool page. I told all my friends to go online and start with the Treering templates. I was surprised with the flexibility and that I could create something from scratch.