Effective design grabs the reader’s attention and leads the eye into the page. It brings focus to the content rather than the design itself. Follow the five basic rules of design to create compelling yearbook spreads (two facing pages).

View the step-by-step Advanced Page Design tutorial.

1. Create consistent and interesting layouts
   • Choose a single design template for each section of your yearbook.
   • Place white space to the outside (at least 6 picas) to allow for captions.
   • Vary the size and orientation (horizontal and vertical) of the elements.
      
2. Establish a column plan with consistent margins and inner spacing
   • Design templates with multiple columns. More columns in the template allow more flexibility in the placement of the elements.
   • Use exterior margins to define the page border.
   • Create one pica (one-sixth of an inch) interior margins between columns.
   • Place all elements (photos, copy) to the edge of a column but do not cross into the internal spacing. Elements can straddle multiple columns. Remember that readers will not actually see the columns; they are for design purposes only.
      
3. Include a dominant photo
   • Use a dominant photo on each spread to unify the pages, provide balance and establish external margins.
   • Extend the dominant photo to the edge of or through the gutter.
   • Set the dominant photo so that it is 2 to 2 ½ times larger than any other photo on the spread.
      
4. Create balance
   • Place each element one pica from surrounding elements working from the inside of the spread toward the margins.
   • Place captions next to the associated photo (under, above, beside). Avoid sandwiching captions between photos or stacking more than two together horizontally or vertically.
      
5. Keep it simple
   • Limit the number of elements. Using many different elements can result in a busy design that lacks focus.
   • Include no more than one or two special treatments such as oval photos, cut-out photos or additional white space around photos.
   • Use restraint with type. Consider choosing one serif, one sans serif and a script font for accent for the entire book or for each section.

View Volumes Sample Pages that incorporate these design rules.