Over the years I’ve shared many a family yearbook post here on the blog, but this one is a special one for me. Prior to now my posts have always, always been about Project Life + Blurb. It was my ‘system’ and I stuck with it for eight years.
And it worked fine until suddenly I yearned for something simpler. So I searched for a quicker + easier method and here we are! This book was designed at the Printique website for free, no software needed. It took me 3-4 hours to design the whole thing (instead of 20+ hours using Project Life) and I really love how it turned out. I created an online course all about my process, but let’s jump into the book…
our 2019 family yearbook
This book is a 10×10 size printed by Printique which I think is PERFECT. Almost all of my other books are 12×12 size and I grappled with wanting them to match perfectly, but ultimately I prefer this smaller size and the way it fits into my hands + the hands of my family. I’ll be sticking with 10×10 for future books. Plus Printique’s quality is beyond any of my other books.
The design of this year’s book is MUCH simpler. No cute, coordinated title + journaling cards (Project Life style)… just text and photos. That’s it. But simple can be beautiful and more importantly simple = DONE.
Each month starts with a title page featuring one highlight photo from the month + paragraphs of text summarizing the events of the month to tell our story. Following the month title pages are various collage templates containing my favorite photos from the month. Mostly iPhone photos, but occasionally photos from my DSLR are mixed in.
The number of pages for each month varies. During a month where we went on vacation, for example, I have far more photos to include so I just stretch the month into more pages. In total the book is 70 pages long.
One thing I love is the ability to add text ANYWHERE- in the photo above I labeled a specific photo because that event didn’t make it into my monthly summary on the title page.
With last year’s yearbook I started including ‘year in review’ pages at the end. The first spread is national/world news headlines and stats. Sort of a ‘time capsule’ we can look back on to remember life. And the next spread is a ‘year in review’ page for each child. Their school photo, some artwork, funny quotes, favorite things, and a handwriting sample (love this!).
Here’s a look at 2019’s ‘year in review’:
I’m thrilled with how this book turned out. When I chose to walk away from the cutely designed cards (and general scrapbooking type elements) of Project Life, I was nervous my books would be too boring. I’m sure some people would think so, but I don’t. I adore how this format allows my photos to shine. It’s simple and timeless.
want to make your own family yearbook?
If you’d like to learn my exact process, start-to-finish, I created an online course all about it. See how I prep, handle physical keepsake items, select my favorite photos, and design my pages QUICKLY. The course even includes the monthly title page + year in review templates you see in my book above. Get more info about my new FAMILY YEARBOOKS COURSE!
