A very popular design trend is having a music yearbook theme; you can put your own unique personality on this theme and really experiment with the design. In this post we are looking at music-related theme design tips and ideas.
Creating a Musical Yearbook Design with Musical Notes and Score
Are you looking for a non-genre specific music design? Use musical score and musical notes throughout your yearbook design. Iconic musical elements, such as treble or bass clefs (you’ll find these at the very beginning of a piece of music), are also very effective when dropped in as clipart or shapes (available in Yearbook Hub). This is also a very good option if you are sticking with a black and white themed yearbook, perhaps alternate the pages – black with white musical score, then on the next page, white with black musical score.
Adding a Personal Touch to Your Yearbook Design with Song Lyrics
Another great idea is to include song lyrics in your yearbook, either on every page or just at the start of each section. The lyrics could be a record of favourite artists of your generation, or they could be lyrics which fit that specific section of your yearbook i.e. ‘Never Forget’ by Take That for photo pages, ‘We are the Champions’ by Queen for sports pages, etc. Remember to include the artist’s name after the lyrics and perhaps include a citation page at the back of your yearbook listing each artist, song title and year that you’ve used – especially if the songs are particularly relevant to your time in education.
For something more upbeat, silhouettes of people dancing or waving their arms in the air work very well as part of your yearbook page background, or as clipart to dot around your page.
Playlists and mixtapes
If like us, you have a playlist for every occasion. Feature playlist, festival and charts pages to make a theme your entire year group will enjoy. Present your student pages as a playlist with a picture next to the ‘artist’s’ name and one sentence which takes the place of the song title.
Another fun idea is to create a “mixtape” section where students can share their favorite songs and artists. Allow students to submit their top 5 or 10 favorite songs along with a brief explanation of why they chose them. You could feature these submissions throughout the yearbook, perhaps with a photo of the student next to their song choices.
If you want to get awards pages into you music themed yearbook, you could do so with a ‘charts theme’. Alternatively let an awards ceremony like the GRAMMYs inspire you to put an awards page together.
Genres and styles
If the majority of your class or year group prefer a certain genre or style of music i.e. rock, pop, rap, dance, blues, classical, disco, etc., then choose elements relating to this choice such as guitars, microphones, decks, disco balls, harmonicas or violins. You could even dedicate one type of music per tutor group or per yearbook section to give a diverse mix of styles.
If you don’t want a modern music theme, you can opt for a more classical style. Use piano keys, musical symbols and silhouettes of saxophones and saxophone players to create a classical music theme. If your school has a music program, be sure to highlight it in your yearbook as well. Feature photos of the school band, choir, and orchestra, and include quotes from students and teachers about the importance of music education.
With music themed yearbooks you’re almost unlimited when it comes to colour choices. You could opt for a seriously colourful disco-esque style, or stick with a muted black/white design and use splashes of energetic colour. See our blog post about ‘How to use colour in your yearbook’ for further ideas.
There’s a vast amount of inspirational resources available for music themed yearbooks including album covers, music websites and magazines. Remember to keep your designs energetic, fun and full of personality.
