Blair Yearbook announces new partnership with Jostens

Blair's Yearbook Silverlogue recently announced its partnership with Jostens Incorporated to publish its 2010-2011 edition. Jostens will provide the Blair Yearbook with both financial and marketing support that will cover much of Silverlogue's accumulated debt.

Silverlogue has been operating at a financial loss over the past few years under the publishing company Walsworth. Jostens, the leading producer of yearbooks and class rings in the nation, according to Monster.com, presented Silverlogue with financial assistance along with innovations for yearbook design. "The bottom line was that the marketing support is an improvement and the yearbook innovations are better," Silverlogue Supervisor Jacob Lee said.

Jostens provides clients with aid for shipping, payment and product protection, according to the company website. Jostens also provides the yearbook class with an online system to design the school's yearbook and personal software. The company also simplifies the production process by offering the school's yearbook staffers templates as well as a structure of off which they can base the book. "Jostens' system is easier for yearbook staff to create the yearbook and work templates,” Silverlogue Editor-in-Chief Taylor Tingle said. "Before, we used InDesign, which was extremely complex, page editors were editing everyone's layouts because working InDesign and Photoshop was so confusing." Jostens' easily maneuverable online system also allows yearbook staffers to customize each spread, crop and insert pictures as well as add captions from any computer.

In collaboration with Jostens', Silverlogue began an advertising campaign involving flyers, posters and customized t-shirts. The staff launched a specific campaign advertising the option for students to design up to four personalized pages that are added only to the student's individual yearbook. Personalized pages are available for all students, but will not take the place of the more traditional Senior Ads. These new page options help the Silverlogue staff's goal of including as many students as many times as possible in the yearbook as well as making the yearbook more relevant to each student.

Both Lee and Tingle believe Jostens has been an encouraging change for the Yearbook. "Jostens has been very involved and helpful. People from the company come in and help us set goals for each month, break up the work load," Tingle said.

The early bird price of this year's Yearbook is $72, a $7 increase from last year.