View the finalists’ list and covers gallery
View video of judges discussing selected entries:
Kathy Huting, NSPA contest and critique coordinator, provides the following report on judging, with comments from the judges:
The 2008 NSPA Yearbook Pacemaker contest saw a dramatic increase in high school and Junior High entries, suggesting the continued acclaim for the contest. Four judges with extensive publication experience traveled to Minneapolis in late January to participate in the judging process.
Categories were arranged proportionately according to page number, and middle school/junior high entries were judged as a whole. After an intensive initial cut lasting several hours, judges methodically narrowed down the entries.
Judges looked for a number of factors, including excellent photography, complete coverage, innovative design and exemplary copy. Out of the 422 total entries, 57 high school and middle school yearbooks were chosen as Pacemaker finalists.
The judges often noted that the process was a difficult one because of the considerable amount of top-notch books, and also mentioned wanting to spend much more time looking through the outstanding entries.
The Pacemaker winners will be announced at the Spring JEA/NSPA National High School Journalism Convention in Phoenix, April 16-19. Register online for the convention on the NSPA website.
Judges were asked to provide written comments about what they looked for, which are posted below.
I look for complete coverage, both in depth and breadth. There are some must-haves, like accurate scoreboards with scores, not just a list of wins and losses or an overall record, for all sports. Another must is a complete index where the reader can find not only names but also listings for specific sports, clubs, classes, events and advertisers.
Beyond the must-haves, I look for coverage that tells a complete story on more than one level. That includes storytelling and candid photos with complete captions. It means copy is filled with meaningful quotes that give the reader a sense of the event or the class or the season. It means there’s secondary coverage that provides additional layers to the coverage.
I also look for books that have experimented with different forms of coverage, whether it be through incorporating a variety of moods or through rethinking the presentation with topical or umbrella coverage.
The bottom line is that the staff captured the entire year in coverage that extends beyond the obvious and presented it in ways that appeal to readers.
I believe that a Pacemaker recognizes a publication that showcases strong student work in all areas of publishing — writing, design, photography and concept. The finalists took 2007-08 and created a unique publication that gave us, the judges, a sense of what the year was like for this specific group of students.
Staffs and advisers need to continue to educate themselves on the copyright laws and make sure that any work included in the yearbook follows the law in terms of appropriate permissions or fair use, and proper credit.
The best books showed the reader the story through interesting and multi-layered coverage, good photography, stunning copy, meticulous editing and creative design. In some instances, I had to force myself to stop looking and reading the book.
The multi-layered approach was a key element. Not only did the top publications have all the essentials (scoreboards, an index, identifications, etc.) they also had complete captions, infographics and well written copy. Often, the best stories captured what it was like to be at the event covered. Attention to story telling details, such as editing and use of quality quotes, helped the story progress.
Publication staffs should recognize work in the publication through proper credits — all photos and writing should include credits.
It was fun to see how staffs chose to cover the presidential campaign. The best publications localized the coverage so that it spoke to the experiences of their student body.
Strong photography is essential to a Pacemaker publication (and all others as well). This means images that tell stories to the reader, that show action or reaction, that are technically competent (this means avoiding pixelation!), and that demonstrate good composition. The best publications showed us amazing photographs that we wanted to look at, not the same images we see every year.
I was most attracted to books with creative design. The books I loved had a unique theme or personality that was carried out visually in the design.
Books that had strong photography also caught my eye. So many of the books captured awesome action shots.
Basic design principals also rated high for me. Books that were well done had nice typography, great photography, clear concept and hierarchy of elements.
Overall, the best books were the ones that were beautiful to look at AND interesting to read. Many of them I didn’t want to put down!
I was most concerned about the lack of photo credits in some books. Some very nice books didn’t make the cut for me because of illegal use of copyright images. It’s just not acceptable to download images from the Web without permission for publication.
In general, I was very impressed at the quality of the top books.