Simple. Sustainable. Intentional.
Happy New Year! I hope your year is off to a great start in your memory-keeping!
Last year I experienced decision paralysis for the first time as a seasoned documenter. For 2023, I am thrilled to have a memory-keeping plan to document my family's memories. Below is my process on how I am using Wilson|Wilson products and preparing my digital folders, photos and templates to use throughout the year. By the end of this post, I hope it will inspire you to plan and prepare your digital files for success and sustainability in sharing your narratives in 2023.
Step 1 | Plan
I used a couple of documents from Wilson|Wilson to plan my 2023 yearbook.
Creative Footprint (Purpose: Define narrative, design style, photo editing and typography)
Content Guide (Purpose: Story planner for the year)
FORMAT
My yearbook will include four chapters
Our Family
Home Life (Week in the Lifeâ„¢, Day in the Lifeâ„¢)
School/Work (Growth and Development)
Experiences, Events & Stories (Birthdays, Milestones, Trips)
Completed size: 12x12 matte prints inserted into page protectors and placed into an album.
ACTION ITEM: Purchase Album and Page Protectors to avoid delays due to availability.
COLOR PALETTE
RGB, black and white
TYPOGRAPHY
Headline: Adobe Garamond Pro
Copy: Brandon Grotesque
Pull quotes: Didot
PREFERENCES
PHOTOS
Audit, select and edit photos.
Color/BW
Brightness/Contrast/Saturation
DIGITAL TEMPLATES
I'm using Wilson|Wilson 12x12 templates as a foundation and will customize them accordingly. I love the flexibility!
For efficiency, in each of the PSD template files, I have updated the fonts and styling (kerning, tracking and leading) that I will be using for the year.
Template links:
DESIGN ELEMENTS
Simple, balanced and ample white space.
JOURNAL TECHNIQUES
For my journaling, I use Google Docs to copy/paste my text into the templates. To check for basic grammar errors, I like to use Grammarly. My journaling format will be editorial but I will include Q&As, quotes, and bullets. I will keep my language style casual and in the past tense.
PRODUCTS / COLLECTIONS
TOOLS
I am using the following software and application:
OTHER RESOURCES
Helpful prompts for capturing everyday moments.
Step 2 | Prep
CREATE FOLDERS & COLLECT ASSETS*
Below is the folder structure I used.
MASTER FOLDER
2023 Dowell Yearbook
SUBFOLDERS
2023 Dowell Yearbook Pages (native PSD files)
Fonts (fonts used for layouts)
Images (family photos)
Press Ready (files to send to printer)
Templates–Kits (PSDs, JPGs, PNGs)
Creative Footprint PDF (for reference)
*Assets include images, fonts, templates and kits.