During my final year at school, I was in charge of the yearbook club — as well as the only member.

My class was the first ever to graduate from the International School Campus, Pinneberg (now called WABE International School) and we only were 14 students in total. This meant complete freedom in creating our school’s traditions, which was incredibly exciting and something that I knew I needed to be a part of.

Since we were so few students, and we were all busy trying to stay on top of our assignments during our Covid plagued final year, I took on the challenge of creating a yearbook on my own. I am a very nostalgic person and I wanted to produce something to remember this formative time of our lives by — in the form of a high quality physical book.

German yearbooks are often nothing more than a skimpy magazine, that is quick to fall apart after a year or two. The content, as well as the quality of the actual book, was crucial to me. So, I looked for inspiration at UK and US yearbooks, which were not only full of quality content, but also printed to be sturdy and last for years to come. Nothing makes me happier than opening a brand-new book and smelling the fresh ink — and this was my chance to get a detailed insight into every step of the book production process.

My first step was research. What content did I want to put into the book? What could the design look like, and with which program could I achieve that vision? How could I meet and possibly exceed my classmates’ expectations?

Over the course of a few weeks, I came up with a rough plan. Each student got its own designated double-page, which would be filled with photos and a small profile, answering questions that I sent them in an online questionnaire. I reached out to our head of school, our teachers, as well as former classmates and other members of staff and asked them to contribute, which they were all more than happy to do. I set appropriate deadlines and loved pouring all my creative energy into this project.

I would love to include more images from the yearbook in this portfolio, but I want to respect the privacy of my classmates, as well as not share the cringe stuff I wrote on my own page (oh boy was I into astrology in 2021).

The design on the left was created by a fellow student for our “Leavers” jumpers and I wanted to honour it in the yearbook as well, and on the right you can see the lovely text our head of school wrote.

It took 6 months from the initial idea to the finished product and I enjoyed the whole process thoroughly: playing around with different designs, copy editing, proofreading, negotiating with potential printing companies and keeping an eye on the financial aspect, as well as getting feedback from my classmates and adapting it to create a final product, that all 14 of us were happy with.

I learned a lot about the editing process, time management and the production stage, yet my biggest personal takeaway was how much I enjoyed the whole project. Getting the chance to create a yearbook, that will be loved for many years to come, still fills me with immense pride. Books hold special places in so many of our hearts. Getting to be a part of that feels very special and keeps me motivated to pursue a career in this field.