In 2022, I was a freshman at Glendale High School. I heard over the morning announcements that Mr. Livingston was looking for someone to create the cover design for the yearbook, so I decided to give it a go. Since I have been an artist for almost all of my life, I figured this wouldn’t be that big of a challenge and a great opportunity for me. 

But I was wrong about one of those things. It actually was a challenge working with Procreate, getting the layers correct, saving each layer on time, and establishing the exact measurements. 

I knew that the Yearbook staff members were looking for a specific sort of design for the cover that year, using lots of pinks and blues to show our mascot, Dyno, standing on a stage in the spotlight. But I asked Mr. Livingston if I could do another sort of design not related to that idea, and he said I could. But he warned me that usually the designs that don’t look like the theme don’t get picked. I took on the challenge anyway.

I did a design inspired by Diary of a Wimpy Kid, with our mascot on it. Long story short, my design was not selected, although I was named the runner-up. I was still featured on the final pages of the yearbook, where they displayed all of the other contributing artists, which I thought was a nice way of showing appreciation to those who created design concepts for the book. 

Then came my sophomore year, and I again learned that there was a need for cover designers for the 2024 edition of the yearbook. It didn’t seem like many people were interested in designing the cover this time, so I decided to give it another go.

I started planning out my idea on lined notebook paper, and I created a small model of what it would look like. I even folded it like a book cover and everything. 

This time, I decided to follow the theme that the yearbook staff was looking for, which was Dyno sitting in a chair watching a television show called “The Nitro Show”, preferably on an old-fashioned TV set. 

So, I started working with Procreate again, but I still struggled with the layers and the measurements. I was inspired by the vibes of the Netflix series Stranger Things, and the wallpaper in the background was inspired by Joyce’s house in that series. The dark borders and fading light were also inspired by the style of the show as well. 

I decided to make the design a classic cartoon style, because I looked at many yearbooks from the past at GHS and none of them were in a similar style. I thought this cartoony style was cool for yearbooks, and it is not all that serious or overly professional. A high school yearbook is supposed to be fun and lighthearted, so this vibe matched well in my mind. 

After submitting the design, I soon found out that the yearbook staff chose my design! It was truly an honor, and I’m glad I did not give up after not having my cover selected during my freshman year. This showed me that if you keep doing something, and do not let past failures stop you, you will eventually succeed. 

After my design concept was chosen, the members of the yearbook staff asked me to make several little adjustments to my original design. Originally, my idea was for the title on the screen to be red in color with a red glow, but it looked a little too spooky. So the yearbook staff asked if I could change the color to white, and that is what you see on the final cover. 

Soon, all the adjustments were made, and I saw my design fully printed out as a sample up on the wall in the ASB Room. And I am happy to say that it turned out just as I wanted it to look. 

I hope this isn’t my last time creating a yearbook cover for GHS, because I’d be more than happy to create the covers for the 2025 and 2026 editions as well. A special thanks to Mr. Livingston and the yearbook staff for leading me through this process. This will certainly be a highlight of my high school career. 

And if you would like to purchase a copy of the 2024 yearbook, please click HERE by May 23rd. After that, the yearbook will be sold exclusively in the Student Store.