STICK TO IT: Schools let buyers personalize their yearbooks with stickers

Make it your own. Really. Three Balfour schools took the sticker craze to a whole new level with their 2021 yearbooks.

Who doesn’t love stickers? For years now, we’ve been obsessed with adding them to our binders, water flasks and laptops. Yearbooks staffs have also incorporated stickers into marketing promotions and staff motivation.

This year, three yearbook staffs went farther, integrating stickers into their 2021 themes and designs. All three schools offered sticker sheets, giving their buyers books with blank covers that could be decorated as desired.

Bothell High School
For their “Plugged in” theme, The Claw staff wanted their cover to look like a laptop. With a brushed metal look and a paw in the middle, the cover is reminiscent of a Mac laptop with the apple symbol. At their fall distribution, buyers were given the 8.5x11 sheet with 14 different stickers. Seniors also received a smaller 5x7 sticker sheet, which was distributed to all 12th graders regardless of yearbook purchase.

As part of the Bothell yearbook cover, cover artist Stephen Williams designed stickers to add to the front or back. The Washington school also gave all seniors a smaller sticker set.

Interlake High School
Instead of starting with a completely blank book, this Washington school featured three sticker-like graphics on the front cover. To build excitement for the cover and the school year, they gave out a full-size sticker sheet to all students. In addition, everyone who purchased a book received a bonus, class specific set of stickers. The seniors were given the 5x7 stickers in the spring, before graduation. All other yearbook buyers received their bonus stickers at the fall distribution.

All Interlake students received the 8.5x11 sticker sheet during the school year. The color-coded stickers were handed out to seniors before graduation and all other students at distribution. The Spirit staff also used the sticker designs within the book and for a fundraiser, selling bags, T-shirts and sweatshirts.

Cypress Falls High School
With a completely blank cover, The Golden Eagle staff encouraged buyers to decorate to their heart’s content. The stickers allowed students to make their own unique cover, connecting to the “Uncharted” theme and the unusualness of the year. The staff handed out the sticker sheet with the book, offering additional ones for $10.

The Cypress Falls yearbook staff included their yearbook theme as a sticker to potentially add to the book. There were also several other options, including school and pandemic-related stickers.

On the back of the sticker sheet, the Golden Eagle staff explained why they wanted to incorporate stickers into the 2021 yearbook. They also encouraged students to use the stickers on more than their yearbooks.

All three staffs utilized cover artist Stephen Williams to design their covers and stickers. Please note it does take additional time and budget to add this feature to your cover design. If you’re interested in incorporating stickers into your next book, talk to your Balfour representative about designing, printing and pricing a sticker set.

The addition of stickers was an innovative way to represent the unusual year. It gave students a chance to personalize their yearbooks and celebrate their nostalgia for stickers.