Blog 2: Interview 1 Preparation

For my project, I will first be interviewing Mimi Orth, who is the representative of Herff Jones Yearbook Publishing for iPoly. She has worked in this profession for very many years, working with schools in the LA area to help them produce great yearbooks. In addition to iPoly, she works along side many award winning staffs such as Brentwood HS and Walnut HS, whose work I really admire. Also having studied design at UCLA, I feel that with her experience, she will have great insight to this subject that would help me greatly with my senior project. edit 091811: Cynthia Schroeder, the former Editor-in-Chief of the iPoly Globe. Before holding the title of EIC, she was the assistant design editor the previous year, therefore having a strong background and knowledge of my topic. She pretty much taught me most everything I know and was the one who got my feet wet in the yearbook design world. I feel that she can really help me since she's been through this process before and gained so much from her senior project as well

Along with the five required questions, some other questions I plan on asking, in no particular order, are:

1) How long have you been working for Herff Jones? What can you say about the transformation of yearbook design from what it was then to what it is now?

2) What sets apart the designers at the award-winning schools such as Casa Roble or Antelope?

3) What is the best way to find inspiration when designing?

4) What makes an award-winning book so notable? What's their secret when it comes to their design?

5) How is working with so many different schools' designers like? Are there any differences you've seen, subtle and obvious, between the schools with notable books, such as Walnut, and others including iPoly?

6) What do you recommend I should keep in mind when designing in order to have the best impact on the reader/ have a strong design.

7) Are Herff Jones book better designed than other publishers? If so, why?