Yearbook's Second Anniversary

July 18, 2006 was the most memorable day of my life and arguably my proudest moment. On that day, the 2006 SMU Yearbook was officially out! I was psyched! 'cause after all the late-nite works and the endless meetings, the yearbook finally became a real thing. It was a bittersweet experience.

I remembered the first idea that I brought to the yearbook staff is urban/modern contemporary, and I don't know what the hell was that. What I wanted is just a yearbook with artsy layouts and cover. At first people were like confused and had no idea what I want. It was tough.

Then.. I also wanted a conceptualized photoshoots (like CSI, Musical genres, Oldies, Executives and etc), a young and hip layouts with a touch of artsy and shits (LOL). It was a team work so, a lot of different artistic visions and stuff. But since this was my first time ever involved in such an important project (and since the previous yearbook covers were crappy), I wanted to do the cover. And I did. I envisioned this light, funky and hip cover. With lotsa color (it was like rainbow threw up on the cover) and roses and wings.. and at first I thought (the cover) was kinda gay. But I went with it anyway. (thanks to Mirna and my bro for helpin me out).

Talking 'bout the cover. The cover sorta has several meanings, for example: the wings around 'Jubilee' symbolized our departure to the future and it translated to 'Reaching for the Future' (I forgot who came out with this theme). Also, if you notice, there's 12 stars around the crown, which means we have finished 12 years of education and moving to a new level of education: college and of course the real world. There also roses symbolized that we're bloomed to a new seeds of hope. Sadly, I just made that up (and my sister's friend bought it). I'm telling the truth now: there's no real meanings on the cover.. I just loved the layout. LOL.

Today, 2 years later, I'm still proud of this yearbook. I poured my heart and soul into it. I spent months working on this and worked my ass off. Our team worked their asses off. It was all Blood, Sweat and Tears. And it was all worth the pain.

I believe, that our yearbook is set the bar for senior high school yearbook standard (in Jubilee school to say the least). I even heard that O Level kinda copied the style of our cover for their cover. Well, I haven't seen it tho. Also, last year graduate (2007) used the same direction for their layout. I think it was a compliment to us yearbook staff, that people trying to copy the artwork. That means us rock!

Since I saw the first SMP yearbook (2003), I vowed myself to design my senior class yearbook. I did and I'm glad that I joined the team. Now I can die happy. (D)

ps: hope we can recreate this photo one more time. LOLs