What is a deadlist?
Say for example there are 1500 students in the school. Within every grade, there are at least 10 people who do EVERYTHING; all the clubs, three sports, class officer, you name it. These people will always be covered in the yearbook, it is inevitable. They are easy to contact, everyone knows them, and they can literally be interviewed about everything (keeping that in mind, use wisely). In order to keep track of who is covered so many times, you can use the reports on edesign. However, I personally think it is easiest to have a list of people who have been covered WAY too many times or who you are saving for something posted in the classroom so as the index editor you do not get asked a million times if you can use the same 10 people for everything.
The way I like to do it is anytime someone is covered, like actually covered for a picture or quote not including clubs or sports or portraits, put their name on a list. At the end of every week, this list should be glanced at or updated if need it. The first people on this list should be anyone who is on the cover, endsheets, or title page. Also, anyone covered on a theme spread (see WAIT YOU'RE GONNA NEED THIS or this is your freedom for examples) should also be on this list right away. Basically anyone who has a personal story or package just about them should go right on the list (people pages, if that's your design, and acd's included). As the year continues, there needs to be a system for updating this list. I always put someone on there after they had been covered three times, but you can do various degrees of dead-ness (somewhat dead, dead, very dead, etc.). Once a person is dead, or whatever degree you decide, they can no longer be used in the book. Having this list posted online and in the classroom will save you a headache at deadline when people are searching for who to interview because they will know who is automatically off limits. However, this system does not work if it is not regularly updated. This means that you have to keep tabs on who is being used on what spreads before the deadline happens. As soon as you know, you should look and update as need be.
This all being said, if you know that John Smith is class president, captain of the football team, has a nonprofit organization, and is in every single club, you have to pick and choose when to cover him. Don't cover him for something unless you know for a fact that no one else can give the same quote or describe the same experience that he can. These people are always covered, so save them for when they need to be covered for something important and when you can use them to your advantage to get a good story.
The way I like to do it is anytime someone is covered, like actually covered for a picture or quote not including clubs or sports or portraits, put their name on a list. At the end of every week, this list should be glanced at or updated if need it. The first people on this list should be anyone who is on the cover, endsheets, or title page. Also, anyone covered on a theme spread (see WAIT YOU'RE GONNA NEED THIS or this is your freedom for examples) should also be on this list right away. Basically anyone who has a personal story or package just about them should go right on the list (people pages, if that's your design, and acd's included). As the year continues, there needs to be a system for updating this list. I always put someone on there after they had been covered three times, but you can do various degrees of dead-ness (somewhat dead, dead, very dead, etc.). Once a person is dead, or whatever degree you decide, they can no longer be used in the book. Having this list posted online and in the classroom will save you a headache at deadline when people are searching for who to interview because they will know who is automatically off limits. However, this system does not work if it is not regularly updated. This means that you have to keep tabs on who is being used on what spreads before the deadline happens. As soon as you know, you should look and update as need be.
This all being said, if you know that John Smith is class president, captain of the football team, has a nonprofit organization, and is in every single club, you have to pick and choose when to cover him. Don't cover him for something unless you know for a fact that no one else can give the same quote or describe the same experience that he can. These people are always covered, so save them for when they need to be covered for something important and when you can use them to your advantage to get a good story.
PEOPLE WHO AREN'T DEAD BUT NEED TO BE
The people on the not pictured list.
It is imperative that at the beginning of the year when the media release form goes home, that you get a list from the main office of people who are NOT allowed to be covered at all in the yearbook. If one of these people gets covered on a page, it could lead to big trouble for the school and for the publication. AVOID THESE PEOPLE AT ALL COSTS. Their portraits need to be deleted from the portrait flow and their names and faces should not be in the book at all. Heck, even delete them from the master list. PLEASE post a list of these names on google drive and around the classroom so that people know that they cannot be used. This is really really important. If one of these people gets used it could be really bad, and as index editor it is your responsibility to make sure that you have these names memorized (there shouldn't be too many) and that you make sure that no one uses them for anything.
It is imperative that at the beginning of the year when the media release form goes home, that you get a list from the main office of people who are NOT allowed to be covered at all in the yearbook. If one of these people gets covered on a page, it could lead to big trouble for the school and for the publication. AVOID THESE PEOPLE AT ALL COSTS. Their portraits need to be deleted from the portrait flow and their names and faces should not be in the book at all. Heck, even delete them from the master list. PLEASE post a list of these names on google drive and around the classroom so that people know that they cannot be used. This is really really important. If one of these people gets used it could be really bad, and as index editor it is your responsibility to make sure that you have these names memorized (there shouldn't be too many) and that you make sure that no one uses them for anything.