Blogerata: 2018 Glomerata Review

The Auburn Glomerata, the school’s yearbook, is one of my favorite aspects of the University. I fell in love with the Glom a few years ago when I grabbed some at a local thrift store. Since then, I’ve amassed a collection that now sits at 68. As my collection dates back to 1934, I have read through decades of Auburn history. The Glomerata is, what I think, potentially the best source of Auburn history. Below you will find a majority of the Glomerata covers in my collection.

 

Last year I wrote a review of the 2017 Glom, and I want to keep that going. Unfortunately, the Gloms are usually released in April, but life got in the way and I never got a chance to dive in to this year’s edition like I wanted. I finally got around to dissecting the 121st volume and my thoughts will be detailed below.

First impression of the 2018 Glomerata is how attractive the cover is. Samford Hall adorns the cover in a watercolor-like artwork and is really pretty. I didn’t realize this at first, but the design mimics that of the 1948 Glom. Whether that was intentional or not, it is a great connection to Auburn 70 years ago, and one I love.

The opening pages have typically consisted of multiple full spread photographs taken all around campus. Last year, pieces of the Auburn Creed were placed over the photos. This year, it was the Auburn Alma Mater. As you flip through the first few pages, it is really difficult to not start signing the Alma Mater. Then it ends. Too early. It’s a strange element that isn’t resolved until much later. The final page of the yearbook consists of the closing lines of the Alma Mater. I love this book-ending idea a lot. I wish it wasn’t such a surprise though. It’s rather jarring seeing the text just end and the next segment beginning immediately.

The aesthetic of this volume is really nice. The subtitles on most of the pages (and later the actual titles) are printed over a watercolor brush effect, which really ties into the cover quite well. That subtitle background was also used to match the rest of the page layout, creating a cohesive look to the entire page.

I judge Glomeratas on multiple criteria. One of the more important measures is how well current events are covered. My go-to example of great coverage is the 1996 volume and its multi-page spread of Hurricane Opal and its impact on campus. I personally was not aware of Opal, let alone its affect on Auburn. The writing was so immersive and the photographs were impactful enough that is was easy to place yourself in the moment. The more recent volumes have struggled in this sense. Writing has been deemphasized and photographs cover the majority of the pages.

The 2018 Glom falls into that trap as well; photos over writing. But, I think the selected events were well worth being included. 125 Years of Auburn Women, Kay Ivey taking over the Governor’s Office, the solar eclipse on the first day of class, Richard Spencer’s time on campus and the ensuing protest. All were relevant and help tell the story of the previous year.

While the photos were immersive and completed a story, the writing did indeed suffer. The Richard Spencer spread, for example, didn’t fully describe the mayhem. I think the biggest story that resulted in this event was how well Auburn and Auburn University were perceived across the country. Auburn students were incredibly peaceful while they protested. The only issues consisted of three arrests from individual that traveled to Auburn solely for the event. That, however, was not mentioned. When Spencer moved on to his next speaking engagements, many people hoped that future schools would “take a lesson from Auburn” and create a peaceful atmosphere while protesting. That wasn’t detailed. Those two aspect are incredibly important to the story.

With that said, the photographs are spectacular. They don’t have the “photo paper” feel that last year’s edition had, but that’s not a bad thing. For a good portion, the Glom staff did a good job of showcasing old photos next to current ones. The contrast between the two helps convey how far Auburn and culture have come throughout history. Unfortunately, as you flip through the pages, the historic photos seem to be few and far between. The then-and-now aspect began to feel like a theme of this Glomerata early on, but it soon fleeted.

I do have some gripes about the photos. They’re all minor, but added up.

The photo layouts felt to be very similar on each page. There’s not too many layouts possible when you decide to use one larger photo flanked by a few smaller ones. But it began to feel stale after a number of pages. Some pages had awkward empty spaces where a photo wasn’t squeezed in. That’s fine in a few areas, but not in the athletic pages! There should never empty spaces as large as this when athletic photos are as easily accessible as they are. That alone might be my biggest negative.

I believe that if you can, you should never make things difficult for your consumers. Finding the credits for many of the photos across the 2018 Glomerata was a difficult task. Some pages had a single credit, I presume labeling all the photos on the page were from a single contributor. Some credits even included the media outlet, like the Auburn Plainsman. But it felt like that addition was rather random. It wasn’t included in photos I knew had come from the Plainsman! The lack of consistency was a minor annoyance here.

As I searched for the photo credits, I became aware that a majority of the photos came from one contributor – Adam Brasher. I love many of the photographs Adam publishes. I check photo galleries from nearly every athletic event, so I see Adam’s work. I felt like this Glomerata could have benefited from including more photographers. I don’t want to take anything away from Adam, and I understand that he might have been the only one available at a number of these events. This is the Auburn University yearbook and the inclusion of many is a necessary aspect in my opinion.

I mentioned earlier the use of historic photos to contrast with the modern day equivalent. One segment I wish that had used some historic context, or even a description whatsoever, were the casual photos. Checking out the 1970s Gloms, these were a very popular portion. Students loved showing off their silly side, and even their creative side by showing up with their own props. There are some gems in the older Glomeratas casual photos. The 2018 volume showcased 20 pages of photos from a simple photo stand at Hey Day. I think this was by far the largest casuals segment in recent years, and possibly ever. I love the interest from the students, but think 20 pages is a bit too many. I wish there was another way to showcase them all.

The Greek sections are usually flipped through as quickly as possible. Greek life has never interested me and the segments are never compelling. This Glom, however, changed that. Many organizations featured two portions – a traditional set of headshots, and a casual group of every day photos. This helped tell a better story of each group like few Glomeratas have done before. The headshot pages are also rather compelling, with the crests placed in the middle. Last year’s edition did that too, but this volume took it a step further. Very few groups had their crest enlarged and ghosted. All groups had their Greek letters in large print off to the left side and written vertically. These elements made the Greek life segment more than skip-able, and that’s a plus.

And who can forget the amazing-ness of Lil Tito on Delta Chi’s page. That’s how you immortalize yourself in Auburn and Glomerata history!

All in all, I greatly enjoyed the 2018 volume of the Glomerata. The pages were attractive. The historical aspect was compelling as always. The connection to the 1948 volume is beyond what I could ever expect. I’m always going to nitpick aspects of the modern Gloms, solely because the classic editions are so spectacular and I want to see that return.

I do think this Glomerata staff deserves a ton of credit, though. I complained last year about not even knowing it was distribution time until the final day. As someone who collects Gloms, looks forward to them each year, and is active on social media, that wasn’t acceptable marketing on the staff’s part. This year, however, that wasn’t an issue. The Glom social media accounts were active more so than ever. I LOVED the use of classic Gloms to tell their stories. That’s the kind of historical connection that I want to see all of Auburn embrace one day soon.

I also want to see all of Auburn embrace the Glomerata once again. So few students realize they can receive their yearbook for absolutely free. There’s no excuse to leave Auburn without having a Glom for every year you attended.

To current and future Auburn students, please take advantage of this opportunity. The Glomerata is worth every second the staff puts in. To the next Glomerata staff, I hope you continue to build on what the previous two volumes have built. Auburn needs to be better at documenting and archiving its own history. This is your opportunity to help with that.

 

Featured image via Auburn Glomerata