Research Codes and Conventions of Student Magazines 2

Chinese Student is published both in English and Mandarin, targeted at Chinese students looking to study overseas. It is a printed magazine with a corresponding e-magazine and website, with a combined circulation of 30,000 copies per issue it is published four times per year and distributed at exhibitions in China as well as to the database of Chinese students searching for a course and this will be the focus of my next magazine review.

Unlike the last two magazine front covers I reviewed, the masthead and text design are more stylized as this magazine has been made to appeal to a different target audience which is the population of China in this case as you can see Chinese language written on the north east corner of the front page and under the English text of the sub-headers. Another thing that is different from the other magazines I’ve looked at is that the colour of the text isn’t limited to one colour and the background’s design has a design influenced by Chinese culture. 

For example, green colour with a plant growing upwards seems to represent starting afresh and growing knowledge.  Another thing to mention is that the text for the plugs have been written in both English and Chinese with yellow green and blue text to signify their importance. According to the grey banner at the top of the page, this magazine was released with a worldwide reading audience in mind.

However this front cover has one major flaw that sets it apart from the others. It doesn’t include the date that it was published, or a tagline because I think that this magazine has been intended to be given away for free. There is a blue plug at the left-hand corner highlighting points of interest.

In conclusion, these two magazines both try to portray an optimistic analysis of student life whose signifiers were not only designed to give a favourable and appropriate image of the product, but also, these signifiers were also shown to have a strong relationship with the textual context in which they the signs were located. In other words, the front covers are one of the strongest aspects of selling magazines. Student magazines may not provide an altogether accurate representation of all teenagers today, but it is certainly a medium that provides escapism and enjoyment for the reader whilst subliminally educating and informing at the same time.