The “Global 30” project consists of 13 universities which were selected by the Japanese government. These universities provide English-medium courses in order to attract internationally competent individuals. The brochure of Global 30 includes many university members and consequently, each of them is assigned only a page to write and is required to follow the layout with the aim keeping consistency of the whole book. With the university’s name and location as the heading, a photo is attached on the left hand side and accompanied with a short description on the right. Brief introduction, history and courses provided are often mentioned. Meanwhile contact information is placed on the bottom.
The university page that caught my attention is Keio University from Tokyo. It is the one who has an obvious correlation between words and image throughout the whole book. The long established Keio wrote “… opened its door in Tokyo in 1858 – just five years after Japan itself was opened to the world.” And respond to some key words in the title such as “first door”, “open” and “wider”. It symbolizes the university is opening the door to the world for students, just like Japan adopted the open policy to internationals. On the other hand, with the photo, it delivers another message: We (the university) are walking towards the world. The woman in the photo passes the historical door that represents the prestigious, established Keio is now moving towards to modern and global. If a university sots in its development and past achievements, it is falling back. Continuously going forward is essential. Concerning this point, the description is supporting as Keio is providing courses that are the latest human developments with popularity. Therefore, Keio University’s page is effective in delivering a consistent yet strong message through both the words and photo within such a limited space.