朋意 = On friendship.

• Main Author: Wang, Shi Hui.
• Other Authors: Wang I-Hsuan Cindy
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2010
• Subjects: DRNTU::Visual arts and music::Drawing, design and illustration
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/38762
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Human relationships are an inevitable part of our everyday lives. The need for interaction and communication in relationships reveals our interdependence on one another. Yet the pressures and changes we face in our modern society may drain the essence of our relationships, introducing new sets of challenges, strains and possibly distances in the relationships we have. Friendship is one of the most important relationships in our lives and it has a big impact on our psychological well-being. However, it is somewhat undervalued as compared to the family and marital relationships. A relationship that has no blood bonds, is almost spontaneous yet requires deliberate effort. Friendships have become so integrated in our lives that some may already assumed that they are experts of it. It has unknowingly become a convention, which many may take for granted. In this exploration of the changing nature of friendship, the ideal qualities of friendship, the notions of conventions and the translation of symbolisms into contemporary ideas, I seek to create a renewed awareness of the essence of friendship. The evolving world gradually changes whom we call “friend” today. Harnessing the rich symbolism and graphical potential from the Chinese character “朋”, meanings and metaphors that seek to speak of the essence of friendship are created in its celebration.