Friendship Map

In this collaborative project, students work in groups to design a hand-drawn map of an imaginary territory called “Friendship Island”. Moving beyond literal geography, students use cartography as a conceptual tool to map out the psychological landscapes of human relationships—exploring concepts such as trust, support, shared humor, and navigating interpersonal challenges.

Each student designs a personal landmark to represent their own identity, while collaborating with their peers to establish a unified visual theme and a set of shared landmarks across the map. The project concludes with an interdisciplinary literacy component where groups write a reflective artist statement structured as a literal “geographic tour” through their landscape, utilizing formal design vocabulary to justify their work.

The Studio Challenge

• Thematic Symbolism: Translating abstract relational dynamics into physical typographic features. Students must think critically to determine why an emotional concept or milestone should manifest as a specific landmark, such as a fortress, a dividing river, or a mountain range.
• Balancing Unity with Autonomy: Group members must negotiate a cohesive design system—agreeing on a shared theme, layout, and style. Concurrently, they must manage the spatial challenge of integrating distinct personal landmarks that express individual identities without disrupting the composition’s overall harmony.
• Visual Hierarchy & Legibility: Navigating a complex, text-heavy visual plane. Students must strategically apply design principles (balance, contrast, pattern, emphasis) to ensure that labels, custom iconography, pathways, and boundaries remain distinctly legible and visually balanced.