Communication Design

Your Secret Friends

Tina Leelawongsanon

Exhibition

See it On Campus: Level 2

Visitor Info

A CHARACTER-BASED PROJECT EXPLORING EMOTIONAL

DUALITY THROUGH COLLECTIBLE DESIGN

Your Secret Friends

Your Secret Friends is a multi-layered design project that explores emotional duality through blind-box characters, using collectability as both a visual language and an emotional system.

The project is built around a series of characters with interchangeable heads, representing the contrast between visible and hidden emotions. Through figures, packaging, printed materials, and small narrative objects, the project invites viewers to engage with emotions not as something to resolve, but something to hold, collect, and relate to.

By translating complex emotional states into tactile, playful forms, the project creates an intimate space where cuteness, discomfort, and vulnerability coexist.

Character System

A series of original characters designed to embody contrasting emotional states.

Each figure includes interchangeable heads, allowing the character to shift between different expressions which represent the fluid and often contradictory nature of emotional identity.

3D Figure & Material Presence

The characters are translated into physical objects through 3D printing, transforming abstract emotions into tangible, collectible forms.

This material shift emphasizes the idea of “holding” emotions turning something internal into something physical and shareable.

Packaging

The packaging draws from blind-box culture, introducing anticipation, uncertainty, and attachment.

Rather than simply protecting the object, the box becomes part of the emotional experience framing the act of opening as a moment of discovery and personal connection.

Character Cards

Stickers

These printed elements extend each character’s narrative world.

They function as small fragments of personality, allowing viewers to build a more intimate relationship with the characters while also adding a playful, collectible layer.

Accordion Zine

The zine acts as a narrative bridge, connecting all characters into a shared emotional system.

Its expandable format reflects the unfolding nature of emotional experiences, while offering a more reflective and story-driven entry point into the project.

Artist Statement

This project began with the idea that emotions are rarely singular or stable.

We often present a version of ourselves that feels acceptable, while something else exists underneath. This gap between what is visible and what is felt became the starting point for Your Secret Friends.

The blind-box format introduces an important condition: uncertainty. You don’t know what you will get, but once revealed, it becomes yours. This mirrors how we encounter and process our own emotions.

By creating characters with interchangeable heads, I wanted to challenge the idea of fixed identity. Each figure holds multiple states at once, allowing them to coexist.

Rather than offering answers, the project creates space for recognition.