Emoji Evolution

Emoji’s might seem like a new phenomenon, but it’s simply not true. Since the dawn of time and ever since human beings began communicating with each other, basically since wayyy back when, we’ve been using tiny pictures to tell each other how we feel. From rough etchings on cave walls, to intricate hieroglyphics on stone tablets, to desperate scratches found on prison walls, we have been using pictures to represent ideas and feelings for over a millennia.

And now? Well now we’re on a whole other level. How many emojis do we now have at our very fingertips? So many in fact that we don’t even need to use the complex human languages that we created in order to do away with cave etchings in the first place. And now these minuscule emotional representations of everyday life are very much a global language in which we all trade in.

So, how do emoji’s even find their way into our smartphone keyboards anyway? Well, it transpires that almost anyone can propose an emoji to the Unicode Consortium. This is a group pf people who vote to approve a new emoji and ultimately decide whether or not it makes its way into our emoji vernacular, forever to be used to represent something that it was never actually intended to. RIP to the innocent aubergine hey.

And how does one go about proposing an emoji design? Well, because an emoji looks and behaves like a symbol, emoji design is kind of akin to logo design. Aphee Messer, Emojination’s top contributing emoji designer explains her methods in approaching an emoji design proposal below…

“I start with a search engine and stock image search of the object, for photo references. It’s useful to see other artists’ interpretations and to notice cultural variations. I’ll pick ones that I like, make a mood board of ideas, and start to put my own spin on them. Then I’ll share my drafts on Emojination’s Slack channel, take in feedback, edit, and hand off the final design to the person putting together the proposal.” *

So, now you know how you’re favourite emoji’s come to fruition, we thought we’d ask the Pistachio team what their favourite emoji’s are, and why…

Marie, Director

?‍♀️ I like this one because I love to run outside and I feel like I spend much of my everyday life running from one place to the next. It also reminds me that I need to get my bum in gear and get back working on the real running though!

Rich, Designer

? The surfer is my favourite because I’m just riding the wave of life….
(LOL ok then Rich…)

Chris, Creative Director

??‍♂️ This is my go-to because it frequently sums up my feelings during a lot of the working week, today being no exception…

Tracee, Account Manager

??‍♀️ This is the one for me because it reminds me that even when you think you know how it all works, you inevitably discover that we all still have a lot to learn in life…!

Emmy, Designer

? This is my favourite because I don’t like to take everything too seriously!! Except producing amazing design obviously ?

Paul, Director

? This one, because no matter how busy or stressful it gets at Pistachio, we always still manage to have a laugh in the office…somehow!!

Charlotte, Communications Manager

? This one all day long because it serves every purpose, feeling smart? Tick. Obsessing over Harry Potter? Tick. Not sure what the hell is going on but still look cute? Double tick. It’s the emoji that works for every single one of my moods…

Well there you have it folks, a quick run-down of the evolution of the emoji, how they’re designed and which ones we favour the most at Pistachio.

Now, whilst you may not be interested in designing your own emoji for submission, you might be thinking about how you can update your brand this year. If so, we’d love to hear from you, so get in touch today!

*https://create.adobe.com/2018/11/29/where_do_emojis_come.html