(Hands up) if you too can’t get past a day without texting in emoji.
There’s no shame in admitting our growing addiction to these little picture icons which seem to come in handy in describing almost every possible emotion or scenario.
Invented by Japan’s Shigetaka Kurita in 1995, the cutesy appeal of emojis has since spread from Japan to all over the world, becoming a global cultural phenomenon.
LA-based artist and graphic designer, Liza Nelson, couldn’t have said it better. On her blog, she said, “Emojis mean everything and they mean nothing at the same time… they are the best thing that ever happened to our generation. They deserve to be observed and worshiped individually.”
So here’s what Liza did, “because somebody had to do it”:
Would you recognize any of these real-life emojis if they were to walk past you on the streets?
A Pop Culture Phenomenon
It’s not just Liza who’s in on the way emojis have taken over our lives. Emojis have been featured heavily in pop culture in recent years. Take for example, New York-based Zoe Mendelson, who’s widely acknowledged as the long form emoji story-telling expert. Here’s what she did for Breaking Bad’s mid-season premiere episode ‘Blood Money’:
Or how about Katy Perry, who emoji-ed her way through an innovative music video for her song ‘Roar’?
There’s even a messaging app called Emojli that challenges you to speak to your friends in Emojis. Only Emojis.
If you haven’t heard, 250 new emojis are coming our way soon (yay!). The new emoji I’m most looking forward to is what is very politely termed the ‘reversed hand with middle finger extended’.
