{"id":2061,"date":"2016-06-15T11:47:40","date_gmt":"2016-06-15T11:47:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/marvel7077.wpengine.com\/?p=2061"},"modified":"2016-06-15T16:02:41","modified_gmt":"2016-06-15T16:02:41","slug":"the-emoji-epidemic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/marvelapp.com\/blog\/the-emoji-epidemic\/","title":{"rendered":"The Emoji Epidemic"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Emojis are a global phenomenon amongst a new age of users.<\/p><\/span><\/blockquote>\n

We\u2019ve seen them go from smartphones to big business advertisements and all the way to the big screen - yes, it has been confirmed that Sony is making an Emoji movie. Even celebrities have seen an opportunity to create their own brand of Emojis to connect with fans and count that cash: Kim Kardashian\u2019s Kimoji almost broke the app store, Charlie Sheen\u2019s documented his shenanigans with \u2018Sheenoji,\u2019 and even Dennis Graham, aka Drake\u2019s dad, has joined the list. It\u2019s clear that how Emoji\u2019s make people feel is universally understood and has been harnessed into adding entertainment value to life outside of the digital world.<\/p>\n

There are no signs of them slowing down either. 72 more are set to hit our screens this June - which include the all important avocado and bacon Emoji. This shows that design is not just about creating solutions and simplifying UI, but when done right, design makes people happy. And if that design can shorten a sentence or two, the lazy folk out there will keep your product afloat.<\/p>\n

These tiny designs which are used worldwide were first created as a solution to a problem which no longer exists as technology has progressed but they serve an emotional purpose.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Emoji was created in the mid-nineties, back when our mobile phones couldn\u2019t handle text messages outside of a character limit, our inbox memory couldn\u2019t sustain our popularity, and sending an image to a friend was too much trouble to justify actually doing it. Shigetaka Kurita, who was working on the launch of the world\u2019s first mobile internet platform \u2018i-mode\u2019 at the time, created the first Emoji prototype. He believed that character limits could reduce the user\u2019s ability to deliver sufficient information in their messages, and that including small images would resolve this and express emotion.<\/p>\n

Kurita created 180 Emoji for i-mode within one month. He found inspiration in everything for his designs, even dedicating 10 days in Japan to solely observe human expression and deliberate which of the human emotions were essential to be replicated in his designs. He also found the symbolic representations known as \u2018manpu\u2019 in popular Japanese cartoon genre Manga, to be helpful. For example, by adding a drop of water onto a face, the expression came to represent that of \u2018anxiety\u2019. Kurita also found inspiration from pictograms, which became popular after the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo, when they had been used to translate signs for tourists.<\/p>\n

Kurita\u2019s creations were successful and took Japan by storm, but it wasn\u2019t really until the smartphone arrived in the western world that we were blessed with the Emoji keyboard. It became a global phenomenon. The Emoji then made its way into the outside world and into the arms of advertisers. Companies found a new way to connect with the younger generation, like McDonald's campaign which consisted of billboards filled with strings of Emojis telling a story. Following that, the likes of IKEA, Burger King and PETA have all used Emojis in their advertising campaigns, which just shows the range of audiences they resonate with. From fast food to environmental issues to furniture - Emojis can communicate all issues effectively.<\/p>\n

Millions of people use Emoji\u2019s on Twitter, but what if we could see them in real-time? Emojitracker <\/a>allows you to watch the real-time usage of each one on Twitter so we can get a real idea of how key they are in self-expression. The \u2018crying with laughter\u2019 stat literally does not stop increasing - which shows that most of the things we share online are posted with the intent of bringing ourselves and others happiness. Watching this real-time account of Emoji usage on Twitter is like a window into the emotions millions of people are experiencing all at once.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s clear that social media is mostly used to communicate positive emotions. Everybody\u2019s favourite photo album, Instagram, has found that nearly 50% of all their captions and comments hold at least one Emoji. After adding the ability to use them as hashtags, Instagram has been recording just how often they\u2019re being used and what for. The most popular Emojis were \u2018crying with laughter\u2019, \u2018heart eyed\u2019 and the \u2018heart\u2019, which shows how much Instagram is used as place for users to go to enjoy their community\u2019s posts and encourage creativity.<\/p>\n