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| Digital Trends |
Think back to 1999 when emoji were first brought to mobile devices.
Chances are you don't remember the original emoji, cutesy, minimal
versions of the visual language of today. A few of them remind me of the
item icons from Paper Mario 64, particularly the snowman, lightning
bolt, and swirl (check the second grouping below to compare).
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| spiriters-resource.com |
The sprite-like primordial emoji-spawn were created by Japanese designer Shigetaka Kurita for
NTT Docomo, a telecommunications company in Japan. Kurita's original set
consists of 176 characters,
the most basic of symbols that we've come to associate with the special
keyboard on our phones. At first the emoji were simply black and white,
but after a few years, six colours were added: black, red, orange,
lilac, grass green, and royal blue. In our emoji-filled world, it's
difficult to quantify exactly how many emoji we have access to
considering that some variations are only available on certain
phones/platforms/etc. However, with the inclusion of the latest batch of
emoji (refer to
Unicode 9.0), there are
a whopping 1,851. Quite an improvement upon Kurita's original set.
New York City's Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) has recognised that emoji language was born with Kurita.
On 26 October, MoMA added the original set of emojis to its collection.
To mark the occasion, the museum will be opening an installation in
December to fully delve into emoji beginnings and offer a new look at
classic favourites.
MoMA's Paul Galloway wrote
a piece explaining the history and significance of emoji. In it, he says, "Filling in for body language, emoticons,
kaomoji,
and emoji reassert the human in the deeply impersonal, abstract space
of electronic communication." As a society, we learn to exist within
preexisting parameters, "The design of a chair dictates our posture; so,
too, does the format of electronic communication shape our voice."
NTT Docomo marked their place at the forefront of innovation by bringing
imagery to early mobile technology, sourcing manga, symbol languages,
and basic emoticons to create a popular set of images.
By tailoring images to 12 x 12 pixels, the telecommunications company pushed the era of a global, visual language into existence.
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| Paul Galloway's Piece |
Originally, the emoji were made to display on NTT Docomo pagers,
accounting for their blocky appearance. Kurita's iconic symbols were
used to connect with potential customers through the spread of information.
For example, the weather-related emoji were used to deliver weather
reports whereas the hamburger, martini glass, and high heel were used in
advertising local businesses. Inserting an emoji along with a business
name clarified what a customer could expect.
From
EmojiCon
to the Unicode Emoji Subcommitte to lengthy-but-accurate emoji stories,
this new form of communication has been embraced with open arms and
willing souls. If you are attending EmojiCon in San Francisco, MoMA's
Paul Galloway will be a guest speaker! Don't miss him.
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