An interview with an Apple emoji designer

(shadycharacters.co.uk)

73 points | by nate 3 days ago

10 comments

  • thenthenthen 1 minute ago
    Modifying the Universal: a seminal piece on emoji’s and possibly why/how from a humanities perspective: https://youtu.be/ZP2bQ_4Q7DY?si=TIl4Zhs2X2ZgBJfY
  • raincole 22 minutes ago
    Off topic: Perhaps it's just me, but I have a pet peeve about emojis in anything formal. Even before LLMs, I instinctively took a repo less seriously when README.md had emojis in every section. And now LLMs have popularized that style, it's the first signal for me to vibe-detect AI repos.

    I do use emojis. I love them, actually, but only in message apps.

  • 9dev 2 hours ago
    > We mapped almost 1:1 to SoftBank’s set, though Apple chose to omit a few of the more risqué ones.

    Which are these risqué emojis mentioned here? I don't think I have ever seen any that are even slightly graphic, which is probably why all the emoji slang conventions have spread like fire (Aubergine, Peach, etc.)

    • pimlottc 1 hour ago
      That's a good question. Comparing the Softbank emoji from June 2008 [0] and the initial batch of Apple emoji that shipping in iPhone OS 2.2 (Nov 2008) [1], it doesn't look like there are any missing at all, it's a perfect 1:1 mapping.

      0: https://emojipedia.org/softbank/2008

      1: https://emojipedia.org/apple/iphone-os-2.2

    • edm0nd 1 hour ago
      Its kinda odd how a lot of the major tech companies have self censored emojis like they are some savior of the planet for doing so.

      For example the gun emoji by turning it into a water pistol instead of a real looking firearm handgun lol.

      WOW THEY SURE CAUSED COUNTLESS LIVES TO BE SAVED W THAT ONE SINGLE MOVE!

    • stringfood 2 hours ago
      long eggplant and a smaller Pinching Hand emoji were probably the first to go
  • holistio 4 hours ago
    There is still no walnut emoji. Blonde-haired, black-skinned pregnant man? Yes. Walnut? No.
    • asdff 2 minutes ago
      No more gun emoji. Humanity could not be trusted with the cartoon revolver emoji. Take your squirtgun, citizen.
    • wpm 4 hours ago
      Be the petty, small change you wish to see in the world: https://joypixels.com/blog/how-to-submit-an-emoji-to-unicode
      • holistio 3 hours ago
        I will be. Thanks.

        By the way, Walnut Creek is less than 100 miles from Cupertino.

        I love walnuts.

      • Jtarii 3 hours ago
        Gotta love websites that hijack basic browser functions, in this case forcing smooth scroll on.
        • embedding-shape 2 hours ago
          Seems to be some sort of design agency or similar, it's basically internet-law at this point that those always fuck with the scroll movements of your browser, for some reason.
    • j1000 4 hours ago
      Also no thief emoji or pirate emoji. Can someone enlighten me why we don't have it?
      • dagmx 4 hours ago
        Simply because nobody has successfully pitched the Unicode group to add one.

        Anyone can pitch new emoji, they just have to go through the fairly easy but strict formal process.

      • hbn 2 hours ago
        I was looking for a pirate emoji like 5 minutes ago. I'm sure it's not the first time but I'm super surprised that still isn't in there. Seems so obvious.
      • wvbdmp 3 hours ago
        What’s next, a cowboy emoji? A ninja emoji? But seriously, as much as I like emojis, I kind of feel like they should stick to emotions. Maybe other intangible things. They’re hard to convey verbally (and succinctly), simple concrete nouns are good for a bit of fun and for UI icons, but really not very useful if we’re being honest. Unless you’re texting with a lizard, or my lazy elementary-school niece who shouldn’t really have a phone anyway…
        • holistio 3 hours ago
          Or you're texting with people whose native language uses a logographic system.
    • hbn 2 hours ago
      I love the pregnant man emoji, I use it all the time after a big meal
    • carrozo 2 hours ago
      still no Guillotine Emoji either, although not for a lack of trying.

      https://www.carrozo.com/guillotine-emoji

  • ollien 3 hours ago
    If the author is reading this, the hyperlink to the book in the first paragraph is broken. Looks like it's attempting to direct you to an absolute url that was meant to be relative.

        <a href="https://books/face-with-tears-of-joy">
  • dwflanagan 1 hour ago
    I just finished Keith Houston's previous book _Empire of the Sum_, a history of calculators, I'll be reading this next.
  • aforty 3 hours ago
    So cool to get the background story on this. I remember adding the Japanese keyboard here in the US just so I could get access to emojis.
  • amelius 5 hours ago
    In case anyone is actually interested in the emoji:

    https://emojipedia.org/apple

    • Aissen 4 hours ago
      More specifically, it was this set: https://emojipedia.org/apple/iphone-os-2.2

      Interesting tidbit:

      > Emoji support required iPhone OS 2.2 and a SoftBank SIM card.

      • TazeTSchnitzel 2 hours ago
        These are very nostalgic. The way Apple's emoji look has subtly changed since then.
      • amelius 4 hours ago
        To be honest, the images look like things I've seen a hundred times over in comic books and not much more original than GenAI.
        • reaperducer 3 hours ago
          not much more original than GenAI.

          What exactly do you think the "GenAI" trained on?

        • throawayonthe 3 hours ago
          is that not sorta the point? i don't get the genai reference
  • Tepix 4 hours ago
    Are the emojis on Apple (macOS, iOS etc) vector graphics these days?
  • NoSalt 4 hours ago
    Why does that site feel like I am reading typed text on paper?