An interview with an Apple emoji designer

(shadycharacters.co.uk)

71 points | by nate 3 days ago ago

35 comments

  • 9dev 2 hours ago 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 an hour ago 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

    • stringfood 2 hours ago ago

      long eggplant and a smaller Pinching Hand emoji were probably the first to go

    • edm0nd an hour ago 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!

  • dwflanagan 34 minutes ago ago

    I just finished Keith Houston's previous book _Empire of the Sum_, a history of calculators, I'll be reading this next.

  • holistio 4 hours ago ago

    There is still no walnut emoji. Blonde-haired, black-skinned pregnant man? Yes. Walnut? No.

    • wpm 4 hours ago 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 ago

        I will be. Thanks.

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

        I love walnuts.

      • Jtarii 3 hours ago ago

        Gotta love websites that hijack basic browser functions, in this case forcing smooth scroll on.

        • embedding-shape 2 hours ago 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 ago

      Also no thief emoji or pirate emoji. Can someone enlighten me why we don't have it?

      • hbn 2 hours ago 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.

      • dagmx 4 hours ago 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.

        • blanched 3 hours ago ago

          Alex Schmidt, a humor writer (formerly of Cracked and others) did this process for the bison emoji. I enjoyed his “miniseries” about it: https://www.bisonemojipodcast.com/

          • basch 3 hours ago ago

            does the reverse notebooklm exist yet that turns podcasts into longform journalism?

      • wvbdmp 3 hours ago 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 ago

          Or you're texting with people whose native language uses a logographic system.

    • hbn 2 hours ago ago

      I love the pregnant man emoji, I use it all the time after a big meal

    • carrozo 2 hours ago ago

      still no Guillotine Emoji either, although not for a lack of trying.

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

  • ollien 3 hours ago 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">
  • aforty 3 hours ago 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 ago

    In case anyone is actually interested in the emoji:

    https://emojipedia.org/apple

    • Aissen 4 hours ago 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 an hour ago ago

        These are very nostalgic. The way Apple's emoji look has subtly changed since then.

      • amelius 3 hours ago 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 ago

          not much more original than GenAI.

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

        • throawayonthe 3 hours ago ago

          is that not sorta the point? i don't get the genai reference

  • Tepix 4 hours ago ago

    Are the emojis on Apple (macOS, iOS etc) vector graphics these days?

  • NoSalt 4 hours ago ago

    Why does that site feel like I am reading typed text on paper?