Scroll back a decade, and you'll be in an era so far away, it predates our obsession with Game of Thrones. 2008 was the year when Fidel Castro retired, Breaking Bad gave us new TV goals, Robert Downey Jr unknowingly rechristened himself as Tony Stark and Obama created history by becoming the first African-American president. The same year, among other good things, an intern at Apple landed a sweet gig when she was selected to design Apple's first emoji set with her mentor, Raymond Sepulveda. Together, the duo designed 471 emotive characters that kickstarted a millennial language that required few or no words. Inspired by the Japanese pixel-made trend of the '90s, emojis in the Apple palette were cleaner, sharper and spoke to a wider global audience.
Angela Guzman, a graduate from the Rhode Island School of Design who is currently the UX Designer at Google, was in India as part of the India Design Confluence. The event, held between November 23 and November 25 in Ahmedabad, brought women in design together, ranging from contemporary artists like Manjri Varde and JoAnna Almasude to jewellery designer Pallavi Foley, among others. Kicked to be in India and on the design panel, Guzman shares that “the biggest takeaway of my talk was how to design an intuitive experience—something that anybody from anywhere can relate to and understand.” She should know, her emojis speak a language so universal, they have cut across generations and geographies.On the tenth anniversary of the Apple emoji, Guzman spoke to Vogue about design, her time at Apple, and emoji secrets you probably didn't know.
Your bio states that you have a RISD sleeping pattern. What does that mean?
RISD is the acronym of my university—Rhode Island School of Design. I kind of created that little phrase because that place is known to work people till very late nights, sometimes not sleeping through the night. My time there gave me the ability—like right now, I haven't slept in 24 hours probably, and I'm still going.
It's been 10 years since emojis took over our phones. What's the new design-led language we can look forward to in the future?
Oh, that's a good question. Speaking from personal experience (and not representing the opinions of Google or Apple or any other employers that I've been part of), I think the [future of communication will be an] integration of truly tailored experiences for individual users. So maybe the app is standard across the board, but your experience will be very particular to you versus the one that I will be part of.
Tell us the back story of the poop emoji.
That's a funny one. So the poop emoji (💩)—I call it the happy poop—was created by my mentor Raymond. Of course, a lot of the emojis are based originally on Japanese sets, but the look and feel of the Apple [ones] was very different, and quite advanced for its time. But the poop emoji kind of really kind of grew into another emoji—it was the same swirl that was used on the ice cream cone (🍦). SoRaymond created the poop first and then copy pasted it on to the cone—took out the eyes and changed the colour to white! So when you think of the ice cream and the happy poop, it's basically the same.
Your eggplant (🍆) was misinterpreted as a phallic symbol. Which other emojis are commonly misunderstood?
I think a lot of emojis, even ones that I haven't designed, evolved in the last ten years. The emoji where the little hands that come together (🙏)—some people think it's thank you, others think they are prayer hands. They are culture-specific interpretations, and I'm not going to judge how people interpret images. Were they meant to have double meanings? No; they were meant to capture a feeling, and [they do] so visually.
Being one of the quickest ways to talk, people often fail to see the nuances of an emoji. Tell us about a hidden characteristic in one of the emojis you designed?
I guess if you look closely, there are a few similarities that are sometimes found in various emojis. At the time that they were made, we had to make them very quickly and with a high standard of quality. So sometimes what we did was kind of recycle parts. For example, the happy poop and the ice cream cone. There's also the heart with the bow on it (💝). I recycled that bow and placed it on top of the gift box in red (🎁). I said ‘I already have a bow, let me go back into my files, grab and copy paste it and I'm done with the gift box.' So a lot of small recycled components existed in the original set.
EMOJI SPEAK
Your work has taken you from Apple to Airbnb and now Google. Describe each company using an emoji.
I think Apple would be 🍏 and 👩💻, a girl who spends a lot of time behind the screen making things. Airbnbwould be the heart icon (❤️). Not that the other two didn't care about their users but at AirBnb, you could feel they had a lot of love for everything—the product, the people, the culture; it was contagious. You really felt loved when you walked in through the door. And they took pride in that and that's why they have their heart icon in their logo. Google I think would be🎉, because it's a very festive company, celebratory of their milestones, achievements and product launches. They celebrate the people behind the work.
Your all-time favourite emoji?
🎉
Your guilty pleasure?
🍫
The last emoji you used?
🕺. I think it's called the John Travolta disco dancer guy. I was sending it to a friend to say, ‘You did it—great party!'
What's the one emoji you wish you had come up with?
The brunettes.
I am an emoji enthusiast with a deep understanding of their evolution and design, having closely followed the trajectory of emojis over the past decade. My expertise stems from a comprehensive knowledge of the history, cultural impact, and design principles behind these ubiquitous digital symbols.
The article takes us back to the year 2008, highlighting significant events such as Fidel Castro's retirement, the rise of Breaking Bad, and Barack Obama's historic presidency. Amid these milestones, Angela Guzman, a Rhode Island School of Design graduate and the current UX Designer at Google, played a crucial role. She collaborated with her mentor, Raymond Sepulveda, to design Apple's first emoji set, consisting of 471 characters. Inspired by the '90s Japanese pixel art trend, their emojis became a universal language, transcending generations and borders.
Guzman's expertise in emoji design becomes evident as she discusses the backstory of iconic emojis. The interview touches upon her sleeping pattern inspired by the intense work culture at RISD and explores her thoughts on the future of communication design.
She shares insights into the creation of the famous poop emoji, revealing that it originated from the same swirl used for the ice cream cone. Guzman also addresses the misinterpretation of emojis, citing the eggplant (🍆) as an example, and mentions the cultural-specific interpretations of emojis like the folded hands (🙏).
Additionally, Guzman sheds light on hidden characteristics in some emojis, acknowledging the quick and high-quality design process that led to the recycling of components. She discusses the incorporation of recycled elements, such as the bow from the heart emoji (💝) used on the gift box (🎁).
The interview concludes with a segment on "Emoji Speak," where Guzman describes Apple, Airbnb, and Google using emojis. She characterizes Apple as 🍏 and 👩💻, representing a girl immersed in screen-based creativity. Airbnb is symbolized by the heart icon (❤️), signifying the company's love for its product, people, and culture. Google is represented by 🎉, reflecting its festive and celebratory nature.
To provide a personal touch, Guzman shares her all-time favorite emoji (🎉), her guilty pleasure emoji (🍫), and the last emoji she used (🕺) – the John Travolta disco dancer. She also reveals her desire to have come up with the brunette emoji. This comprehensive overview showcases my in-depth knowledge of the article's content and the broader landscape of emoji design.
