Explainer-in-brief: Fed up with the emoji offerings? Time to shine
Ever felt like you needed a more specific emoji to caption your aperol spritz Instagram with? Frustrated at not being able to express every single emotion with a little yellow face? No, this isn’t an advert for an emoji self-help group or a Boomer’s guide on how to use the Other Keyboard.
The Emoji Subcommittee – the people who decide whether or not a wizard is included in the line up – has announced they are open for submissions. The subcommittee is part of the Unicode Consortium, a NGO responsible for emojis – among other things.
Submissions for new emojis open annually – and last year’s round ended with 37 new emojis. There is a rigorous selection process favouring entrants that can have both a literal and symbolic meaning – for example, a sloth. They also aren’t in the market for simply new variations of the old – yes, even if there are no slider shoe emojis.