- Title: Inventor of the 'Smiley' talks emoji's
- Date: 31st July 2017
- Summary: VARIOUS OF SMILEY MERCHANDISE INCLUDING MONA LISA BAG AND BOTTLES (SOUNDBITE) (English) CREATIVE CHIEF SMILEYWORLD LTD, NICOLAS LOUFRANI, SAYING: "I realized that they could become a language on their own or a way to communicate. So my idea came to replace the previous emoticons that were made of punctuation so you could only really recognise one or two, you know the happy one, but all the hundreds of emoticons were made of punctuation were totally unknown to people. They were too complicated, you had to read them sideways and I thought, let's create a language of pictographs that can be recognised by anyone, anywhere in the world without anyone having to learn it and be used for digital communication."
- Embargoed: 14th August 2017 11:41
- Keywords: Emoji Emoticon language digital film universal smiley
- Location: LONDON, ENGLAND, UK & VARIOUS UNKNOWN FILMING LOCATIONS, LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES
- City: LONDON, ENGLAND, UK & VARIOUS UNKNOWN FILMING LOCATIONS, LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES
- Country: United Kingdom
- Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment,Film
- Reuters ID: LVA0046S1SFV1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: The son of the man who created the Smiley emoticon in the 1970's says that he took over his fathers' business and revolutionised communication.
Nicolas Loufrani told Reuters that he provided "a language made of pictographs to the public" and added, "I realized that they could become a language on their own or a way to communicate."
Loufrani said that the simplicity of the emoji is the reason behind its huge success, "You have to learn to read and write with the alphabet. It's a process that takes years in schools with emojis, with images it's instantly recognizable."
Credit for the development from the 'Smiley' to what we know as the emoji is given to Apple and the introduction of smartphones. "Having a smartphone enabled people to insert icons in their text messages," Loufrani told Reuters.
The smiley emoticon is big business. Mr. Loufrani's company has a $265 million turnover at retail and over 23 million spinoff products are sold year round.
The universal appeal has now been encapsulated on the big screen with the release of 'The Emoji Movie'.
Cheery Hi-5, a snobbish Poop and a conflicted Meh have starring roles in the "The Emoji Movie," which imagines a world inside cellphones where emojis rebel against portraying just one emotion all their lives.
Much of the publicity so far for the Sony Pictures film has been for casting Shakespearean actor Patrick Stewart as the voice of a "poop" emoji.
"What's fun about 'Poop' is that he has insight into who and what he is and out of that insight comes a sense of humor which allows him to use euphemisms about what he represents in a witty way," said Stewart, about voicing 'Poop.'
45 years ago the emoji started life thanks to Loufrani's father, Franklin. It was just one logo that didn't change for 25 years. His creation has now developed and adapted into a multi-million dollar franchise and business. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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