While Nicolas Loufrani isn’t the owner of the Unicode emojis, he still considers himself the creator and originator of emojis. He also said that emojis had undoubtedly been inspired by Smileys in a 2017 interview with Vice. After joining Franklin Loufrani at the Smiley Company, he took his father’s iconic Smiley logo to a new level through the creation of a Smiley-based visual language enjoyed by users all over the world today.
Over the course of half a century, Smiley has been embraced as a figurehead of various popular culture movements, representing everything from free love to the digital revolution. Meanwhile, emoticons have evolved and expanded considerably. Today’s emojis cover a broad range of emotions and activities, offering a fun and light-hearted way of conveying mood and livening up conversations by adding nuance and depth.
Globally, a staggering 10 billion emojis are transmitted each day, with 92% of consumers using them daily and 50% admitting they are more likely to respond to a message containing an emoji. From sports to horoscopes to food, emojis have grown to cover a vast array of different genres.
Unicode is responsible for designing and approving emojis, releasing a batch of new additions each year. In November 2024, Unicode released a document sampling nine new emoji concepts due for approval in September 2025. Possible designs being considered for release include:
- An apple core
- A trombone
- A distorted, wide-eyed face
- A ballet dancer
- A creature inspired by Big Foot
- An orca
- A ‘fight cloud’ symbol, as seen in comic books and cartoons
- A treasure chest
- A landslide
Forming part of a longer list of 164 proposed emojis shared with the Unicode Committee in November 2024, the new emojis could form part of the Emoji 17.0 update, bringing the total number of Unicode-approved emojis to 3,954.
Around the world today, emojis are perceived in different ways. While the basic smiling face is largely associated with happiness, friendliness and positivity, in China it can have a different connotation, being translated as sarcasm in some situations. Additionally, the folded hands emoji, sometimes construed as a high five in the West, actually originated in Japan, representing either ‘please’ or ‘thank you’.
Over the years, emojis have evolved and grown to become a huge part of life online. These tiny colourful graphics help internet users to more effectively express their emotions and ideas with just a click, providing an instant means of reaction. Emojis have grown to become so integral to digital communication that there is even an annual celebration dedicated to the popular graphics staged on 17th July every year.
In 2024, Unicode released a new batch of eight emojis to add to the texting vernacular. These included a shovel, a beetroot, a leafless tree, a fingerprint, a tired face, a purple splatter and the flag for Sark. After receiving the approval of the Unicode Consortium, the new lineup began filtering onto user devices over the course of several months. According to a poll by Emojipedia, a website providing information about everything emoji, the tired face emoji featuring bags under the eyes is on course to become a new favourite, having ranked as the most anticipated emoji, garnering 62% of votes.
About the Smiley Company
Launched with the mission of spreading positivity through smiles, the Smiley Company was the brainchild of Franklin Loufrani, creator of Smiley. His simple smiling face logo has been embraced by various cultural movements over the years as an iconic brand of positivity and hope. Consisting of a yellow circle, two dots and a smile, the simple trademark has retained relevancy for more than half a century. Defiantly optimistic, Smiley continues to influence modern culture as a world-leading global collaboration licensing brand.
