{"id":19951,"date":"2021-12-08T18:36:03","date_gmt":"2021-12-08T10:36:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/?p=19951"},"modified":"2021-12-09T10:55:43","modified_gmt":"2021-12-09T02:55:43","slug":"emoticon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/2021\/12\/emoticon\/","title":{"rendered":"\ud83d\ude00\ud83d\ude02\ud83d\ude22\ud83d\ude21\ud83d\udcad"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Emoticon is popular among Koreans for its cute and delicate way of delivering emotion.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Chaelim Kim<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kim Kang-eun is an emoticon <\/a>collector, and she has 33 series of different emoticons in her KakaoTalk account, the most popular instant messaging application in South Korea. As there are at least 24 emoticons in one series, she owns nearly 1,000 emoticons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy favourite emoticon is \u2018I\u2019m a university student\u2019 series designed by Yurang. There are 24 animated emoticons in the series, featuring university life such as staying up late, doing assignments, skipping lectures, and stressing out because of grades.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt speaks my heart as a university student,\u201d Kim says. She says emoticons help her express her emotion better than words.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEmoticons can deliver delicate feelings that words cannot. Plus, they are very cute,\u201d Kim adds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Emoticon, or emotion icon, refers to simple artworks used in online communication. KakaoTalk, an application used by 46 million Koreans, launched its first official emoticon \u2018Kakao Friends\u2019 in November 2012.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Adobe\u2019s \u2018Report on Global Emoticon Trend\u2019 published in July 2021, emoticon usage was 10 per cent higher in South Korea than the worldwide average. About 76 per cent of Koreans use emoticons instead of words in online communication.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Each emoticon series has its own theme, size and even sound in it.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Moon Jong-beum is the creator of the emoticon series \u2018Platypus Ogu\u2019. He studied pottery and started designing emoticons since 2017.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI started designing emoticons after reading an article about emoticon designers making a fortune. I thought it was worth a try since I studied art in college,\u201d the 31-year-old designer says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ogu is Moon\u2019s most popular emoticon character and one of the most successful emoticon characters in KakaoTalk, with at least 30,000 series sold monthly. Each series is sold at 2,500 won (US $2.5). The series is very popular among young Koreans for its cute and simple design.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Emoticons can deliver delicate feelings that words cannot.”<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOgu was originally designed for a lamp. I thought the platypus tail resembles a lightbulb,\u201d says Moon. \u201cI turned it into an emoticon, as I thought it was cute too,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI feel so happy because many people love Ogu. And I am happy too, as there is no cost such as rental spending and material cost when I design emoticons,\u201d says Moon. \u201cAll I need is a tablet PC. The income also makes me feel happy,\u201d he chuckles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  • \"\"<\/figure><\/li>
  • \"\"<\/figure><\/li><\/ul>
    Cute and simple Ogu emoticons are very popular among young people. (Photo Courtesy of Moon Jong-beum)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    Moon shares that the hardest part of creating emoticons is giving them \u2018emotions\u2019. \u201cAnger, for example, can be expressed in so many different ways. I have to find the right expression for each emoticon,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cI want to show something new when I create a new series,\u201d says Moon. \u201cI have created more than 20 Ogu series now. I do not want to reuse expressions that have been used before,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Moon recommends his job to people who are patient and enjoy drawing. \u201cYou have to draw the same picture over and over again, so patience is crucial,\u201d he says. \u201cI draw at least 100 sketches for one series.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Before an emoticon is available for sale in KakaoTalk Emoticon Shop, it has to go through rounds and rounds of evaluations by Kakao Emoticon Studio. \u201cOne of my emoticons was passed after being submitted 14 times,\u201d says Moon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The popularity of emoticons allows some successful emoticon designers to expand their business such as mobile games, merchandises, snacks, clothing and so on. Moon also opened a pop-up store in May 2019 and sold stationery products and small cushions that have Ogu on them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"\"
    Ogu pop-up store was held in many different cities in South Korea. Various Ogu goods like phone cases and cushions were sold at Ogu pop-up store. (Photo Courtesy of Moon Jong-beum)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    Moon\u2019s creation, Ogu, started from a lamp, then an emoticon, and soon it will be a game character. He is currently launching a mobile game featuring Ogu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cI am developing the game for franchising Ogu,\u201d says Moon. \u201cMario and Pikachu were first introduced as game characters and are now known worldwide,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cI hope Ogu can be the \u2018Snoopy\u2019 of Korea, giving heart-warming messages and love to all generations,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"\"
    Ogu was originally a character created for a lamp. (Photo Courtesy of Moon Jong-beum)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    Professor Yun Min Hie, who researches formative arts in the College of Art and Design of Kyung Hee University, says emoticon is not a new creation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cImages were used to deliver meanings before language was used. Emoticon may seem like a fairly new concept, but its origin goes back to the ancient time,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Yun points out that emoticons were first used in the 1990s in South Korea when PC communication emerged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cPeople began using symbols like ^^ and -.- to represent facial expressions. That is the origin of the modern emoticon in Korea,\u201d Yun says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cKoreans call themselves \u2018the people of jest\u2019. We like to find humour in everyday life, even in bad situations. Emoticon fits just right with the Korean lifestyle by making the conversation funnier,\u201d Yun says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Yun believes that the emoticon industry will stay prosperous. \u201cEmoticon industry is run by KakaoTalk and is related to many other businesses.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cThere is no limit in the growth of the emoticon industry,\u201d says Yun. \u201cIt is diverse, it is effective, and it is cute.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    “Emoticon fits just right with the Korean lifestyle by making the conversation funnier.”<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

    Edited by Soweon Park
    Sub-edited by Eve Lee<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Emoticon is popular among Koreans for its cute and delicate way of delivering emotion. By Chaelim Kim Kim Kang-eun is an emoticon collector, and she has 33 series of different emoticons in her KakaoTalk account, the most popular instant messaging application in South Korea. As there are at least 24 emoticons in one series, she […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":20226,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1856,836],"tags":[1870,1869,1871],"class_list":["post-19951","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-issue-161","category-lifestyle","tag-emoji","tag-emoticon","tag-kakaotalk"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19951","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19951"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19951\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20279,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19951\/revisions\/20279"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20226"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19951"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19951"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19951"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}