World Emoji Day 2020: The emoticon goes viral

Recent data from Bobble AI, an artificial intelligence company, has revealed that the use of emoticons has increased by a whopping 58 per cent on social media during the lockdown. They've been used to express feelings of joy, health concerns and also, the work from home situation many of us find ourselves in. Emojis are more than just a lethargic way of saying something; sometimes, they encapsulate all that one cannot possibly put into words. Today being World Emoji Day - an annual observation to celebrate emojis started by Jeremy Burge, the founder of Emojipedia, in 2014 - we invited four artists to create icons that reflect today's inexplicable times.

When Karuna is here to stay

It was only in March that Union minister Ramdas Athawale gave us a glimmer of hope with his Go Corona Go chant. Although it was subject to many EDM remixes later, the slogan was hardly prophetic. Graphic designer, illustrator and visualiser Tanya Eden channelled her frustration about it into an emoji. "It can't be karuna go anymore, because it isn't going anywhere," she says. So, the alternative she proposes, in light of the daily news of the COVID-19 cases rising, is to say, "Bahut ho gaya karuna karuna!"

Log on to tanyaedenart on Instagram

Mood swings

Representing our perennially shifting moods through each phase of the lockdown, designer Komal More has created six emojis. Explaining the idea, she says, "I have never experienced something like this before. So, when the lockdown was first announced I was like 'What is this exactly?' and in the second phase I said, 'Okay, we will get through this; everything will be fine.'" But things changed from thereon, and the consequent phases left her with a mixed bag of emotions with stricter regulations being imposed in Mumbai due to the surge in cases. And perhaps, her fifth and sixth emoji sum up the wild emotional roller-coaster we've been put onto best.

Log on to @04komal on Instagram

Wide awake

City-based artist Tanishkya D'Lyma is constantly inspired by other artistes, especially musicians. The emoji she created is titled Wide Awake, after Chris Cornell's song. The cloud represents the uncertainty that the pandemic brings. The open eye is a literal translation of sleeping with one eye open while the closed eye shows how our usual lives have been put to slumber - leaving reality to feel like a dream. "It also denotes our retreat to safety, rather our attempt to retreat, physically and mentally," says D'Lyma.

Log on to @hues_and_words on Instagram

Longtime lockdown

Robert Frost wrote, 'Home is the place where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in.' But now, we long to be out. So, Goa-based production designer and illustrator Devika Dave encapsulated it in an emoji titled Longtime Lockdown. "The idea comes from the space we have inhabited, and how we are fully consuming it every day," she says.

Log on to @longshelf on Instagram

Catch up on all the latest Mumbai news, crime news, current affairs, and a complete guide from food to things to do and events across Mumbai. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates.

Mid-Day is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@middayinfomedialtd) and stay updated with the latest news