From Viennese philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein to American smiley inventor Harvey Ball to Japanese designer Shigetaka Kurita: the history of the emoji is more international than one might think at first glance. What appears in every chat today began long before smartphones.
A short message like „I don't have time“ can quickly seem curt and dismissive. Softened with a small pictogram, it looks different: „I don't have time ☹“. Even though both messages contain the same words, they sound different. While the former can be interpreted as irritable, the latter sounds sad or disappointed. The difference is created solely by the small symbol at the end of the message. Emojis simplify today's digital communication and make it possible to express emotions concisely with small images. However, the invention of the emoji (Japanese for picture writing) predates the digital age.
Ludwig Wittgenstein: The Thought of Drafted Feelings
Some researchers trace the origin of the emoji to the Viennese philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889-1951). One of his lectures is often cited for this, in which he stated that he could „reproduce countless expressions with just four strokes“ - but only if he were „a good draftsman.“ According to the philosopher, drawn faces could clarify the written word and achieve what cannot be conveyed by mere words alone. While Wittgenstein did not invent emojis, he made it clear that painted faces can supplement words that reach their limits.
Harvey Ball: The Man Behind the Yellow Smiley
Another key figure in the development of emojis is the American Harvey Ball. His work could be seen as a source of pop-cultural inspiration. In 1963, he created the smiling yellow smiley face for an insurance company. The goal was to motivate employees. Because he did not patent it, he is said to have received only about $45 for his creation.
Scott Fahlman: How punctuation marks became emotions
The computer scientist Scott Fahlman developed Emoticons – a portmanteau of the English terms “emotion” and “icon” – were an important precursor to today's emojis. In 1982, Fahlmann is said to have discussed in a forum how best to indicate emotions in such forums. :) is interpreted as a smiling face, while the combination :( expresses sadness. From this simple idea, he influenced global communication. Thus, emoticons were born, which are read as faces rotated by 90°.
Shigetaka Kurita: The Inventor of the First Digital Emojis
The transition from emoticons to emojis as we know them today, originated by the Japanese Shigetaka Kurita 1999. Back then, SMS still had a character limit, forcing users to express complex emotions in the shortest text messages possible. Kurita programmed 176 pictograms for a Japanese mobile carrier. He added symbols like a controller to the faces. To honor Kurita's work, the Museum of Modern Art in New York curated an art exhibition about emojis in 2016.
From Chat to Global Phenomenon: Emojis Today
In 2010, the small pictures in the Unicode standard recorded. This ensures that letters, characters, and numbers have a distinctive code. This allows emojis to be displayed on both iPhones and Windows laptops. This was a crucial step in the development of emojis, which further spread the booming popularity of emojis. Kurita's 176 emojis have now grown to over 4,000 emojis.
Today, emojis even have their own unofficial holiday. The emoji has been celebrated annually since July 17, 2014. Just one year later, the “😂” was chosen as the „word of the year“ by Oxford Dictionaries. Emojis can now be found outside the digital cosmos as well, on T-shirts, menus, or newspaper articles. In 2017, their own movie, „The Emoji Movie,“ was even created, in which the protagonist Gene is an emoji.
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