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Simone Biles has already reached “greatest of all time” status, but Twitter just made it official. Just in time for the Tokyo Olympic Games, Twitter has announced that it’s launching a new GOAT emoji specifically to honor the Olympic gold medalist. This moment marks history for the 24-year-old as she’s the first Olympian to receive a custom emoji from Twitter and first female athlete ever to receive her own GOAT emoji, following after people like Patrick Mahomes. When used by Twitter users, the emoji will automatically populate alongside hashtags like “#SimoneBiles” or “#Simone” throughout the Olympic Games, which begin today and continue until Aug. 8. The social recognition for Biles is sure to explode over the next few weeks as she’s considered a crowd-favorite. Her new emoji is designed as a goat sporting a red, sparkly leotard with a gold medal around its neck to recognize her accomplishments. Witness greatness Tweet with greatness #SimoneBiles #Simone pic.twitter.com/M6RKzP3KB6...
Google is releasing 53 new gender-neutral emojis for its Pixel smartphones, according to Fast Company. The emojis will be available for other Android phones later in the year. Vampires, swimmers, zombies and a list of other emojis that feature male and female options will now have another choice in the middle. The gender-neutral emojis have subtle changes in clothing and hairstyles to be more inclusive of non-gender conforming communities. “Gender is complicated,” Google designer Jennifer Daniel, said to Fast Company. Daniel also serves on the Unicode Consortium, the organization that sets international standards for emojis.” “It is an impossible task to communicate gender in a single image. It’s a construct. It lives dynamically on a spectrum. I personally don’t believe there is one visual design solution at all, but I do believe to avoid it is the wrong approach here,” Daniel said to Fast Company. Other developers have also petitioned the Unicode Consortium to be more inclusive by...
Emojis have become a social phenomenon. These simple, bitesize illustrations have shifted the way people communicate digitally and have become a vital method of conveying emotion and imagery. Now, two designers want to make sure Black hairstyles are included in them. Rhianna Jones and Kerrilyn Gibson are trying to bring Afromojis to the Unicode Consortium, the non-profit that makes the ultimate decisions on emojis. The two are currently working to get 5,000 signatures on their Change.org petition to be selected in Unicode’s 2020 slate of emojis. So far, the petition has 3,600 signatures. Unicode accepts 70 new emojis a year, according to the New York Times. Jones has deep roots in the fashion industry and Gibson is a graphic designer who has experience in sales for a jewelry company. The duo wants to use their experience to create emojis that reflect the various hairstyles and hair textures of people from the Diaspora. “Many Black, Afro-Latinx and diasporic users like myself don’t...