I have to admit that the task this week was pleasantly frustrating! It was challenging but also a lot of fun to come up with a story (plot) that I wanted to share and then creatively pick out all the symbols (emojis) I could use to convey that message. My first challenge was to decide on what kind of emoji keyboard or tool I was going to use to construct the title and plot of for the last TV show I watched. One of the factors I considered to help me make this choice was the ease with which I could find the emojis I wanted to use to construct my story on different platforms.
Google Docs and Apple Pages offered the option of searching for emojis by name or keywords, which made the process of selecting emojis simpler and more efficient than scrolling through available lists. Google Docs also had an additional feature, which I didn’t see on any other platform when it came to filtering through lists of emojis i.e. the option to draw the symbol, or image you are looking for and it returning results based on a visual match to your drawing.
The other factors I considered in my choice of keyboard/ platform were the number of available emojis as well as the aesthetic appeal of their design. A common saying seems applicable here as not all emojis are seemingly “created equal” and below you’ll find four very different looking “tree emojis”. The combination of factors mentioned above eventually led me to choose Apple Pages to complete my task.
I predominantly relied on the emojis to represent certain words or actions to convey the story of the plot but there were cases where there simply weren’t emojis available for a literal representation and I had to rely on a combination of emojis to then try and convey the idea of the word I had in mind e.g. the basket and shower head. I also had to think creatively to how I was going to convey a sense of scale in my story and I decided to incorporate multiple emojis of the same kind in order to accomplish this. Therefore, even though I only used two emojis to represent the title of the show, the sheer number of emojis and their layout conveys a different message than that of a single tree-water droplet-tree combination would have I believe.
Additionally, I made use of a large amount of arrow emojis to help direct the reader in how to read the symbol representation of the story plot. In most cases, the emojis are meant to be read from left to right (the normal convention in Western writing) with the exception of line two. In this case, a symbol (the water pistol) limited my ability to adhere to the normal writing/ reading convention I am used to. Since this emoji only displays from right to left, with no mirror-image available on the platform that I used, I adapted my writing and this in turn also alters the way the viewer of my story will have to attempt to interpret this line.
This task presented a first-hand opportunity to explore the reverse ekphrasis phenomenon of using visuals to explain words (Bolter, 2001). I had to rely on emoji symbols (images) to do what I would normally have done with words (my primary method of communication). Emojis are of course most commonly used to display emotions, gestures, facial expressions or certain objects in digital communication with friends, family and even colleagues in the online or virtual space. They tend to be used to add an extra layer to the conversation by creating a more intimate and personal communication between the parties involved. This is successful because both words and the visual element offered by the emojis can complement one another and offer a complete message to the reader that is rich in context to the parties. This task focused on using only one medium i.e. emojis (symbols) as a primary communication tool or method. It was therefore challenging because I was trying to string emojis together to form a cohesive story and I lacked the words I am so used to using to help fill in the gaps so to say.
Reference:
Bolter, J. D. (2001). Writing space: Computers, hypertext, and the remediation of print (2nd ed.). Mahwah, N.J: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. doi:10.4324/9781410600110
Hi Carla,
I’ve only made it through the first few episodes, but I’m putting my laundered money all on Oz*** (don’t want to give it all away).
I love the way you created the lake out of a mass of water drop emojis. This is how I was able to put a name to the show so quickly.
Great job!
Hi Ryan, you are one sharp cookie!
Not sure what the Southern equivalent of that term would be if you know what I mean. 
I’ll be honest and say that the first season moved a little slow for me but by the second season I became hooked. I hope you enjoy the show too!
Well I have to admit I peeked and found out what show your emoji story is based on. I haven’t watched it so was having a really tough time figuring out the plot. I thought you did an amazing job of providing so much detail though with such a variety of emojis. I also liked how you used arrows to help guide the viewer. I struggled with this and found myself using spacing to do what you accomplished more clearly with arrows. I also agree that the current use of emojis to add emotion to texts rather than as a mode of communicating information made this challenging. Although this use of emojis is somewhat influenced by the perspective of the user. I had my teenager help me find emojis to represent certain words because she is used to using them as more than emphasizing emotions, but actually in place of text. It was very helpful!