Translating the title and plot of a book into emojis was a creative challenge.
Did you rely more on syllables, words, ideas, or a combination of all of them?
- I did not consider syllables because I used the emoji search bar to help me find emojis that might connect. I used a combination of everything, ideas, words, and concepts, although there are only so many emojis available it was difficult to find ones that accurately conveyed the intended meaning, especially for more complex ideas and concepts.
Did you start with the title? Why? Why not?
- It just made sense to me to start with the title, it provided a general direction and theme for the selection of emojis for the plot. However, it’s also possible to have approached the task by first summarizing the plot and then selecting emojis that capture the title.
Did you choose the work based on how easy it would be to visualize?
- I choose the work because it was the last book I read for pleasure. The book’s popularity also led to the release of a major motion picture adaptation in 2019 which further raised the book’s profile and brought its message to an even wider audience. I have not seen the movie, but the book was an eye-opener.
Overall, translating a book’s title and plot into emojis was a creative way to engage with this task, but it also requires careful consideration and creativity to effectively communicate the essence of the work using only a limited set of symbols. In Chapter 4, Bolter (2001), notes that hypermedia designers use images to convey meaning more directly than words alone can do and connects this immediacy to our ‘desire for the natural sign.’ Using only emojis alone, I did not think I was transferring the meaning of the concepts and ideas of my story naturally or directly. This task challenged me to be creative with the meaning of ideas and concepts. It would have been easier and allowed me to better convey the meaning of the plot.
References
Bolter, J. D. (2001b). Writing Space: Computers, Hypertext, and the Remediation of Print. Routledge.