When I first started brainstorming for emoji ideas that would represent home (Toronto, Canada), I was initially a bit stuck. Some of the immediate things that came to mind were a bit stereotypical, and too generic – shovelling snow in the driveway, waiting for the notoriously unreliable TTC (public transit). After some thought, and wanting to make the emojis specific but recognizable, I decided to go with a Raptors basketball emoji, a poutine emoji, and a coffee cup (Roll up the rim) emoji.
Toronto is a city that loves its sports teams. Although hockey is a typical Canadian favourite, Torontonians also love basketball, as we have a huge fan base for our home team, the Toronto Raptors. When there are games at home (which are often sold out), crowds will gather in an outdoor square dubbed “Jurassic Park” to cheer on the Raptors. So I decided to draw a basketball with the Raptors claw. (Although I am borrowing a bit from one of their logos…)
Poutine is a classic Canadian “dish” composed of fries, cheese curds and gravy. Though not strictly Torontonian, this emoji captures a bit more of the wider Canadian food culture.
Given the busy city life and cold weather, locals also love coffee/hot drinks, especially Tim Hortons (which we call Timmies). I didn’t want to draw their coffee cup exactly, since that would be using their brandname, so I decided to draw a popular aspect of Timmies: their Roll Up the Rim cups – a promo campaign where consumers can win food prizes in the rims of their cups. But more often than not, we unroll the rims to find “please play again” inscribed there.
I sent these emojis to two high school friends, explaining to both of them that I had to create 3 conceptual emojis that describe home. I asked them what they thought, and how the emojis made them feel. Both of them initially responded with a similarly amused and intrigued question: “what classes are you taking now? LOL”. After the initial surprise, they were both able to recognize what each emoji represented. My friend Daniella suggested the basketball could be made a bit more accurate, whereas the other two seemed fine. My friend Selina excitedly replied “Roll up the rim! You could even make it into a meme. Not the other two. But great ideas!” They both enjoyed the three emojis.
Given their limited feedback, I didn’t change much to the emojis except to clean up the designs a bit. I then sent them to my mom and sister, without an explanation. “Poutine!!! Can you buy me some?” was my sister’s response – it’s one of her favourite foods, and she’ll often make me buy her one when I’m home. My mom liked the emojis as well, although she didn’t recognize what the basketball stood for – she thought it was just a normal basketball. I realized that the Roll Up the Rim emoji might be a bit hard to see, since it has words on it – but the colours and overall concept was recognizable. Overall, I learned how tricky and fun it can be to design emojis, to capture aspects of “home” in a codified illustration.
