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In an attempt to represent aspects of life in Hong Kong, I began by brainstorming what I believed Hong Kong to be. If I were to show someone or introduce Hong Kong to someone, what would it be? While I had several different ideas in mind, the ones that stuck were these three: 1. Junk Boat, 2. Yum Cha, 3. Tai Chi Silhouette.

• Junk Boat

For me, the backdrop of Hong Kong perfectly contrasts the past and the future. There are so many instances in Hong Kong, where you are able to find modernist architecture surrounded by a historical backdrop, and that, in my opinion, is the beauty of Hong Kong. One example is the historic trams that still to this day operate around the main business hub of Hong Kong. Another example is the junk boat, which is an ancient type of Chinese sailing ship that was developed during the Song dynasty. So, when I was deciding which emoji to produce, I thought about Hong Kong’s iconic skyline. However, located within the skyline is Hong Kong’s Junk boat, sailing amongst the vast array of modern buildings. And, that represents what Hong Kong is – a historical artifact amongst a fully modern society.

• Yum Cha

Another great aspect of Hong Kong is the food. In a way, “Yum Cha” doesn’t classify under the norms of breakfast, lunch or dinner – it is a meal on its own, lying somewhere between morning and early afternoon. The literal translation of “Yum Cha” means to drink tea, but what it actually means is a meal that consists of several small dishes of dim sum served with tea. And, having “Yum Cha” is a communal event, involving several people to sit around a circular table, and share a platter of different kinds of dim sum.

• Tai Chi Silhouette

Hong Kong is the territory with the world’s highest life expectancy in the world (at 84.0 years old in 2015), and this is clearly evident by the number of elderly people in Hong Kong. I remember how every morning (around 6am), as I got ready for school, several old people down my home would be practicing Tai Chi in the park. Tai Chi is well-known for its numerous health benefits, often curing medical problems that come with age. Hence, I decided to use a well-known Tai Chi pose as my emoji. Finally, the emoji is marked by a silhouette effect because it signifies the timing of the practice – as the sun rises.

 I sent these three emoji to my family group chat and a friend from back home. In both instances, I explained the assignment and what I was trying to create. Both my family and my friend liked the idea of the three emoji, especially for “Junk Boat”, and “Yum Cha”. My friend recommended changing the image of “Yum Cha”, since he thought the teapot was too generic and didn’t really symbolize “Yum Cha” completely. He suggested including other elements to the image like dim-sum, etc. My family didn’t understand the silhouette effect without my explanation. They suggested adding mountains in the background or the sun to support the silhouette effect. By far, everyone liked the drawing and ideology behind the “Junk Boat” emoji. Although my friend did mention he wouldn’t see the emoji being used as much for the meaning I was trying to create.

I took in these advices, and began to make edits to my emoji. Since I wanted to keep the silhouette effect on the “Tai Chi” emoji, I decided to add in some mountains and sun into it. As for the “Yum Cha” emoji, I decided to change it to dim sum with a cup of tea on the side to get the full representation.

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