BHUBANESWAR: Ways of communicating in the internet have undergone transitions through time. Emoticons and emojis are the most prominent manifestations of this transition in the present day. What is interesting however, is that these emojis have found their way into multiple lifestyle products and even delicacies in the Capital.
The virtual faces that depict a multitude of emotions are now available off screen, for people to enjoy them beyond their usual internet usage. Emojis come in various facial expressions. People and especially kids enjoy possession of these products due to tangible manifestation of these emotions.
The word ‘emoji’ is derived from Japanese words ‘e’ meaning ‘picture’ and ‘moji’ meaning ‘characters’. The first emoji was created in 1999 in Japan by Shigetaka Kurita. Kurita observed that different symbols like street signs and stock symbols are used for weather forecast. The idea to observe people’s expression based on various situations and express them on virtual patterns was inspired from this observation.
Similarly to emojis, emoticons are punctuation marks, letters and numbers used to create pictorial icons that generally display an emotion or sentiment. The word emoticon is derived from the word ‘Emotional Icon’. There is a variety of emoji products like pillows, coffee mugs, floatie kings, slipper shoes, key chains and notepads among others.
There is a multitude of gift shops where you can find various emoji based products at Market Building of Unit 1 at reasonable prices. These products are also available on e-commerce platforms like cafepress, fab.com and Amazon among others.
“I bought some emoji cups for my kids who really loved it. We use them not just for drinking but for snacks and cereal too. The design of these cups is really attractive which gives them a cute appearance,” said Smita Ghosh. “These products can be great for gifting someone who likes to use emojis,” said Soumya Nayak.
Emoji based products are not just limited to key chains and pillows. Emoji based food items have made their way into the urban vogue too. A variety of attractive cakes, candies, cookies and chocolates based on emojis are available at these shops. City dwellers are ordering cakes based on emojis at different stores like Monginis, Bake Shop and cake studio among others.
“I am crazy for cakes. These days, cakes are being made in the form of cute emojis. I have developed a taste for these cakes. These adorable mini emoji cakes are prepared with chocolate, butter and cream. One can recreate one’s favorite emoji expression in mini cakes at home too,” said Ankita Tripathy.
Our lifestyle is profoundly impacted by ongoing trends. People using emoji products in the Capital was a prospect imagined by few in the past. However, the virtual trend of emoji usage inspired creation of a diverse range of products which have been welcomed with open arms by city dwellers. Hence, the next time you visit a friend’s house in the Capital, don’t be confused if one of his pillows smiles back at you.