Emoticons: Businesses
Collaborate with Creators

Emoticon Collaborations Introduce People
to a Brand Identity and an Artist¡¯s Personality

Evolution of Emoticons

Early emoticons took the form of a combination of Korean symbols (-_-, ^^, etc.) and spread rapidly among young people who communicated over personal computers. Over time, emoticons have evolved and established themselves as a unique culture. They have developed from a combination of symbols to still images, and from still images to moving images. The Korea¡¯s emoticon culture has reached its heyday.

Beginning of Collaborations

Emoticons have advanced to the point where there is an Emoticon Subscription Service where people pay a certain amount of money for the unlimited use of emoticons. Emoticon marketing has become more active with the growth of the emoticon market. Emoticon marketing is a strategy that aims to increase intimacy with users by distributing emoticons that express the unique characteristics and messages of a company or product for free. Emoticons can be obtained for free, so emoticon marketing has received a good response from users. Emoticon marketing produces a tangible effect, so companies, public institutions and local governments are using it to release emoticons that reflect their individuality.

Emoticon collaborations between famous overseas brands and domestic artists really stand out. The history of this collaboration dates back to 2017. World-famous fashion Illustrator Kim JaeSuk, who created the character ¡°SUSU Girl,¡± and Michael Kors unveiled collaborative emoticons in 2017. The SUSU Girl emoticon in Michael Kors¡¯ 17FW collection costume drew much attention at the time.

The global jewelry brand Tiffany & Co. has collaborated with artist Seolzzi, while the fashion brand Prada has collaborated with artist Koo Kyung Sun. Other leading global fashion brands have collaborated with Korean artists, such as Bottega Veneta with artist Henn Kim and Dior Beauty with illustrator Hwan Uk Choe.

Tiffany & Co. X Seolzzi (Left) © Tiffany & Co.
Cledepeaubeaute X JaeSuk Kim (Right) © Cledepeaubeaute X JaeSuk Kim

The Creative Process

What is the process like for emoticon collaborations? Illustrator Seolzzi, who collaborated with Tiffany & Co., explained the collaboration process. An official from Tiffany & Co. said, ¡°The head office planned on releasing emoticons for our holiday collection. I looked at the work of several illustrators and thought that the light colors, simple lines, and shapes of Seolzzi¡¯s work would go well with our holiday collection. We reached out to Seolzzi for a collaboration. We asked her to use light yet splendid colors as the collaboration was for our holiday collection.¡±

Seolzzi started making emoticons based on the guidelines she received. The artist shared the secrets behind her work. ¡°Emoticons are used to convey a specific emotion or message through movement. It is very important to determine the type of emotion and movement you want to express. For the collaboration, we wanted to create emoticons that were centered around emotions that are used often in real life. When it comes to a brand collaboration, it¡¯s important to create something that utilizes the characteristics of the brand. We decided to use the luxurious atmosphere of Tiffany & Co. while placing an emphasis on calm and slow movements to express the mystery of the character.¡±

The global jewelry brand Tiffany & Co. has collaborated with artist Seolzzi. The emoticons demonstrate Seolzzi¡¯s characteristic joyful colors and simple lines. © Seolzzi

Embracing Brand Identity
and the Artist¡¯s Personality

Emoticon collaborations have received an incredibly positive response. Fans of certain brands can see limited edition emoticons that contain the brand¡¯s identity while fans of certain artists can use emoticons that represent their favorite artist¡¯s personality. Since most of them are only released in limited quantities, emoticon collaborations with famous brands and artists are often exhausted as soon as they are released. The synergistic effect makes it highly likely that we will see a lot more emoticon collaborations in the future.

Fashion illustrator Kim JaeSuk collaborated with Michael Kors in 2017. (Left)
Commercial work features SUSU Girl. (Right) © JaeSuk Kim