When Words Fail Emoji’s Prevail. Happy World Emoji Day!

Emojis liven up and add non-verbal human touch to our text conversations. They help express our ideas and emotions in ways words cannot. Whether we’re trying to express our love, beg for forgiveness, show gratitude or let out frustration, emojis help us get the message across.

Last year, in honor of the July 17th internationally celebrated World Emoji Day, we asked our rookie marketing team members what some of their favorite emojis were. This year we asked some of our engineers and designers to share their most used Skype emojis. Skype is the main communication tool Kdan team members use to communicate during work. Have fun and learn some new uses for your favorite emojis while getting to know the Kdan team.

DESIGNERS’ MONOLOGUE

YH is a crossfit addict and UX Designer. She spends a lot of time at the gym and likes to visit tasty ramen places after her gym sessions. The fun and polite personality she demonstrates through the emojis she uses is common of Kdan team members and also part of what makes her so great at ensuring our users have a good experience.

To express her happiness that a project is finished she frequently uses

(rock). When she sees a design that she doesn’t agree with but wants to be polite and hold her criticism she kindly uses

(:x). On the other hand, when a team member shares a great idea she likes to use

(unicorn) to express how amazed she is with their idea. She typically uses several to express just how great their idea is. Being a small and creative team means we need a constant flow of creative ideas. This emoji also sums up that spirit.

In addition to being a seasoned UI Designer, Ian is a new father

(dadtime) who loves tinkering around with his motorcycle and bonding with his coworkers. He expresses all his emotions on efficiency and the good time that comes with sharing a drink.

His favorite Skype emoji is

(like). Whenever a discussion is going somewhere solid, or when a project is done well, he loves to give it a Like. On the other hand when the workload is full but new projects keep piling up he likes to use

(lalala) to lighten up the damper it can add to one’s mood. Ian has a special emoji combo

(celebrate)

(holidayspirit) that he uses exclusively for shifting into party mood for Kdan’s after-work Happy Hour gatherings. Kdan’s team members have many clubs for bonding and building friendship on and off the clock with some of the more popular being the Happy Hour club, Pokemon Go, Swimming and Basketball.

Duki is a soft hearted UI Designer who likes to draw her thoughts and feelings. (Check out some of her amazing artwork by following her on Instagram @dukichiang.) Duki is also a Pisces, the horoscope with maybe the most emotions in the world. It’s no wonder she interprets emojis differently than others.

To her,

(morningafter) means “BLUE,” and is often used on Mondays, when she feels like she doesn’t recognize her coworkers anymore (after a weekend of separation because she loves them so much) or when she simply doesn’t feel like working. When she feels consumed by an emotion but can’t really express it, she uses

(sweat) to convey her frustration. She often uses

(cwl) to laugh off silly mistakes.

ENGINEERS’ STRAIGHTFORWARD-NESS

KangKang is one of our most Senior Windows Software Engineers. He is a supporter of anything Microsoft. He owns several T-shirts that express his love for Microsoft saying things like “I Love Windows Phone” and “I Love Microsoft”. He is also a great example of the honest culture we encourage at Kdan.

To show that he is proud of the work he as done he will share

(cool). He likes to use

(clap) to sincerely cheer for something, eg. when wifi at the office is down and

(sarcastic) when something for the greater good happens but he can’t bring himself to be genuinely happy about it, eg. when wifi at the office comes back on. Now that’s sincere employee honesty.

GSX is not only Kdan’s tallest team member, but also the slowest (in terms of walking and talking speed, not work.) His slow pace is one of his signatures. He even almost nicknamed himself “Slow Motion” for this post. As one of Kdan’s Cloud Team Senior Engineers he likes to lighten the mood when things get tough whether it be his misfortune or another’s.

When work gets tricky, he uses

(cwl) it to lift the mood (of himself or his team). To express his happiness, especially with someone else’s misfortune, he likes to use

(devil). He also likes to put his hands in the air

(celebrate) to cheer. There’s always something to celebrate at Kdan whether it be a job well done, “it’s Friday”, or free food and drink show up in the office (which happens quite often).

EMOJI TAKEOVER

There will soon be an emoji for everything… literally everything. 157 new emojis are being added to major platforms in 2018 with the total number of approved emoji’s reaching 2,823. This doesn’t even account for Bimoji, Animoji, and the recently announced Memoji. Apple just announced Memoji at this year’s WWDC. You can now make an avatar who can express your face just like another you. Maybe one day the Kdan team will take our daily communication to another level and use even more creative ways to express ourselves.

Have a creative way of expressing yourself? Share with us in the comment section below.

Originally published at Kdan Mobile Blog.