The story of the smiling image

History of emoticons

The Smiley is perhaps the most identifiable symbol of all time. What appears to be a childish and unsophisticated illustration of the happy face, usually depicted as a black sphere with a yellow bezel, two black dots for the eyes and an inverted semicircle for the lips, has a rather fascinating history since its inception in 1960s From a morale-boosting corporate image to a sign of the 1970s hippie movement to Internet terminology, the smiley face keeps changing with changes in popular culture.

The birth of the Smiley

The source of the smiley is unclear. What is known is that a rudimentary outline of the emoticon was first made in 1963 by a freelance animator from  mysmiley Worcester, Massachusetts named Harvey R. Ball. The State Mutual Life Assurance Corporation asked him to submit a blueprint for their “friendship campaign”. The campaign was aimed at encouraging employees to smile when dealing with customers and relieving tension in the workplace.

Harvey went on to design what is now known as the Standard Smiley – a perfect colored circle with a yellow background.

Ball said he created the first design in minutes and was paid $ 45 for it. However, neither Ball nor State Mutual Life had the copyright on the icon, making the Smiley free for anyone. In the same year, The Smiley Image appeared on a children’s television show called The Funny Company. The emoticon was used as a logo for the kids’ club.
The beginning of Smiley fashion

What’s also clear is that Smiley’s fashion took off in the 1970s, thanks to the work of two brothers from Philadelphia. In 1970, Bernard and Murray Spain were looking for a peace sign to use for the novelties they wanted to sell. The Spaniard remembered seeing the emoticons used in insurance campaigns and decided to use them to create the Smiley Button. At the end of 1972, the Spaniards managed to sell around 50 million buttons.

Another person who has been credited with the worldwide popularity of emoticons is a French journalist named Franklin Loufrani. In 1971, Loufrani launched “Smiley World” with the aim of sharing his belief with the world that the best way to move forward in life is to focus only on the good things. Loufrani used the smiley face icon to mark articles containing only good news. At the same time, Loufrani filed for Smiley World copyright in European countries. It has also created several Smiley products with authorized partners, resulting in the registration and use of the Smiley name and logo in more than 110 countries for 22 different types of goods and services.
Copyright and smiley issues

Several people had wanted to protect the Smiley’s copyright. In the 1970s, Frank Loufrani obtained the copyright of “Smiley World”.
In 1999, Harvey Ball created the World Smile Foundation and licensed the smiley face to raise money for some charities.