Mates, Australia’s first-ever set of Indigenous emojis for both Android and iOS – incredibly named the Indigemoji – will release this year via a new app.
[jwplayer kZ1UKZzl]
Ingeous Studios, the Indigenous designers who helped create the new line of emojis, shared a sneak peek on Facebook on Thursday afternoon. In short, they rule. Though there’s yet to be an official release date for the Indigemoji keyboard, there is a Facebook page and website to support and check out in the meantime.
“Soon you will be pushing out Australia’s first set of Indigenous emojis, made by young people on Arrernte country in Mparntwe/Alice Springs,” Ingeous wrote on Facebook.
Indigemojis include a boomerang, a love heart and crown in the colours of the Aboriginal flag. At the moment, options available include the keyboard characters “[-o-]” and a combination of the black, yellow, and red love hearts.
Unsurprisingly, Ingeous Studios’ lil’ sneak peek has copped quite a bit of attention online, with the post attracting almost 3,000 reactions on Facebook and almost 3,000 shares at the time of writing. In response to some comments and feedback, the team said there are plans in the future to create emojis in the Torres Strait Islander colours too.
Sponsored by the Northern Territory Government, Ingeous Studios collaborated on the project with InDigiMOB, Geek in Residence, Alice Springs Public Library, and CAYLUS (Central Australian Youth Link Up Service).
According to the Indigemoji website, the emojis were designed to “inspire young people to decolonise their digital spaces.” Over the 2018-19 summer holiday, young people in Alice Springs learned “to design and make new emojis relevant to their lives and culture.”
“It’s a chance to grow digital skills, while learning and sharing Arrernte language and culture in a whole new way,” Indigemoji said.
The emojis will be released for free via an app later this year.
Stay tuned.
