Many of us are working from home, wrangling kids while managing our day jobs, and just trying to keep our wits about us. That means we turn on Netflix at 10 p.m., pop a pinot, and tune out. But once designer Ji Lee is done juggling his day, he does the unthinkable: Even more work to, in his words, “stay productive and sane.”
His latest sanity project was to develop a series of emoji for COVID-19. He created 12 emoji—including many inspired by those you know and love—for pandemic times: the prayer hands get bubbles to signal hand washing, the house now has a single person in isolation staring out the window, the earth gets a large pause symbol on top, and of course, the toilet paper roll is now empty.
The work is funny in some instances, though also quietly sad. “Emoji is a humorous medium. But these emojis represent very serious global topics,” says Lee, while excusing the toilet paper roll as an obvious joke. “Humor is a very important part of our life, which helps us go through difficult times. If this somehow makes people smile for a moment during a tough day, I would be happy.”
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