In 2019, filmmaker Theo Schear and harpist Mary Lattimore co-wrote a proposal to the Unicode Consortium, pleading with the group to create the first-ever harp emoji. It has been authorized, and will probably be out there to be used later this 12 months or in early 2025.
“I’m a fan of Mary Lattimore’s music, and her music impressed me to take harp classes again in 2019,” Schear, who creates emoji and labored with Emojination on the challenge, informed Pitchfork over e mail. “I had co-authored a handful of emoji already, and I’m at all times on the lookout for new emoji to suggest.”
Schear additionally informed Pitchfork how a pal of his, Jennifer 8. Lee, the vice chair of Unicode’s emoji subcommittee, gave him the inexperienced mild to maneuver ahead with the proposal. “Jenny mentioned the harp emoji was value proposing, even if musical devices had been usually not being accepted on the time,” he wrote. “Due to the harp’s relevance globally, she figured it will be accepted each time they got here again to musical devices. I used to be wanting to etch my identify within the semiotic historical past of my favourite instrument, and I’m now very honored to be a co-author with Mary.”
Schear dealt with the majority of the proposal, however Mary Lattimore was nonetheless a vital a part of the challenge. “Her authorship was extra of an endorsement actually, in the way in which that producers connect big-name govt producers to motion pictures,” Schear clarified.
Lattimore, in a press release to Pitchfork, mentioned, “I used to be delighted when Theo requested me to endorse this emoji proposal. We harpists have been ready for this second!”
Within the authentic proposal, as famous by Harp Column, Schear and Lattimore pointed to the obvious absence of harp illustration within the emoji ecosystem, noting: “The harp is an egregious omission to the musical devices represented. The harp is likely one of the most recognizable devices worldwide.” The proposal additionally nodded to the harp’s celestial connotations: “Moreover, angels are sometimes depicted with harps, and we should always all aspire to be angels.”
The brand new harp emoji will probably be included within the beta model of the Unicode 16.0 emoji catalog. The emoji design was created by Emojination’s Aphelandra Messer. Schear has beforehand co-authored a number of emoji (beverage field, beaver, and mirror ball, to call a couple of) with Emojination.
As for future emoji tasks, Schear pointed to the general public’s urge for food for extra musical instrument symbols. “ A pal of mine desires a Bassoon emoji,” he wrote. “I believe an upright piano or organ can be cool, and my different favourite instrument might be the kalimba, so I’d like to see that.”