By Victoria Brown, AdThing account director
Good news for those who are sick of using the high five emoji as a substitute for Flash-The-U: the University of Utah has released an official emoji keyboard called UMOJI. While the keyboard will soon be available on Android, it is best used on Apple’s iOS 10. On iOS 10, the emojis work more like stickers that can be placed anywhere on a text message.
The emojis were planned and designed by AdThing, the University of Utah’s student advertising agency, and developed by Swift Media out of New York City. The keyboard includes emojis like Swoop, University of Utah fans and a pair of hands making the “flash-the-U” sign.
“We designed UMOJI with our campus in mind. It’s a Utah take on the unique vernacular that emojis create,” said Cooper Ferrario, creative director of The AdThing and a student at the U. “We wanted to capture the nuances of our school, the pieces of tradition that make the University of Utah special. We’re thrilled with the end result, and can’t wait for everyone to give them a try.”
There will be two versions of the keyboard: a paid version and a free version. UMOJI Lite includes The MUSS flag, the Block U, Swoop’s face and Rice-Eccles Stadium among others. The paid version costs $1.99 and contains a Utah football helmet, the circle and feather logo, cheerleaders in a variety of skin tones and more.
UMOJI can be found on Apple’s sticker store, available on iOS 10, and in the Google Play store soon.