This is where the melting face emoji becomes relevant. The emoji, with a half-smile as it liquefies into a puddle, is among the 37 new emojis approved by the Unicode Consortium this year. Other new emojis include a saluting face, a face with dotted lines, and a disco ball. These emojis will be introduced gradually over the next year. The melting face emoji has already gained popularity on social media, with many interpreting it as a symbol of the significant psychological impact of the coronavirus pandemic. One Twitter user described the melting smiley face emoji as a reflection of the current widespread mood, while others saw it as a representation of climate anxiety. Some users predicted that the emoji would be frequently used in the context of the climate change crisis. The melting face emoji was created in 2019 by Jennifer Daniel and Neil Cohn, who share a mutual love for visual language. Daniel, who identifies with they/them pronouns, serves as an emoji subcommittee chair for Unicode and is a creative director at Google; Cohn is an associate professor at Tilburg University in the Netherlands, specializing in cognition and communication. Cohn's research on representations of emotion in Japanese Visual Language, specifically the concept of "paperification" where characters in manga turn into paper when embarrassed, caught Daniel's attention. They both noticed the lack of an emoji representing this visual convention and decided to create one, eventually settling on the melting face as a more visceral alternative. Cohn pointed out that many face emojis draw inspiration from manga and comics, using existing visual culture conventions. The first emojis were created in 1999 by a Japanese artist named Shigetaka Kurita, who was inspired by manga. They were intended to make text-based communication easier, as NTT Docomo had a 250-character limit on messages sent through its mobile internet service. The original set of 176 emojis designed by Kurita is now housed in the permanent collection at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Emojis continue to be a popular way to express emotions quickly and easily, even without character restrictions, with the melting face emoji being no exception. In more literal terms, emojis can represent the feeling of a broken air conditioner. Metaphorically, they can express emotions like embarrassment, exhaustion, or sarcasm. The concept of melting, for example, can be applied to various feelings. Emojis are designed to be used in diverse ways, much like words can be used in different contexts. Visual language has a flexibility that surpasses words, according to Daniel. For example, the concept of a "melting face" can evoke various emotions and meanings. Erik Carter, a graphic designer, believes that emojis themselves are not deep, but rather it is how they are used that gives them depth. He provided his own interpretation of the melting face image he created. Carter expressed that some of us may feel a sense of despair due to issues such as climate change and the lack of action from our government. He remarked that at times, it may seem like the only thing we can do is smile as we deteriorate.