
Noa Yaari, Stickers and Emojis are Candies for the Eye, 2022. Toronto.
The arrangement of stickers and emojis on a sheet influences the thoughts the viewers have while looking at them. For example, “what car do I like most?” or “a grape cluster can fall just like a leaf,” and subsequently, “which one would hit the ground first?”
Usually, producers of stickers and emojis spread them thematically on sheets. Stickers may be arranged either at random or in a grid. Mostly, their users have time to ponder which sticker to use and move it from the sheet to a specific spot on a surface. On the other hand, since emojis are digital icons in a “visual vocabulary,” they are always arranged in a grid. Their users need to find them fast, locate them in a specific place within a given line, and click their message out.
Both stickers and emojis are small and easy to handle. They are designed to be moved from their sheets to a different place, where they fulfill an expressive function. This replacement requires basic skills, which make them widely accessible. Stickers and emojis also save time because they are ready-made images. They enable the users to add shape and colour to their communication without creating them. The effortless use of stickers and emojis, and the great value they bring forth, make them extremely useful.
Lastly, stickers and emojis are cheap; sweet, and cheap (that is, kitschy). Their thematic and visual simplicity, along with their low price, result in them being highly popular products. They are candies for the eye.