_Examining how digital writing is changing the way we communicate
_Focus on imagery and consequently the form of emojis
_Practice-oriented analysis model based on case studies
_Close integration of creative and scientific reflection

It’s hard to imagine our everyday lives without emojis. They have become an integral part of global digital communication. These qualitatively and quantitatively increasingly complex companions to written language have long since escaped from the written media. However, the omnipresence of these extended possibilities of expression and the resulting change in communication are perceived ambivalently.

The aim of this publication is to make the emergence of emojis and the intentions of users to use the signs understandable, starting with the question of what is new about them in the first place and what role the aesthetics and the pictoriality of the signs play in a communication process that takes place with emojis? This tripartite interdisciplinary study encompasses historical development, sign-theoretical grounding, and analysis of emojis, and its multidimensional examination demonstrates the increasing relevance of form on the content mediation of signs.