Milwaukee Themed Emojis Add Local Flair to Texts
Forget the simple smiley face emoji or the generic thumbs up, the next time you send a text you can send a LocaMoji! The new emojis have a Milwaukee theme.
One of the most popular so far is the female Cheesehead. The Old Fashioned is a hit too. There’s also a Bloody Mary with a beer chaser, a Bublr Bike, and a Beastie--- all items beloved in Brew City.
"What we wanted to do with LocaMoji is create a lifestyle emoji brand. Something that just hits you where you live, hits you why you live, and hits you how you live,” Jeff Sherman, President and Co-Founder of OnMilwaukee, explained.
The crew at OnMilwaukee threw out some suggestions and Creative Director Jason McDowell went to work. He’s the man who makes them.
"It's something I constantly think about. I'm kinda neck deep in emojis,” McDowell said
Some come together in 15 minutes. Others take hours.
"You just want to make sure you get the colors right and then blend it in a similar way. Then you get that soft, fun feel,” McDowell explained as he talked about the process of getting each image just right.
The creators say they’re getting fantastic feedback so far, even from people they didn’t expect.
"Sometimes you want to do the mom test. Like, when my mom is using these emojis, you're like whoa we're onto something here because we're hitting so many different levels and really connecting on a level that people care about,” Sherman said.
More than 5,000 people have already downloaded the LocaMojis. In fact, 200 to 300 are sent out every day. Daily data shows one of the most used is the LocaMoji inspired by Milwaukee’s Bronze Fonz.
"The Bronze Fonz double thumps up is doing really good because that has an expression that people know and understand instantly,” Sherman said.
The LocaMojis allow you to chat with your friends and family in a fun and creative way. They also remind a lot of people why they love Milwaukee.
"It's about civic pride. It's about living your life to the fullest and rooting yourself in your hometown,” Sherman said.
Milwaukee is the first city to get these localized emojis, but other cities will likely get them too.
At least four additional markets, similar in size to Milwaukee, have already been determined. McDowell is working on those images now. They plan to announce the new markets down the road.
You can download the LocaMoji keyboard by going to the app store on your smartphone. The original LocaMojis are free.
There’s also an additional summer bundle that recently rolled out. That one costs 99 cents. A Summerfest bundle is coming soon.