Emojis on the facade: exploring social media graphics to transmit urban issues on media facades

Abstract

This paper describes the experience of a workshop in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, in which the participants explored emojis to transmit site-specific content on a media facade. The question was how to use the media facade to communicate a broad urban issue in a friendly, site-specific way. Exploring the theme of Belo Horizonte's public transport, the participants developed an urban signage system that transmits, in real time, the level of occupancy of the buses passing by the media facade. Observations and interviews conducted in the area reveal that emojis were successful visual elements to attract people's interest and curiosity. This project highlights the potential of exploring social media graphics in media facades to communicate city-wide topics in a more accessible and friendly language.