Discover the story behind the smiley face, a pop culture icon, designed by Harvey Ball The oldest example of a smiley face or “happy face” dates back to 1700 BC It is a ceramic vessel almost 4000 years old found near the border between Turkey and Syria, on whose surface you can see two points and a line weakly curved traces. However, the ubiquitous yellow smiley face , considered a pop icon around the world and part of the digital language of the new millennium, was created in 1963 in Worcester, Massachusetts, by artist Harvey Ball. Who created the iconic yellow happy face? 1 Harvey Ball created the "smiley face" in 1963. Who was Harvey Ball? Harvey Ball was born in Worcester in 1921. Interested in pursuing a career in the creative industry, he enrolled at the Worcester Art Museum
School after graduating from high school. After serving in the US Army during World War II, Ball returned to his hometown, where he worked for various advertising agencies before establishing his own company, Harvey Ball Art & Advertising, in 1959. He was hired jewelry retouching service by the State Mutual Life Assurance Company of America to create the symbol of a campaign aimed at increasing the morale of its staff, as the company had just gone through several mergers and acquisitions that generated a feeling of uncertainty among its workers.
How the Olympic Games popularized pictograms 21 Using a distinctive frame is another way designers make an illustration stand out. In each new edition of the Olympic Games, athletes and designers alike are challenged to achieve ever-higher levels of excellence. The next time you tune in to the Olympics take a close look at the screen and identify all the design elements we take for granted, including the pictograms. Because even in the simplest and most practical graphic piece, the creativity of a designer comes out.