'I Love You' Sign Is Now An Emoji

“Apple is preparing a new emoji for saying 'I Love You' in ASL

CUPERTINO, California -- _\,,/, the gesture for “I love you” in American Sign Language, shown as a raised pinky (little) finger, index finger, and an extended thumb. Love-You Gesture was approved as part of Unicode 10.0 in 2017 under the name “I Love You Hand Sign” and added to Emoji 5.0 in 2017.

Apple has revealed an array of new emoji that will come to iPads and iPhones with the upcoming introduction of iOS 11.1.

-- Petition | 'I Love You' ASL Handshape Emoji

In all likelihood, one of the most popular will be the “I Love You” gesture--a hand with the middle two fingers curled in and the pinky, forefinger and thumb stretched out. This is a gesture that moved from deaf culture into the mainstream several decades ago, having been derived from the American Sign Language sign for “I Love You.”

It’s also very close to the so-called “devil horns” gesture used by fans of heavy rock, which differs in that the thumb is curled in rather than extended (and which has its own, separate emoji). Indeed, the similarity is such that KISS star Gene Simmons tried earlier this year to trademark the “I Love You” gesture as his own devil-horns variant, before changing his mind in the face of heavy criticism.

Other notable additions to Apple’s emoji roster include a depiction of a woman wearing a headscarf, an image representing breastfeeding, a zombie, someone in the lotus position, foodstuffs ranging from sandwiches to broccoli, and--just in time for winter--clothing items such as scarves and gloves.

Of course, Apple doesn’t come up with these ideas itself--they are just the company’s own spin on emoji that are approved by the Unicode Consortium in order to let people send symbols between different communications platforms while retaining their meaning.

Apple will probably release iOS 11.1 sometime in the coming month. Apart from introducing new emoji, the beta version of the software update is reportedly being used to test out the new Apple Pay Cash person-to-person payment platform.

SOURCE - Fortune

I Love You Sign Language Emoji, download from Request Emoji.

Related:
Petition | 'I Love You' ASL Handshape Emoji
'I Love You' Sign Is Now An Emoji

Sign 'ILY' Pins Support For The Women's March

These pins support human rights just in time for the Women's March in the United States and across the globe.

WASHINGTON, DC -- With thousands of pins, a couple from Michigan are hoping to bring a little love, compassion and support to America in time for the Women's March in Washington, D.C.

Kate Lind, 32, and Nate Stevens, 30, are behind Pincause -- a $5 pin they designed with artist Penelope Dullaghan that features the American Sign Language (ASL) sign for "I love you." Their goal is to raise $200,000 by giving $2 of each sale to the ACLU and Planned Parenthood ($1 to each organization).

Since launching after Christmas, they've sold more than 7,500 pins and raised more than $15,000 for the causes. With only a week and a half until Inauguration Day and the march, the pair is pushing for a last-minute rush of orders to get to rally-goers in time.

In a conversation with Mashable Tuesday from their 500-square-foot Ann Arbor, MI apartment, which is overflowing with pin orders, Lind and Stevens said they wanted to show support for women's issues and and civil liberties.

"Something about the symbol and design is so evocative," Stevens said about the pin. "It starts conversations."

And that's what they want. When Michigan went "red" in November, the two realized they needed to understand more about their Donald Trump-voting neighbors.

The pins, Stevens said, "create more of a loving way to start conversation," rather than throwing around hate and anger.

Campaign and election pins are nothing new, but the couple wanted to design something that connected people and "something that anyone can wear no matter where they are in the country."

Lind said she wanted to create something with a colorful hand from the start. An artist friend came up with a fist, which Lind said felt not quite right. "We've seen a lot of hate spewed in every direction," but she believes "compassion and love will bring people together."

She remembered learning ASL in middle school and how perfectly succinct and effective the "I love you" sign was.

They decided to go with that symbol, and even though they weren't directly connected to the Deaf community, they've received touching feedback from people with Deaf relatives. "We have more of a connection to that community now," Stevens said.

Just a few weeks later, momentum is picking up and more people are posting pictures wearing the pins, including many shots of mothers and daughters flashing the "I love you" sign.

"It's cool to be raising money through beauty and love," Stevens said.

Start looking out for the pins -- the couple hopes they'll be worn at the main march and at rallies all over the country. They said the pins are about creating a community.

SOURCE - Mashable

Petition | 'I Love You' ASL Handshape Emoji

WATCH [CC] - Campaign: Deaf community want the "I Love You" American Sign Language handshape emoji.

Not the actual picture of ILY emoji.

We learned from the recent campaign to add the taco emoji to appeal to Unicode Consortium, a non-profit that regulates the coding standards for written computer text that includes emojis - Sign Up Petition ILY Handshape Emoji.

To activate this feature, press the "CC" button.

Transcript - Dear friends at Unicode: We are asking for the “I Love You” handshape to be available in text applications.

Presently there are several handshapes that we use to articulate our feelings by text, including: “peace”, “thumbs up”, “thumbs down”, “face palm”, “fist bump," "a-okay" and several others.

“I Love You” is one sign expressed in American Sign Language (ASL) and it has moved into the mainstream with wider universal understanding and acceptance among those who sign and those who do not (yet). Up until now, the best folks can do to recreate it by symbol is _\,,/ and that really doesn't do the meaning justice.

The "I Love You" sign is an informal way of expressing a number of positive emotions, ranging from general esteem and admiration to love for the recipient of the sign. Of course, the “I Love You” handshape emoji would be available in all skin tones.

Help us. Let’s make the “I Love You” in ASL emoji official!

With Gratitude and Love, CM Hall and Chad A. Ludwig from Portland, Oregon.

Please visit and learn more at change.org and to sign up and share your support.

Related:
'I Love You' Sign Is Now An Emoji
Petition | 'I Love You' ASL Handshape Emoji