Emoji Disaster

No new taco emoji? Austinites must demand justice

Emoticons are terrible. They're usually disingenuous, added to merely soften the blow of a passive aggressive message.

Perhaps the most egregious use of an emoticon goes to Austin's Burger Tex 2, which has the following painted on the back wall of the building: "This whole parking lot is Burger Tex 2's. If I do not find U (sic) in the restaurant your car will be gone," followed by a frowny face. You're not sad about that, Burger Tex 2! Are you bummed that people park in your lot? Is it meant to illustrate how sad someone else will be when you tow their car? It makes no sense.

If we don't have to spell out "fried shrimp" or "floppy disk," we shouldn't have spell out "taco."

Emojis on the other hand, well, they can tell an entire story. One tap of the finger and a user can convey love, hunger, credit card debt, VHS video rental and multiple variations of light speed rail. If emoticons are crass, then emojis are pure poetry.

When Unicode, the company behind emojis, announced on Tuesday that it would be releasing more than 250 new emojis, the Internet was overjoyed. Unicode plans on adding the all-important middle finger, a hot pepper, nachos and variations on skin color (the previous emojis have been mostly white).

But Unicode forgot the most important emoji of all: the taco. How is any self-respecting Austinite supposed to explain to the person they're texting that they want to eat tacos? Spell it out? No. If we don't have to spell out "fried shrimp" or "floppy disk," we shouldn't have spell out "taco."

Unfortunately, Austinites may be in the minority. As ABC points out, a petition to get a taco emoji that was started this spring failed to get the necessary signatures. Apparently no one bothered to tell us. In a city that served as the battleground for the Great Taco Cannon War of 2013, certainly we can generate enough signatures to ask for — no, demand — a taco emoji.

In the meantime, we should be glad that they added a tamale. At least now we can use the tamale and house emojis together to get our point across.

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SKIN IN THE GAME

Renowned Hill Country tattoo artist inks new sacred geometry app

Photo courtesy of Dillon Forte

Dillion Forte at his "tattoo ranch" in the Texas Hill Country.

In the world of tattooing, there may seem to be few better rat traps left to build, but Dillon Forte aims to change that. In October, the renowned Wimberley-based tattoo artist and entrepreneur introduced a new iPadOS app to bring ancient symbology into the digital age.

Forte has made a worldwide name for his black dot work (a contemporary take on stick-and-poke techniques) and ambitious undertakings like tattooing underwater and opening a “tattoo ranch.” His ink appears on Usher, Chris Hemsworth, and Kehlani.

Still, he is most recognized for his sacred geometry designs, using patterns to convey various meanings. His interest led him to create the Sacred Geometry Drawing App, a convenient way for novices and experts to develop and export their creations.

The app grew out of his own practice. Over the past decade, he has used tablets and freehand techniques to achieve his highly symmetrical artwork but grew to realize existing tools were not always easy to use.

“The app is an attempt and fulfillment of my desire to make sacred geometry accessible and bring the ability to create into the fingertips of as many people as possible,” Forte tells CultureMap via email, adding a tagline: “symmetry made simply.”

He says he wished the app was available when developing his signature style as a tattoo artist, but it was designed with a broad range of users in mind. He hopes that designers, educators, and artists will find a use for it.

A short intro to the app's capabilities is available on YouTube. It looks like a standard drawing app, starting with a blank canvas and some tools like pens, pencils, colors, and of course, straight line and dot makers.

A "symmetry index" anchors the functionality and expands it to something between 2D art and 3D modeling. In addition to generating shapes like repeating patterns and spirals, the app also creates 3D shapes with grids, so that the artist can map their design in real space or even create sculptures. There is also an index for explaining the spiritual meaning of some standard designs.

“Geometry often prompts an intimidating feeling when it comes to making art,” Forte continues. “The fundamentally complex and often academic nature of math-based art can induce a sense of fear in the potential user instead of creating a sense of awe. The purpose of the sacred geometry app is to cultivate the latter."

Creatives interested in constructing their own geometric masterpieces can download the app at the App Store for free, and in-app purchases are available.

technology apps tattoos arts