World emoji day celebration

New York's Empire State Building will be lit up in yellow, to mark a day that organisers hope will put a smile on millions of faces.

It is one of several stunts planned for World Emoji Day, to celebrate the colourful symbols used in instant messages, on 17 July.

The Unicode consortium lays out the framework for emojis and decides what should be depicted, but companies such as Apple and Google are free to create their own designs.

The founder of World Emoji Day, Jeremy Burge, who is also on one of Unicode's committees, said the consortium considered hundreds of applications for new emojis every year.

Recent additions to the emojis, which appear on smartphone device keyboards, have included a range of skin tones Some celebrities, including Kim Kardashian and Justin Bieber, have launched their own range of icons for fans to purchase - but Mr Burge said that consumers should be aware that they have limitations.

UCJ, UNILORIN.