Cover Story: Barry Blitt’s “Clinton’s Emoji”

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“Where would we be without emoticons, emoji, and sideways winky faces typed out of punctuation marks?” Barry Blitt, the artist behind this week’s cover, says. “Seriously, how does anyone understand anything that’s written with only letters?” he continues. “I feel sorry for the alphabet. I’m waiting for the first original novel to be composed solely with emoticons. Oh, and Hillary Clinton.”

Here are a few New Yorker covers that have documented new technologies over the decades.

“October 3, 1931,” by Helen E. Hokinson.

“December 11, 1948,” by William Cotton.

“November 26, 1949,” by Constantin Alajálov.

“February 4, 1950,” by Mary Petty.

“March 5, 1955,” by Charles E. Martin.

“May 14, 1955,” by Peter Arno.

“Higher Calling,” by Carter Goodrich, August 3, 1998.

“The Book of Life,” by Barry Blitt, October 17, 2011.

“Subway Angel,” by Carter Goodrich, December 12, 2011.

“Loading…” by Brett Culbert and Rea Irvin, February 13 & 20, 2012.

“Capturing the Memories,” by Mark Ulriksen, July 23, 2012.

“All Together Now,” by Chris Ware, January 6, 2014.