Not long afterwards, communication took a giant leap forward as personal computers began making their way into people's homes and offices. Electronic mail evolved as the next step in international correspondence. Not surprisingly, SMILEY® was there from the beginning. It is said that the very first e-mail ended with the sideways image of SMILEY® like so :) This symbol came to be known as an "emoticon." Soon, many emoticon variations were introduced, creating a vast lexicon of universal understanding, click here to search emoticons. It became apparent that although language barriers would be a natural aspect of e-mail, the international use of emoticons would allow people to express feelings quickly, easily and without the written word.

There was no doubt that emoticons greatly enhanced e-mail and chat room dialogue. However, there were drawbacks. Whenever an emoticon appeared, you had to stop reading and turn your head sideways to "get it." Moreover, despite the rapidly expanding computer technology, emoticons were limited to the alphabet and punctuation symbols contained on the standard keyboard.

That is why Franklin Loufrani has now taken the next bold step in promoting his universal language. An exciting and expanded alphabet of upright, color SMILEY® fonts has been created and can be easily downloaded. Now you can enhance your e-mail and chat room conversations with these clear, clever expressions of emotion as easily as you type your name.