Written on September 20, 2008 – 5:50 am | by Maria Mihale |


I had no idea that the origins of the famous “smiley face” have nothing to do with the Internet world, nor with the Yahoo! Messenger. Maybe the association I made in my mind is based on the fact that I discovered smiley faces surfing the web and chatting on messenger.

Thus, the designer who came up with the idea of the graphic is Harvey Ball, a commercial artist in Worcester, Massachusetts. He had to improvise something for an insurance company that wanted an internal campaign to increase employee morale. Because Ball had never used, promoted or trademarked the image, so the smiley face became part of the public domain in the United States. Therefore, its inventor never made any profit for the iconic image beyond the initial $45 fee.

Today, the smiley face is attached to almost any kind of products. Joyrider, for example, is a revolutionary accessory that converts a bicycle into a moving light show using just one LED for each wheel. London-based inventor, engineer and designer Moritz Waldemeyer is a true craftsman, mixing design and technology – with lots of LEDs.

Joyrider features two electronic devices (two sterling silver, Swarovski studded components) that clip onto wheel spokes and create the illusion of a fixed smiley face as the wheel rotates. Inbuilt microchips calculate rotational speed of the wheel in such a way that the smiley face remains stationary while the wheel spins.

The devices were attached to two prototype bikes designed by Waldemeyer and were auctioned at the ICA 2008 Gala: Figures of Speech, where they were sold for $3.972 USD.

The presentation of the bicycle from designer’s official website reveals that “The photographed bicycle is custom designed by Waldemeyer in a vintage style to evoke the past when cycling was seen as a glamorous activity. Joyrider looks towards a future where new technology and design may restore lost elegance into modern life”. So, ride the bike and smile back to pedestrians who answer Joyrider’s smile!

(Source Dvice)